WUMPWORLD

A Definition For Humanitarian Design?

After reading the many posts and articles discussing Emily Piloton of Project H and Bruce Nussbaum about Humanitarian Design, I’m left thinking there is a lot of hot air and chest puffing going on. I’m not sure there is an easy, clear answer to this debate and maybe there does not need to be one. The center of this debate is the role designers play in solving problems faced by cultures around the world versus solving problems where they live. How equipped are they to be involved in different cultures and provide lasting and necessary impact?

Nussbaum contends that designers wanting to save the world need to tread carefully when playing in other people’s back yards. They might actually be adding to and creating bigger problems with their intrusion and interference. Why not work on problems at home? He points a finger directly at organizations like Project H, Architecture for Humanity and Acumen Fund with his personal account of seeing how local cultures react to their presence. The reaction to Nussbaum from Emily Piloton is to be careful where you are pointing. She fully admits to mistakes her organization made with their first project the Hippo Roller. Moving forward, Project H has made a commitment of partnering with local designers within local cultures. To prove her point, she discusses how she moved the organization to Bertie, North Carolina where they will be working with local school districts to improve the quality of education. Other thought leaders have gotten into the debate including Alex Steffen, Robert Fabricant, and Cameron Sinclair.

A few weeks ago I attended an event by the local Seattle IDSA called “Can Designers Save the World”. This event contained many of the same discussions of this debate featuring a panel of designers who practice design in many cultures all over the world. I enjoyed the event, but found more insight when talking to Kara Pecknold from Emily Carr University of Art and Design (one of the panelists) afterward about her experiences in Rwanda. To be honest I went into that event thinking much like Bruce Nussbaum. Why are we so focused on problems in other countries when we have some real and significant problems right here. As I talked to Kara, I realized that she was changing my perspective on this. Not that she was convincing me to start working on design projects in far away lands (not her intent either), but that you need to be passionate about the work you do for others. For me personally, that means working on issues right here in the Pacific Northwest. Just because I believe my efforts need to be spent here, does not mean every designers’ efforts should. It is not my right to judge what is appropriate for other people.

If you are genuine in your approach, you will find a way to make the work you do beneficial to your chosen cause. Maybe, this is a bit naive and simplistic. After all, not all good intentions work out, but I think that is part of the equation. When you want to give yourself freely to a cause it is not going to be easy. If you fail or run into a wall no one is going to take over and do it for you. That is part of the journey. It is hard work that takes the effort of hundreds of thankless hours, tenacity to get up after being knocked down time and time again, and vision to look beyond the unknown future and darkness ahead of you. This focus of the debate is in agreement in all the discussions I have read. Western trained designers are not going to swoop down into an impoverished area and make everything right with the flip of a switch.

We all have life experiences and skill sets that are uniquely ours. Some of us are prepared to do specific types of design in certain environments that others are not. This is not by chance. While external events may cause us to move down certain paths, I find they are often enough preparing us for a challenge in the future. Everyone has made many choices in their life to get to where they are today. While many people may share similar experiences, thoughts and view points, you alone, truly know what is in your heart. I sit in no place to judge others on the best use of their time and energy. They must decide that for themselves and be honest with what they hope to achieve. This is not a cop-out, because in many cases the people you are collaborating with are most directly affected by those actions and will hold you accountable.

Do we need to categorize Humanitarian Design and determine what it is and is not? I hope not. Doing good work for people should not be defined by others who have not walked the same path of life you have.

Design Your Impact

One of the main problems we have as designers in a time of climate change and over-consumption is how to avoid adding to the problem. After all, our profession promotes branding, advertising, and marketing to companies that make stuff. We design the packaging, paper products, ads, reports, websites, and any other communication device that connect our clients to their audiences. We get paid to communicate every need and desire to consumers whether they need it or not. When we are successful it leads to more services and products being consumed. This leads to our clients growth in wealth and resources and the ability to make more stuff. They become thrilled by our work and hire us to do more. As a designer conscious of the problems we face for our future humanity, how do you balance economic success for yourself and the impact it has on the planet?

