Sustainability within Graphic Design
Over the last few decades, the role of a designer has surpassed more than just the art of persuasion, and how to present something in its most appealing and aesthetically pleasing form. A designer’s role entails multifarious aspects, of which each individual has their own specific strengths and weaknesses, things they personally believe in and want to communicate. These varied aspects can range from conveying a public message through clever advertisement, to raising awareness for social causes through branding and web design.
With more pressure put down on the planet from its inhabitants, more practitioners have realised the significant effect that a designer of any discipline has on the perception of the general public (Dawood, 2019). An article found in AIGA The Journal of Graphic Design (Worthington, 1998, p37) subtly addresses that more people are vacillating from the title of ‘designer’ and moving towards other names such as ‘communicator’, which could address not only the skill of being visually creative, but also taking a key message and conveying it through clever graphical elements in a well thought out process.
This dissertation is going to consider how a designer can adapt their role to subsequently create positive change within society, and also throughout the planet. More specifically, how a graphic designer can use their skills to impact the general public and deliver important messages surrounding climate change and sustainability within the industry. Through personally conducted interviews and case studies, the ideas around a climate-conscious designer will be discussed, with consideration for adapting towards a more sustainable process, utilising eco-friendly resources and liaising with clients and companies who are wanting to make climate-positive steps within their brand. Projects undertaken by design studios and individuals will also be looked at to gain perspective of the different ways in which climate-conscious designers are using their skills to create an impact, as well as using their skills to think outside the box and create something that is abstract yet meaningful at the same time.
There is also going to be a discussion about the impacts of a circular economy, and how design is incorporated into this, understanding the importance of building a world and economy based upon the principles outlined within a circular economy. Circular Design has been talked about over the past few years at many design conferences and talks, more recently at the London Design Festival, raising important queries into the ways in which designers should steer their practice, think through their projects from start to finish as well as carefully consider the entire process to ensure that the projects they’re working on are being as sustainable and economically viable as they can be. There have also been many creative projects seen across a variety of design industries that follow the fundamentals of a circular economy, as well as a grown number of brands, businesses and organisations who are actively trying to steer themselves out of a linear economy, something we all know possibly too well.
A Sustainable Practice
It’s been clear to see that many designers, especially those within the graphic design industry, are trying to recognise the ongoing global climate issues, in turn, questioning how they can utilise their skills to enforce real change. Graphic designer Ken Garland (1964) published the first edition of the First Things First manifesto in The Guardian newspaper which at the time, was questioning the role that had been assigned to graphic designers, calling for change and a heightened focus for designers being able to work on projects which will value their time and skills more, whilst also recognising issues that were beginning to rise throughout society at the time. In 1999, the manifesto was then re-written by Tibor Kalman and Kalle Lasn which was published in Adbusters, the rewrite of the manifesto allowed for major traction to surface within the industry. The manifesto was backed by 33 differing designers, who all were pleading for change. First Things First Manifesto recognised a big turning point within the industry, showing how easy it can be to work on projects for monetary or reputational gain and trying to empower people to choose clients and projects that are going to drive change.
The First Things First Manifesto raised a lot of queries regarding global issues throughout different societies, one of the most important being making a positive environmental impact. Especially in the last five years, extreme organisations such as Extinction Rebellion have made bold and drastic statements regarding the current status of our climate, and despite the controversy that follows them, they use a striking and bold approach to their visual language, this accomplishes the harshness and brutal truth that they want to deliver within their message. The political dissidence and anger that is attributed to Extinction Rebellion and its supporters, mean that the creative’s who are getting involved in the movement have been gearing up to create expressive protest art. This is heavily reflected in the visual language of the organisation, of whom use a vibrant colour palette along with symbols and bold typography, whilst still tying in traditional printing techniques to achieve a look that is angry but also peaceful, symbolising the way in which campaigners will protest. The lead graphic designer Clive Russell made explicit in an interview with Design Week, that he and his team wanted inclusivity within the visual language for Extinction Rebellion, as well as being consistent and recognisable across the globe (Dawood, 2019). In the instance of climate and environmental change, it may be more important to prioritise the message being put forward rather than elaborate design.
