Filed under: Studio Practices
Offer financial incentives for clients who go green. You could call your program “Green for Green.”
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
Don’t just brag about your own sustainability philosophy. Give current and prospective clients some ideas they can use in their marketing communications practicies to be more earth-friendly (and, in turn, consumer-friendly).
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
When possible, work with local printers, paper mills, binderies, CD duplicators and other support vendors. The less your projects have to travel by truck, train, and plane, the smaller their environmental footprint.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
What’s that? The Printers’ National Environmental Assistance Center. It’s a clearing house for ideas, practices, and regulations on environmental issues for the printing, publishing, and packaging industry.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
If you design a piece that qualifies for FSC certification, use that label proudly on the project. For your own studio, consider putting the Design Can Change logo on your site and promotional materials, once you’ve signed that organization’s pledge.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
Set up a points system to reward clients for choosing greener solutions. The payback doesn’t need to be money or discounts–give them carbon offsets or green gifts for their company.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
If you’re dedicated to seeking greener solutions, write your philosophy down. Put it on your web site. Include it in your capability pitches. Let clients and prospects know that you’re taking this seriously, even if it’s not the main focus of your firm.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
Filed under: Project Concepts
Here’s an opportunity to truly show how creative you are. Can you come up with a package that has a second life as a frame, a display, a pencil box, another package? When egg developed a mailer for their proposals, they easily engineered a way for the recipient to turn the piece inside out to use it as a return mailer.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30, 2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
One for trash. One for recycling. How simple, but how smart.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30,2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
Right now summer is just around the corner (or already feels like it’s here). So why not use the sun for office lighting, and the wind for air conditioning. You might be surprised at how wonderful it feels to let the real world back into your hermetically sealed office box.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30,2007.
A client may say “we need a brochure,” but try to figure out what the real need is. For example, they may actually be saying “we need a way to tell people who use products similar to ours that we have a better solution.” Is, indeed, a brochure the best solution? Would a web site be better? What else could you do to accomplish the client’s objectives without necessarily going with paper or energy-based solutions?
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30,2007.
When making creative presentations to your clients, in addition to showing them what they’ve asked for and expect, make it a studio policy to always show a greener alternative. No one ever got in trouble for doing extra credit.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30,2007.
How about forming a local consortium or trade group of creative services firms and clients interested in pursuing greener marketing communications efforts? You could set it up in a heartbeat using online tools such as meetup.com, and then get together periodically to share ideas, vendor resources, and strategies.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30,2007.
Think of ways you can make good use of leftover press sheets run during the make-ready part of a printing job. Can you overprint them, print on the back side, or turn them into another product alltogether–like these stationery sets made of cut down topographic maps?
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30,2007.
Filed under: Studio Practices
To convince clients that there is, indeed, an interest among their prospects and customers in doing business with companies that have a strong sustainability stance, commission some research–even if informal. Hearing from customers–rather than from you–can be the most convincing argument for getting on board the green train.
This suggestion made by attendees at SVC’s 101 Things Designers Can Do to Save the Earth workshop on May 30,2007.