The first thing for graphic designers to do is rethink how the product or service we are promoting is communicated. How do you optimize a product or service touchpoint? If that product is a sneaker sitting on a self-serve shelf, how is the item packaged, displayed and transported? What materials are used to accomplish this? What are the upstream and downstream effects of producing these materials? What can be done to lessen the impact of that packaging? If you are designing communications for the services of a Massage Therapist you would have a different set of questions. What media or device has the best reach for their specific market? Are you designing a website, flyer, postcard, brochure, gift box, trade show booth or a combination of any of these? Is it necessary to use any of these communication devices to reach the goals of the project? How do you maximize ROI (return on investment) with the least environmental impact? Once you have a good understanding of what the project consists of, then you can design it to your specific goals. Can it be lighter, smaller, minimize waste, use less materials, reuseable or multi-functional? Can you use recycled, reclaimed materials and renewable resources to make it? Can you avoid toxic materials? Is it sourced from local, socially and environmentally responsible companies? These are design problems that weigh the economic, environmental, social impact versus the communication needs that meet the end goal for the project. What do you hope to accomplish with the project and what are the externalities resulting from it?

I have developed my own project report card for weighing these options and helping guide Riverbed Design through the process. You can find it here. Here are a few of the many resources that I would recommend for framing sustainable communication design methods; AIGA’s Living Principles, renourish and the book Green Graphic Design by Brian Dougherty. All of these have similar approaches and philosophies that will greatly help any designer. These resources cover the many aspects of sustainable design practices. They speak of the physical standpoint of environmental impact and the other two areas of the triple bottom line, economic and social impact. When I started my own company I had a vision of a truly sustainable design practice that has a positive impact on the world. I wanted to be able to wake up every morning and be excited and happy about the work I would do. I did not want to worry about what my work was actually achieving and who it was ultimately benefitting.  To accomplish this, I knew my company had to involve all three parts of the triple bottom line. Who I work for is just as important as the work I do and who benefits from it.

Everyone has their own idea of what “positive impact” means. You can make the case that working for Walmart will have a positive impact. They have a massive amount of influence on their corporate partners (wholesalers and manufacturers) with their purchasing power. This gives Walmart a great deal of leverage. Currently, they are using that influence to change the packaging for the products they sell. This is their sustainability mission that is reducing carbon in millions of metric tons and at the same time saving them a great deal of money. Personally, I would not work for them because of the negative economic impacts they make on local economies and how poorly they treat employees. This is based on my own value system.

Every designer or design firm has to answer this question for themselves: Who do I want to work for and why? It is important to have a value system in place that you can refer to as a guiding light. When times get murky and it becomes hard to trust your own instincts a value system can tip the decision matrix to making the right choices for yourself. It is paramount to do good research and make sure you will feel positive about the work you will produce for your client. There are plenty of companies that say they are doing the right things, but as soon as you scratch the surface things falls apart. Weigh the cost of the job, the type of work, the opportunities it provides, and what you will be paid against your value system. Interview your potential clients to make sure you understand them as well as provide yourself the ability to inform them on your particular approach. Do not lose the chance to show your strengths and knowledge. Building trust with a client will allow you to advise them on anything they consider you as an expert. On a small scale, this could mean the difference in whether they will explore recycled papers for a project, or on a larger scale, auditing their communication channels for a “green” friendly way. This can give you the best foundation to make the greatest impact. An important lesson I have learned is there is an abundance of companies wanting to do the right thing and they are waiting for someone to show them how. Sometimes you can make a more substantial impact by working for the company that wants to be green versus the one that already is. As a designer working in a the age of climate change and over-consumption, this is your chance to make a difference and feel good about the work you do.

The Picture of Sustainability

I met with Alan Alabastro this week. He is a photographer that photographs cultural events and architecture. We had a nice discussion about our businesses and found we connected on a variety topics. At one point, I was discussing the plethora of green leaf logos, water drop icons and planet earth globes, that are the typical arsenal for designers branding sustainability. These logos devalue the true nature of the businesses they represent. By using the green leaf icon they look like all the other “green” companies and programs out there. A great question he had for me is what does an image (photo) of sustainability look like? What a great question. How do you get to the basic principals of sustainability in a visual way? Alan’s own insight into this question was capturing the moment someone is putting their coffee cup into the right container whether that is recycled, compost or trash. This is the most direct and topical. It deals with where we are today and serves as an instruction guide to actions we can make to have an immediate impact on climate change. It gives guidance and informs people of what they do not know and what they could be doing. If everyone does their part, then we would make a tremendous impact on the problem. How this type of direct representation of imagery relates to individual organizations, movements, and companies is a case by case issue. A green product or company has its own direct action that needs instruction on why they are green or sustainable. That was at the center of our conversation; creating the right imagery for the businesses we work with.