The importance of a strong message being communicated through the visuals of a creative project should be seen as a crucial role for designers. Referring back to designers also who are also recognising themselves more so as graphic communicators, we as human beings have been given a gift to share and spread a message through different avenues of communication, of which designers and communicators should use to tell a story, imagine a future and re-invent history through their skills (Berman, 2009, p.27). Furthermore, with these skills, designers and communicators who want to start implementing noticeable societal and ecological change to our world, need to begin by making conscientious and attentive creative decisions, whilst also making bold choices and ultimately being brave.
In late 2019, Marc O’Brien the creative director for San Francisco based studio The Determined came up with an idea to bring together those within the design community who share a similar ethos in creating a climate-resilient world. The project is a way to educate, enable and promote climate-driven designers to work within an environment where they can make a real change (Kazior, 2020). The Determined are a multi-disciplinary studio whose core focus is climate change, working on projects that better the planet, draw attention to the current ecological crisis and fight towards change. Climate Designers is a project of which O’Brien (2020) holds close to his heart, a platform that enables designers from all backgrounds to come together, network and educate within a community working towards one goal, a healthier planet.
The platform was created to pose an emphasis on how designers hold a vital role in creating and informing better communication between their work and the consumer, of which can be read on the Climate Designers website (2020). The general public are the viewers of any designer’s work, the way in which a consumer thinks is influenced directly by how the product they are interested in is marketed, designed and communicated to them. A designer is at the forefront of this, they need to be able to communicate change through their art and creative abilities, Climate Designers is a network of people who do just that and want to encourage other designers to join.
Typically, design material that has a relation to sustainability or environmentalism follows along a generic path of using the colour green, it’s seen in the name of The Green Party, of which their views centralise around environmental issues and ecology, as well as being the primary colour for climate-positive brands such as Whole Foods Supermarket, or Vegware. However, the branding and visual approach for Climate Designers takes a different route, seemingly imploring community, education and professionality. The website, which is shown in Figure 1, is very simplistic and to the point with the information it provides, all of the visual assets are very basic and easy on the eyes.
Recognised for their efforts in making design more climate-focused are Ordinary Things, based in San Francisco. They’re primarily a sustainability led studio, as well as attributing a variety of different values, such as anti-racism, feminism, queer allyship, accessibility etc. This sets them out to be a studio that are very people and society focused. These core values appealed to outdoors clothing brand Patagonia; whose own brand ethos’ align in a similar way. The studio outrightly says that they only work with brands and clients who put the planet and or society first, as well as this, their process is to always question the necessity of certain factors within their ideation, heavily researching materials and ensuring the impact of each projects environmental footprint is kept low (Ordinary Things, 2020). The design studio was tasked with creating an informational booklet, seen in Figure 2, to guide people around the city of Boulder, Colorado. Boulder itself is located within foothills of rocky mountains as described in an article on the city the people who visit or live there are the sort of people who go on hikes, run, climb and cycle (Fisher, 2020). With this in mind, as well as the fact that the studio themselves are driven by sustainability, the inner workings of the booklet were well thought out, featuring unconventional maps of the city, zooming into specific areas, and including information about the city that some may not know about, celebrating its uniqueness and the locality within (Brewer, 2019). The articulate approach made by Ordinary Things underpins the communication of a strong message through thorough research and understanding of the client and the brief, further demonstrating how creative designers and communicators can use their skills to create principled outcomes.
One of the first decisions that were made for the project was in regard to the materials, of which an uncoated paper stock was used, Kraft-tone from French Paper Company to be exact. The paper has an earthy texture that mimics the ethos of Patagonia as a brand but also forms a reference to the nature-filled environment found in the city of Boulder. It was a clever and personal decision made by the studio, that enhances the overall experience of the booklet and makes it fit in well with its audience, tourists who yearn for outdoor life and nature. The second decision that put this project on a pedestal and also set the studio apart from all others was the first-ever use of an oil-based algae offset ink. Attracting the attention of many online magazine platforms, Dezeen explain that normal offset ink contains petroleum-based pigments which are extremely harmful to the environment (Cogley, 2020). However, to avoid using this, Ordinary Things wanted to look towards something that was environmentally sustainable but also different to regular forms of production, being a studio that enjoys taking risks and venturing into new technologies. The appearance of the ink on the paper looks no different to using normal ink, potentially some loss of ink in certain areas however, it could be agreed that this only enhances the outdoors and nature-focused aesthetic they are trying to achieve and deliver, see figure 3.
