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!

Did you know...

Did you know that qantas shaved $90,000 off their annual spend by removing one olive from every salad they served? Did you know that you are more likely to be killed by a donkey kick than a plane crash? Did you know know that the average person's vocabulary spans 5000 to 6000 words? Did you know that if you plonk a raisin into a glass of champagne it will float up and down continuously? I know all these useless facts and at least seven hundred kabillion more just like them!

If it's been scribed into packaging of some sort and appears to be somewhat useless, I've read it and remembered it. Is this a special set of information that will all connect and make sense come the end of times? I don't know. I doubt it. Will it come in handy at a quiz night? Probably not. Does it enrich the soul to know it? Not particularly. So why are these useless facts so memorable? Is it their system of delivery? The meme, the e-card, the inside of a bottle cap? Even the wrapper on your panty liners will offer a fun fact that you'll remember til you die. Oh joy! Now to find a decent book to read!

Looking good online

I came across this little article today, and it really got me thinking about the giant leaps that online design has taken, not just in the past decade, but even in the past year! Gone are the skeuomorphic design elements (hazar!) and finally we have a return to cleanliness. Modernity has always been great mates with simplicity, and now that we are seeing online design washing its hands of all that unnecessary complexity we can all breath a sigh of relief!

The online environment is still young, but it is finding its way. Its journey thus far has been filled with trial and error experiments in creating engaging user experiences rather than just attention grabbing with blinking gifs and blinding colours. The code that has historically held us back has really come into its own, and is permitting a designer to design rather than to settle on what can be coded in. These advances have been a long time coming, and certainly there is still a long road ahead, but it feels like online design's awkward teenage years are done and dusted - finally! It has been a relatively quick transition too, my 1986 poodle perm took years to grow out ;)

You can't polish a turd

Well science may prove otherwise, but when it comes to design, a bad idea is a bad idea no matter how much you think you can photoshop it! I'm a big believer in building a strong foundation, so beneath every design is an idea. I don't like empty executions, they make me feel uncomfortable, and what would be the point? They say nothing! A weak idea covered with spirit fingers and glitter glue is still a weak idea. And a shiny turd is still just a turd underneath, no matter how distracting the sheen is, it's still from brown town!

Think before you think. Then think some more. Then design.
It's all about the ideas.