I take it a step farther. Showing the object (in this case a coffee cup), and what to do with it, is a specific problem that relates to a moment in time. Each business has a cup and problem (what to do with it) and therefore a solution (recycle, compost, trash) that serves the interest of sustainability. This is what you can do today with the choices we have. But what about capturing the cup, the person holding it, the environment around them and how they all relate together? At first glance, this might seem like an insignificant variation on the original idea. The idea is to pull back our focus on the individual problem or object and capture the bigger picture. The image is showing the process that we can use to be more sustainable but the focus is no longer one action, but how does that one action relate to everything around it. If the background contains a hint of people walking by, a swath of blue sky, or cars rolling through traffic, we get this sense that there is more to the image than the cup and the decision of the person holding it. Part of this is direct in communication (the cup, person, container), and part of it has an emotional impact that we feel viscerally (the environment surrounding the action).

Whether it is the overall problem of climate change or an individual organization’s sustainable product or service, the imagery has to go beyond object oriented. It needs to tell the bigger picture or experience. Some organizations by their nature are dealing with huge concepts like 1% for the Planet. Their organization unites companies across all industries to make an impact together. On the flip side most companies, whether they are green or have green initiatives, are promoting individual products. An architect designs a LEED Gold Building. How do you capture that building, so that it represents the true impact it makes? Create an image of the building with people using it and the environment it surrounds. The aesthetics are important. People are attracted to beautiful things. Combine the beautiful building with the meaning of the building and what it does. This creates the context for the product or service and gives an emotional impact.

Give people a vision. Let them have more to look at and they can have a better understanding of what the choices are. It is hard to fathom how a slew of individual objects (sustainable programs, products, buildings, etc…) within the narrow scope of their own settings, leads to sustainability for everyone. Images that capture these objects as well as their surrounding elements begin to form connection points of interest. Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, people can visualize or feel how these bits and pieces start to fit together. The context is no longer individual, but holistic. It is no longer trapped in a single action of now, but how all these actions relate together towards a shared future vision. This is the marriage of the right brain and left brain. The analytical reasoning on a finite point of time matched with the emotional impact of seeing the forest beyond the trees.

Do we want to only create images that tell people what they must do and drag them down the path kicking and screaming? Or show them the bigger picture so they can make their own choices based on more information. Give context to sustainability and people will be drawn towards doing the right thing or at least buying or participating in it.

Man Made Image

“We can recognize random logos of corporations but cannot identify a tree in our front yard.” I was inspired by this from the documentary “11th Hour” by Leonardo DiCaprio. It reinforces the idea that nature is not relevant to our daily lives. If it is not a part of our culture and daily interactions, then how do we expect to understand the magnitude of what we have done to the planet. In “Blessed Unrest” Paul Hawken describes how much we miss if we are not looking for it. Right now we are looking for corporate logos because we feel they have more relevance in our lives than the tree you stare at everyday outside your window. It makes sense because we have been trained to think and look at things this way. The abstract symbolism of a corporation we buy products from becomes ingrained in how we look at ourselves. Thanks to designers and brand strategists like myself, the force of brands connecting to individuals is powerful.

The tree outside, while it lives in our physical environment it does not actively try to interact with us. It does not send you emails or connect to you on Facebook. It does not know about the latest trends or best buys. What that tree does is far greater. It takes the carbon dioxide we produce and turns it into oxygen that we breath. It prevents the foundation of your residence from being flooded. It traps moisture in our environment to help support a water rich ecosystem. We do not see these things happening. These processes are not as eye catching as the latest Hollywood blockbuster or beer commercial. This tree does not effect our conversation we have with our friends, family or co-workers. The tree is not relevant. We need to change that. I’m not saying world peace will happen if everyone can identity 30 trees. What I am saying, is we need to take a deeper look at what we consider important in our lives. We need to change our perspective. If we as individuals knew as much about what was happening in our environment, that truly effects us, we could accomplish amazing things.

We need to create new images that represent more than one organization’s success. If Coca Cola’s brand is worth billions of dollars, what could we make the ocean’s brand be worth? What is it worth today? I think we could all survive in a world without Coca Cola (at least the majority of us), but could we survive without a healthy ocean? These issues are not only about the environment or nature. Everything is dependent upon each other.Humans are part of nature whether we like it or not. In many ways we have thought and acted as if we are separate from nature. Now is our wake up call to reassess that idea. How does poverty affect toxic levels of mercury? Overcrowded prisons affect air pollution? I’m not a scientist so I could not tell you, but I do know that all things are interconnected. The cause and affect might have dozens of steps in these examples or seem unrelated altogether, but at some point they connect. By changing how we perceive and approach these issues we can change our understanding and how we see ourselves in relation to the world. We can turn selfish consumption and our instinctual need for production towards bigger tasks that ultimately save the human race. Humans possess a great gifts in innovation and creation. We just have been using them to gain independent wealth. Fathom what it might be like to live in a world where we work in harmony with the planet. Our skills at creation and innovation could spur a better world for us and the trees.