With sustainability at the core of their practice, it’s been made the prominent factor within this project, explored from the inner features of the booklet through to the finer details such as the type of ink being used. This project has been cleverly and thoroughly thought out, with each detail questioned and turned on its head. It sets a high standard for the type of print work that should be produced within the industry, the trialling of alternate processes to make lower carbon emissions through production being a core example of practitioners going the extra mile to make their work align with the worlds current ecological climate. Through researching Climate Designers and Ordinary Things, as well as Extinction Rebellion and the First Things First Manifesto, the practical aspect within my practice has been heavily influenced, with my current project focusing on climate change and ensuring positive environmental impacts. This research has significantly helped substantiate a well-informed theoretical background for future projects, as well as my current ongoing project. This research has also helped me understand how I want to portray myself as a creative individual, and how my allegiances lie towards communicating a strong message whilst using creative and bold, yet also simple visuals through my work.
Designing Responsibly
Sustainability within design encompasses more than just the finished product, and the method that was taken to get there. It has a starting point, of which always begins with the designer themselves. To be able to effectively create and visually communicate a message within today's ecological economy, the designer needs to accept the responsibility of understanding the importance of sustainable design. The designer is the person who first of all, has a climate-conscious mindset, without this, designing for a sustainable future could be impossible. This designer will then make focused, and well thought out decisions regarding the project, including how the end product will be produced, and with what materials. They may also want to carefully consider the brand or client that they’re choosing to work with, do they conform to the ideologies of a climate-positive future?
Benedetta Crippa, graphic designer and visual interventionist based in Stockholm, who’s work can be seen in figure 4, recently spoke at the AIGA Design Conference (2020), discussing her views and thoughts on how visual design is crucial to a sustainable co-existence. Upon recently starting a course at Konstfact University on “Visual Sustainability”, she shares how the urgency surrounding sustainability is extremely important, acting with strong responsibility for the things that you are creating. Imploring good storytelling through creativity, printing less, or better with the end goal being to further encourage and strengthen the cause. To be a designer who wants to take the responsibility of sustainable design, there needs to be a thought process of thinking differently about design as a whole. For many years, design has been centred around capitalist ideologies, which was highlighted in the First Things First Manifesto in 1964, designing to sell a product or a lifestyle and then make money from it and do the process all over again the next season. In the same talk, Joycelyn Longdon poses a similar view to that of Crippa, how can design be moved away from the grip of capitalism and consumerism, harness the skills of a creative individual and use it for positive change within society. She believes that designers should and can seek out opportunities that will redistribute wealth and promote help to communities in need as well provide education, which will all lead back to the journey towards a more climate-conscious industry.
Laura Jane Boast, founder of LJB Studio and also Design Giving is a sustainability-led designer, who realises the impact that the design community has on initiating change. Through her work, she actively wants to help create a positive impact on the world by encouraging the clients and businesses she works with to lower their carbon footprint, as well as introduce them to the circular economy approach. In an interview with Laura, the question of how important a graphic designer is to alter the view that the public has on climate change was asked, her views focusing on how a better understanding of what’s happening in the world ‘from a local level, to a global scale’ (see appendix 1) can influence the decisions made by a designer, leading them to deliver engaging and powerful messages visually, which will inevitably make a difference on the way in which society thinks and acts. This view is shared by an increasing amount of designers from all different areas and practises all over the world, not just referring to those associated with platforms such as Climate Designers which has been previously discussed, but also those part of design festivals within the UK, for example at London Design Festival (2020) circular design, sustainability and the aspects that surround it was explored in great detail through live talks and workshops, expressing the importance of designers coming together to understand and recognise the changes that they can make within their practice, and how raising awareness and talking about sustainable design can lead to more designers, companies and people participating in and recognising the importance of change.
Laura also discusses the responsibility of designers in regard to materials and processes, with a designer being at the forefront of all the creative decision making, there is an opportunity to influence a client or brand on the types of material used, how sustainable and recyclable they can be, or in which way the final product is going to be made. Will it be reusable, and will it have a positive effect on climate change and the carbon footprint of the brand itself? Similarly, brand identity and packaging designer Claire Hartley (see appendix 2) gave her opinion on encouraging clients to choose more sustainable materials, of which she feels that as a designer, clients will come to her to guide them through the entire design process, which allows her to share the responsibility with the client and encourage them to avoid plastic within their packaging and working with the client to make as many sustainable choices as feasibly possible. More recently, the demands for brands to be more eco-friendly and offer recyclable and sustainable alternatives to packaging and products is on the rise from the consumer, and with buying behaviours swaying towards more environmentally friendly options, it will subsequently open the market for more widespread accessibility and inclusivity for all brands to take the same steps.
