Filed under: Studio Practices
We almost forgot: You’re a talented graphic designer, copywriter, web developer, strategist or some other sort of marketing communicator. Well, why not put your talents to work on behalf of some organization trying to make the world a better place. There are plenty of them, and not nearly enough of generous, talented people like you.
Filed under: Paper
Designers are already accused of making the type too small to be readable, but go ahead. A smaller font size can allow you to fit more words on a page, which requires fewer pages, which requires fewer trees, which requires fewer environmental crises.
Filed under: Studio Practices
If you find your office mail box stuffed with computer catalogs and who-knows-what-else that goes straight in the recycling bin, nip that paper waste in the bud by getting off the mailing list. It may take some diligence if you work directly with the sender, but there are national opt-out lists run through the Direct Marketing Association that can eliminate a lot of the unwanted mailings.
We bet you’re thinking this is the dumbest idea you’ve seen here yet. But not really. When a job’s complete, clean out the file, refold the thing inside out and you’re ready for a new project. You just cut your file folder expenses in half and saved some poor tree.
Filed under: Studio Practices
There are still a few holdouts who say shooting on film gives a look that digital media can’t duplicate. Undoubtedly so. But the toxic chemicals involved in making and processing photographic film are among some of the most hazardous around. For those of you involved in video projects, there are excellent digital techniques that can closely approximate the look of film.
The waterless process eliminates the fountain solution used in offset lithography, and instead of conventional metal printing plates, you use a silicone rubber plate and special ink. It’s a faster, cleaner process that reduces the amount of paper required for make-ready and thus, uses less energy. To learn more about it, download this terrific resource from Monadnock Papers, A Field Guide to Eco-Friendly, Efficient and Effective Print.
Bleeds are a visually striking and very well accepted design technique. Now, here’s the downside. To make an image or color bleed, you have to print on oversize stock, then trim to the finished size. The printed trim turns into waste that’s hard to reuse. Consider, instead, doing designs that don’t require bleeds, or if you must bleed, resize your piece so you can print on a standard size sheet, with a smaller-than-usual finished size. The unusual size might even draw more attention to your client’s piece.
There’s all kinds of stuff involved with printing that goes well beyond what paper and ink you’ve spec’d. Some if it is rather esoteric. But here’s a wonderful little checklist you can use to spur your favorite printers on to a greener lifestyle, courtesy of the excellent web site, greenbiz.com.
Filed under: Studio Practices
There are more and more great resources popping up to help designers run their studios–and create client projects–from a greener perspective. One worth watching is a blog written by Jess Sand from San Francisco called The Sustainable Studio. It’s part of Business Design Online, which has all kinds of other helpful tidbits on starting and running a creative business.