Valley of the Wind

Recently I watched the “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” a film by Hayao Miyazaki. With the release of Miyazaki’s latest movie Ponyo, I wanted to take a look at some of his other films. I started to watch Nausicaä and realized I had seen it years before. Looking back I did not get the full impact of the movie until now. Partly because the original American release was missing 20 minutes and titled “Warriors of the Wind.” Hollywood/Disney did not think Americans would get it.

This movie is beautiful. Not only is it aesthetically wonderful, but the story is compelling on many levels. It takes place in a time unrecognizable to us today. The world has been completely changed due to an apocalyptic event and the birth of a poisonous forest dominated by giant insects. The source of these epic problems is man and his need to consume. I have read and seen several apocalyptic style books and movies over the last couple years. The great ones being “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy and “I am Legend” (original book) by Richard Matheson. These stories are dark and gritty and show the struggle of humanity’s last days. The next phase of the Earth is desolate and empty of what we humans consider to be beautiful.

What Nausicaä shows is that the earth will continue on and it could very well be beautiful without us. The poisonous forest teem with a brand new life looking like an alien landscape that is deadly to humans. It gives a glance of how humans would struggle with a new paradigm of our own creation. What we see as antagonistic like a poisonous forest and giant insects, are a way for the Earth to bring balance back to its’ ecosystem. How do we fit into this? Do we continue to struggle for our normal way of life? Do we find a way to have a symbiotic relationship with the evolution? Nausicaä does a great job of showing how hard those decisions are and how we can be completely blind to the environment around us. Often times those answers are sitting right in front of our faces. Let us hope it does not take a thousand years for us to figure it out like in the movie.

Compostmodern

GREEN SALON #3 / COMPOSTMODERN

Last month I went down to San Francisco to go to AIGA’s Compostmodern event. It was an enriching trip. I heard some great talks from amazing speakers like Saul Griffith, Ph.D., Allan Chochinov, Emily Pilloton, and Dawn Danby and even got to speak with some of them one on one. On April 8th I have been collaborating with others in the AIGA to put together our third Green Salon where we will be showing via webcasts these speakers once again. Not only that but we got a tremendous opportunity to have Algalita Marine Research speak at the event. Have you ever heard of the Island of Trash? Check out this video.

Eating our trash?

Please come to the event next week if are intrigued. It will be interesting, informative and entertaining. Click here to register. I would love to see you there.

Clean Coal

The World Without Us

I just finished a great book called The World Without Us by Alan Weisman http://www.worldwithoutus.com/index2.html

While this book is not directed at the sustainability movement, it includes a great deal of the information and data that supports the effort. It brings to light how much we as humans have effected the planet and how long lasting our effects will be on the earth if we were suddenly removed from its’ surface. There are passages in the book that are beautifully moving with detail and imagination about what the world will look like without us.

“As pavement separates, weeds like mustard, shamrock, and goosegrass blow in from Central Park and work their way down the new cracks, which widen further. In the current world, before they get too far, city maintenance usually shows up, kills the weeds, and fills the fissures. But in the post-people world, there’s no one left to continually patch New York. The weeds are followed by the city’s most prolific exotic species, the Chinese ailanthus tree. Even with 8 million people around, ailanthus—otherwise innocently known as the tree-of-heaven—are implacable invaders capable of rooting in tiny chinks in the subway tunnels, unnoticed until their spreading leaf canopies start poking from sidewalk grates.” Alan Weisman

The book introduced a few new things to me like the island of trash in the pacific and the planned nuclear waste storage center in Nevada. Another concept that it cleared up for me was clean coal. The name itself seemed counter intuitative when I heard it for the first time. Clean coal? Really? The way Alan Weisman describes it, it proves to be counter productive and putting off the inevitable. Clean coal does not change our need to move away from the carbon it produces. We cannot hide the waste beneath the carpet so we look better. The new ads the Coen brothers put together for Reality Coalition has the right take on this problem.

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Gas is Winning People Back

This article from The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/01/green-revolution-slows has an interesting outlook to the green movement in 2009. As hurt as we all were by the high gas prices of last Summer, people are quickly jumping off the renewable energy band wagon for the current low gas prices. It is no wonder big oil have been sucessfull for so long. People are willing to abadon new ideas for the quick and easy solution We paid upwards of $4 a gallon during the summer. Out of that frustration, momentum towards alternative energy grew. People changed their habits so as not to hurt their pocket books. Those habits and ideas are quickly forgotten when there is an easier and cheaper alternative. As nice as it is to have these lower gas prices I hope it does not last.