Graphic designer and owner of Barnbrook Studio, Johnathan Barnbrook is known within the design community for his role within politics and design, he signed the re-write of the First Things First Manifesto in 2000, as well as associating with Momentum and Jeremy Corbyn whilst also expressing his political stance through his music-related projects, working alongside artists who have a reputation for political and ecological opinions. Barnbrook has recognised multiple times, through various different interviews that he believes graphic designers have to accept social accountability for what projects they choose to work on. He also acknowledges that designers need to communicate in a way that spreads truth and will present a powerful message, that will contribute towards social change (Barnbrook, 2020). He also believes that the capitalist and corporate world has a negative impact on the world, expressing that there are ways in which some bigger companies are improving their carbon footprint however, fundamentally everything that they do is to make a profit and feed into the capitalist culture and linear economy even more. Designers and graphic communicators need to begin to make conscious choices in regard to which types of clients they want to work with, using their creative influence to feed great societal and ecological change. Graphic designers are ‘at the heart of encouraging consumption’ (Bourton, 2020), and so recognising what your work is going to feed into and influence is important in understanding the impact that can be made as an individual.
In 2015, Barnbrook Studio collaborated with UK group Brandalism in creating a guerrilla advertising campaign, seen in figure 5, hijacking 600 ad spaces at different bus stops across the city of Paris, where they replaced official adverts seen in figure 5, with fake ones for brands like Total, Mobil and Volkswagen (Barnbrook, 2015). This project, named Cop21, questioned and criticised the environmental credentials of the companies mentioned, with this being achieved through the use of detailed attention to clever copyrighting, strong and striking visual attributes, as well as the placement of the advertisements being surrounded by thousands of commuters on a daily basis, it is also important to note how they took the existing look of advertisements from these companies, which benefited the final outcome. The main aim from Brandalism and Barnbrook Studios was to draw attention to the links that can be made between the advertising world and consumerism, fossil fuel dependency and climate change.
Making good use of a designer’s skills isn’t always everything mentioned above, it’s not just the options that are right before your eyes, easy to grab a hold of and implement into your practice. It’s easy to forget about experimentation and being boldly creative whilst in the midst of trying to be more climate-conscious. Realising this, Victor Ginsburg Müller, who is part of the studio Grafik+Program, founded the idea of a website called Shame Plane, allowing the visitor of the website to input where they’re flying to and from, which will subsequently show them the direct harm that is being personally made to the planet through the metres squares of arctic ice that will melt (Boddington, 2019). In 2018 Müller was greatly affected by the recent activity from Greta Thunberg, as well as the seemingly impending doom that loomed over the world because of the constant outpour of information about the world ending at that moment in time. Angered by the contributions that millions of people make towards the climate crisis in a negative way each day, he eventually found the Shame Plane idea, with it essentially being a result of the arguments raised by Thunberg and Müller’s own guilt on the situation. The information given on the website, shown in figure 6, was thoroughly researched, with the conclusions and calculations being found in the sources and links section of the website, assuring that there is validity to the information being provided. This project is an example of something that exceeds beyond expectations for a creative, it shows that design is about confronting, challenging and alerting people to the real world.
Designing for a Circle
The circular economy is the alternative to the linear economy (produce, use, dispose), of which most companies, countries and individuals follow. With the idea of a circular economy being to create products that have a prolonged lifespan, encouraging consumers to keep resources and products for as long as they possibly can, and then eventually regenerate the products at the end of its lifespan into something completely new (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2011). Design is recognised by some as a catalyst for the circular economy, with it being seen as ‘creation with intention’, (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, n.d) it is critical that when something is being designed and created, those important decisions are made in regard to the way in which it’s manufactured, how it’s going to be used by a consumer and then eventually, what will happen when it’s no longer needed anymore. Circular design will encompass consciousness and creativeness, analysing our decisions, understanding exactly what this product is going to do and how it will benefit not only society, but the planet and its future.
