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Celery Design

We are here to design an object, an experience,
a business model, a pattern of behavior, a collective impact.
Design is at the core of our consumer culture. Intentionally or
not, there are designers behind every major global problem
we face. On the other hand, design gives scale to new ideas
and solutions. So we are exactly the right people to tackle
today’s ecological and financial crisis.
Where do we go from here?
It’s time to evolve our design thinking. The old obsession
with image and form is not going away, but we need to add
a whole range of other considerations. Of course, we must
consider the impact our design has on the eye, but also the
impact it has on the community of people, the humanity of
workers, and the health of natural systems. Green design is
an evolutionary process. We need super-charged innovation
and big evolutionary leaps at this point in human history.
This transition unleashes incredible creative and business
opportunity as we invent the future.
Where do we start?
Ecology is a fairly new lens for designers to look through,
so there are lots of untrodden paths to innovation. We can
start by moving resources from the waste category into the
innovation category. Plot the ecological footprint of any
person, company, or nation. Choose any part of the system
and start imagining better solutions.
We are searching for a type of design that is more good, not
just less bad. We must embrace the creative spirit and apply
it to a society that must learn to live within this. Nature’s
limits are like the edges of a sketchbook. There is infinite
room for creativity without violating those limits.
Green design is definitely not a one-size-fits-all prescription
for how everyone should live. It’s a celebration of ingenuity
and vision—of doing amazing things with limited means.
If you think of yourself as an agent of change, then you just
might be able to change the actions of your audience, and
our society at large.

Celery Design Collaborative.

Rod Deweese and Brian Dougherty: International branding consultants for innovative communication and development, specializing in ecosustainable projects.

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 10:24 am and is filed under 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.