Green Washing

We all know how much green washing has infiltrated our lives. You see it everywhere. Businesses are using marketing and branding techniques to capture the “green” audience and make a profit. All in the name of the environment and sustainability. In the end these businesses will only hurt themselves for the quick buck. What these businesses fail to understand is that the socially conscious consumer might purchase their product or services once based on trust. If the consumer’s trust is not reinforced they will not only lose that customer, but that customer will also tell all their peers and friends.

A great example of this is a deli and coffee shop in Downtown Seattle. In the last year they recently re-branded their look (which worked perfectly well to the begin with) to appear green. They changed their colors from yellow, red and black to shades of green and incorporated a leaf into their logo. I had never eaten there, but had noticed these changes from the outside. They are well known for their roast beef french-dip style sandwich. I had some extra time one day between appointments and decided to get a drink and a snack. They had a nice space and I enjoyed a comfy few minutes before moving on to my next appointment. As I left, I looked for a recycling bin to leave my glass bottle. I could not find any form of recycling anywhere. I took the bottle with me to recycle elsewhere.

How could an establishment that claims to be “green” not offer recycling? I have not researched their food or business practices. They might be doing something tremendous for the environment that far outweighs recycling. In the end it does not matter. What matters is how you present yourself and how you follow through with your actions. This is how we judge companies and organizations. You tell us what you are about. We try your product or service. If it does not match with what you presented to us, then you have broken your promise to us.

This deli did not need to change their approach in branding. They are well known for a particular product. If anything, they should utilize the recognition they have and promote their great product even more. Promise what you do best. This will gain your customer’s trust. Once you have their trust you can reinforce it with other messages. The trust circle will grow greater with everything your organization does. Consumers like to buy things that support their tastes and beliefs and gravitate towards companies that promote these things. If you organization believes in sustainability or being green, you better make sure to back it up. Examine everything you do with green goggles. The companies that do this honestly will be the companies that grow and flourish. They are building from a foundation of trust created by promises that can be delivered upon.

Green washing will not last because it is not a sound business decision. In today’s time you cannot survive on tricks, gadgets and manipulations. Stick to talking about your business honestly. Then you will not need to lie or promote wishful thinking.

The Wumps in Us.

I am sure you are curious about the name of this blog. A few of you might know the children’s book “The Wump World” by Bill Peet. I was lucky enough to read this book when I was a teenager. I instantly fell in love with it. It quantified my own feelings about environmentalism at the time in a grandiose way. As most teenagers, I was drawn to the dramatic. I now read this book to my kids and they love it.

It tells the story of a small simple planet called Wump World. The only occupants, the Wumps, are a species of hooved and happy animals whose routine consists of eating grass, drinking stream water and experiencing lazy days. The conflict arises when a fleet of space ships touch down. Out step blue aliens that proclaim ownership of the planet. These aliens are the Pollutians. They have lost their own planet to their industrious and destructive nature and had to find a new home.

Cover of The Wump World by Bill Peet

You can guess where the story goes from here. The Pollutians build their new empire as the Wumps hide underground.  They destroy Wump World and leave after finding another planet to inhabit. The innocent Wumps return to the surface only to be devastated by it’s condition. There is hope in the end. The Wumps discover a small plot of park and the green begins to push through the concrete jungle.

This is a great story on so many great levels. It is told so that even a young child understands it. As humans we are not that far from the self-indulged, industrious and all consuming Pollutians. We can also empathize for the defenseless Wumps and the destruction that has been done to their habitat. In the end it is not as simple to say the Pollutians are evil and the Wumps are good. The Wumps went into hiding before the Pollutians can see them or connect with them. They do not know they are hurting the Wumps at all. Would they care if they knew? Who knows, but both sides could have benefited from the confrontation.

As humanity, we must make decisions that fall between these two extremes. We should not be wasteful consumerists, but also cannot be blanketed in innocent ignorance of righteousness. We have to find ways to be industrious for the benefit of ourselves and our world. Let’s use or industrious nature to create innovation. With better solutions, we build awareness and a belief system supported by our individual communities.

This blog will use Wump World as an inspiration. I will talk about branding and how it relates to developing your business and personal brand. What business are you in and does it fit with your ideals as a person. Does it effect your world and community? I will discuss design and communicating your brand through images and messages in a sustainable way. I will also post on other intriguing news and thoughts about sustainability and social responsibility. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to let me know one way or another.

Corbet