To go into more detail about the circular economy, a product will no longer have a life cycle that consists of a beginning, middle and end. Instead, a circular economy will maintain the value and utility of consumer goods, infrastructure, vehicles etc as high as possible, whilst also being able to maintain its life span for as long as possible too (Stahel, 2019, p.15–18). The responsibility is then passed on from the manufacturer to the owner-user, of whom makes decisions on how much they are willing to reuse, repair and remanufacture the goods bought at the end of their lifespan. The circular economy holds a vision, of which is similar to that of sustainability, where society will balance economic, environmental and social needs, preventing waste and promoting reuse, repair and remanufacture methods. The need for a change from a linear economy to a circular one is drastically needed, with a risk to supply chains increasing, as well as the cost of materials on the rise and the added pressure to businesses, simply because there is an overproduction of new products. The amount of water, fuel and chemicals that are used to produce a brand-new product to be put onto the market is extremely high, and then at the end of its life cycle a hole is dug in the ground and the item is buried (Hunter,n.d). The call to action is to engage designers of all backgrounds and not just graphic designers to think about what they are creating, view circular design in its entirety, and begin to move away from the methods of a linear economy altogether.
There has been an array of different companies who are stepping up and trying to make their business model follow along a more circular path. In October of 2020, Adidas began a trial of a recyclable trainer called UltraBOOST DNA LOOP, pictured in figure 7, with the idea being that at the end of the life for these trainers they can be recycled and made into new ones. On the Adidas website, there is a video that demonstrates how the trainers will be returned to them from the consumer, washed, ground up and melted down into a new material which will form components for a new pair of trainers (Adidas, 2020). The shoes are being put through a trial by 1,500 runners, which will not only determine the durability and functionality of these trainers, but also put to test the Made to be Remade system that Adidas have introduced in conjunction with the shoes and analyse how the system will work. One of the main points that has been made by the company is that despite all their efforts to make this aspirational step happen, it is inevitable that they will not be able to control every part of the process, meaning that the consumer will need to participate in the ethos set out by the company and when the time comes, recycle the shoe when they no longer need it. In an interview with Dezeen, Adidas’ James Carnes says that their ultimate ambition as a company is to end their consumption of plastic waste within their products altogether, and once this trainer has been tested, they hope to make more products similar to the UltraBOOST DNA LOOP available, made with recycled materials as well as being Made to be Remade (Ravenscroft, 2020). Materials make the biggest impact on their carbon footprint, so finding new ways to prolong the life span of not just a product itself, but the material used is a step in the right direction, and more companies need to follow in the footsteps.
Circular design hails all types of industries within the creative community to come together and take action against the normal way of doing things, this includes furniture designers, more specifically Richard Hutten, of whom is well known for his efforts in promoting circular design within the design industry. In 2019, he and the CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Andrew Morlet spoke at Deezen Day where the two discussed in depth the difference between a circular and a linear economy, how it relates to the design industry, as well as giving an understanding of how we can make better use of materials. One of Hutten’s most famous, and also most recent projects are his re-inventive plans for the seating, seen in figure 8, at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Using the principles of a circular economy, Hutten’s plans are to use 27,000 chairs already existing at the airport, melting them down and creating newly designed chairs. Blink, which is the name of the project, will consist of rows of ergonomically curved seats, of which all the materials will be either recycled, recyclable or biodegradable. Some of the materials used will be aluminium, serving as the framework for the seats. Aluminium is one of the most environmentally friendly materials available to product designers and manufacturers, requiring only a small fraction of power for it to be extracted as opposed to virgin materials such as gold. The upholstery of the seats will be made from something called ‘e-leather’, which is essentially leather that has been sourced from offcuts or landfill. There is also coconut fibre and natural latex, making up the padding for the seats.
It’s important to also know that the design and manufacturing process for Hutten’s project, Blink, has been thoroughly thought out, with considerations being made for its durability and how easy the seating will be to eventually repair. The seats are also easy to disassemble and recycle when they have reached the end of their life span, this is down to the fact that there is no glue used in holding the components of the seats together. Another important consideration that was made was the carbon emissions made through the manufacturing and transportation of the seats, of which they are being made within 60 miles of the airport, subsequently lowering fuel costs and large amounts of energy usage (Hahn, 2020). Despite this project being so small in the grand scheme of the circular economy, it’s a great example of how singular designers can use their skills and expertise to enhance the smaller aspects of people’s daily lives, it’s also projects similar to this that will drive other companies and people to strive to make bigger changes and inevitably open up the world to the endless possibilities of sustainability.
