Do you come with the planet?

What if we could make saving our planet whilst maintaining society and economies seem like a good idea? I think we can. I reckon all the rhetoric techniques that basically convince you to drink the koolaid of consumerism can be used to make people to be better humans. I think we can use all the brainwashing techniques used in advertising and branding to convince people to change their ways.

So for starters, since sex sells everything else on the planet, why not try to use it to sell the planet? Do people need to buy into sustainability to feel invested? Do we need to sell it?

Does earth need a sexy voice and a slinky dress?

Always judge a project by its title.

My title. My big beefy project title. I'm told it should be simple enough for your nana to understand, but my nana is dead, so I went with this:

Being green without looking brown: an investigation into the use of design rhetoric to evolve sustainable design practice to a position of normality.

Basically I wanna know why we treat sustainable design like an optional extra - "would you like to reduce your carbon footprint today?" It shouldn't be a fucking option! It's not fries! I should want to reduce my carbon footprint. What am I? A total asshat? I am definitely not an asshat! But unfortunately most people are. Some of them want to reduce their footprint, but they're just a bit cash-strapped so they can't right now, but mostly people are just asshats. Why should they pay more for something they can't see or touch or interact with? Do they get something? Yes dickhead, you and yours get somewhere to live for the next hundred thousand years! 

But if the only option provided was one that was sustainable and reduced your footprint then we wouldn't have to worry about people's ethics affecting their decision making abilities. We would know that carbon footprints were being taken care of. Nice idea right?

But the issue of sustainability is bigger than an eco-concern. It's a social and economical concern too. We need to care about more than our carbon footprint, we need to think about our society, our culture and what is local to us. We need to consider the well being of everything in our immediate vicinity as well as around the world - it's a bit of a "think global act local" approach. And local is one of the easiest ways to act, local is where I'm at. Also, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure acting globally is technically impossible unless you are a superhero. Just saying.

Conversation starters.

I recently returned to uni to do my Honours in Graphic Design, which I'm planning to convert to a PhD, all of which I'm planning to blog about!

I figure all the tagging used in blogs will make documenting and accessing my research really easy, and the blog format kinda gives me a space to share (and nut out) the design problems I will face throughout this process. It's a space where I can write non-academically to just get my ideas straight. And the more I read, the more ideas I get that need straightening!

I feel that it's high time I started writing more about sustainable design. I need to have that conversation more often; in fact, most designers probably do. Designers actually could change the world.

I'm working hard within my own practice to be sustainable, to act responsibly as a designer, but I've never talked much about it. That is about to change! Everything I am writing as part of my research is going in this blog; mad ramblings, stupid ideas, moments of brilliance and everything in between!

Uh oh!

Ideas happen while you're busy having fun!

Daydreaming used to be something I got told off for doing, but today I kinda do it for a living! The way creatives generate ideas is different from one to the next, but I get some corkers when I'm zoning out or slacking off! 

The more I reflect on how I create the more I have to acknowledge how big a role having fun and feeling relaxed plays in the creation of my ideas. The next time I'm feeling brain-blocked I'm not going to beat myself up about it! I'm taking an official break and going skating! 

Ideas! Come at me!