Place, Space, and Opportunity: Designers Confront Sustainable Challenges

Aaris Sherin, Assistant Professor, St. John's University - Queens, New York.

Agitating for change and leading the way towards a sustainable future are not values that are always associated with graphic designers. However, in places where political leaders have ignored the reality of global warming and large companies have resisted greening their businesses, designers are creating new services and innovative sustainable solutions. This presentation uses case studies from the book, SustainAble: A handbook of materials and applications for graphic designers and their clients, to provide examples of how design thinking rather than a preoccupation with materials has allowed designers to solve problems that are particular to their place and context while working to evolve the contemporary environment. By examining the work of early adopters, it is possible to build a framework for design educations, practitioners, and students to make leaps in sustainable thinking and practice. ice.