Finally, as previously mentioned, the circular economy is recognised by a vast amount of individuals within the design industry, and some of those individuals came together to envision and create Urge Collective, which is a group of multi-disciplinary creatives of whom are working together with organisations hoping to help envisage and present ‘radical responses to the climate emergency’ (Urge, 2020). The collective is also heavily inspired by the words of Greta Thunburg, as well as the protests from Extinction Rebellion, with their core message being to help the industry and businesses tackle waste and sustainability, utilising creative thinking, and the ideologies and principles of circular design to drive systemic change. As of yet, Urge Collective has not released any current projects, however, they have spoken to Creative Review (2020) recently about the types of projects they are going to working on in the future. Their aims are to search for companies who want to have zero carbon emissions for example, and help them get there, bringing together different teams and showing them how they can bring their business models forwards into the modern world of a circular economy and sustainability within a business.
As well as a working on projects with businesses, they also want to enforce change through the form of education, highlighting the fact that sustainable design is not being actively embedded into any design school’s curriculum, their goal is to change that. As a collective, they recognise that big change will always start with the creatives who are just starting out on their journey within the industry. Groups like Urge who are challenging their responsibility in making a change within their community and society as a whole, as well as taking on principles seen within the circular economy are going to help move forward the fight against climate change, bringing sustainability into the hands of creatives and showing the general public how easy it can be to change, improve and look after Planet Earth.
To conclude…
The topic of sustainability within graphic design should be seen as one of the most important ventures made by any creative individual at this moment in time, and as this dissertation has discussed, it’s imperative that a climate positive practice is recognised by all practitioners currently working within the design industry. Facilitating a sustainable and society-driven practice had been introduced from as early as 1964 by Ken Garland in the First Things First manifesto, which raised concerns for the viability of a everyday, commercially driven graphic designer. Not only did this manifesto introduce the idea of practitioners choosing projects that have more value and meaning, but it also triggered discourse into how influential a designer, of any practice, can be to the consumer. Just over 30 years later, this conversation was reignited with the re-write of that same manifesto by Tibor Kalman and Kalle Lasn, backed by 33 reputable designers, and published in a handful of well-known magazines, not only did this manifesto raise queries into how designers should be using their skills to communicate, but also the duplicitous nature of capitalism. For years designers have created ideas, lifestyles and products that were and still are, founded upon capitalist ideas, which promote the idea of over-buying, or the use of materials that cannot be recycled. This manifesto recognized how imperative a designer is to change this cycle, cautious thinking about every detail of the project they are working on, as well as liaising properly with their client.
From here, agencies, individuals, collectives and businesses are realising the efforts that need to be made to change how things are designed, the process in which something is designed and how it’s marketed to the consumer. The circular economy has been and still is widely discussed throughout the design industry, mainly with how the impact of shifting towards circular design can impact the world massively, with examples of how designers from all backgrounds are taking small, yet crucial climate-positive steps within their practice, but also highlighting how important materials and a well thought out design and production process can help for a more sustainable future. The case study conducted for the project Climate Designers by Marc O’Brien allowed for a lot of understanding of how the design community can work together to create a better future for everyone within the industry. Providing education to those who want to learn about how they can be a more climate-positive designer, as well as gaining traction from businesses and clients and showing them how important a designer can be to changing the way in which their business sets itself out to the general public. As well as this, Ordinary Things provided an amazing example of how the process of a designer should be carried out, inspecting every detail of how a project comes to life for the client, thoroughly researching ways in which a product can be made climate-conscious through the use of materials and production processes.
Taking this research onboard has helped me a considerable amount in understanding how to make my own practice as sustainable as it can be. Living a sustainable lifestyle is something that is extremely important to me in my everyday life and being able to properly introduce it within my profession is something that will make moving forwards easier for me. The process of a designer may be the most integral part of transitioning to being more sustainable within your practice, which was discussed through an interview with Laura from Design Giving as well as Claire Hartley, giving their own personal views on how they implement sustainability within their practice every day has helped to give an insight into how I can do that in my practice, especially when moving on into the industry. Furthermore, my practical projects are going to push me closer to being that of a sustainable designer, and this research has given me knowledge on how it can be achieved for myself, but also spread the message to peers and other creatives.
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