ETHICS

My project doesn't have any sensitive information so does not require an ethics approval form. The interview with Ian Thursfield was just casual and didn't actually require me to use him as research it was simply addressing the motivations of his shop, it didndt effect anyone else. 

PROJECT STATEMENT

The theoretical research started with looking into different aspects of social design; it opened me up to the facts that our all consuming society was having on our planet. I feel that I answered my original question quite quickly but I discovered the reasons that designers need to take action and became quite passionate about it. I discovered literature on the importance of green design such as Design For Society by Nigel Whitely. This highlighted the importance of the issues as well as showing how designers can take steps to factor sustainability into their designs. 

Initially, the practical research was looking at sustainable products and the ‘Eco aesthetic’ that has come about. My theoretical research entailed analysing examples of greenwashing and how companies use certain jargon and plaster designs in green and brown and natural imagery in order to look green. This linked to the practical element as I started looking into products that appeared sustainable but on closer inspection were not. I had to reevaluate this idea after receiving feedback and realising that the idea to build a product that looked sustainable but wasn’t, was not ethical as it goes against the morals of sustainability all together. One quote used in my essay was 'one could argue that the greatest harm caused by shoplifting or burglary is not the loss of the property stolen but the damage to the self-development, karma or soul of the thief, or to the unwitting receiver of the stolen goods who has been duped into participation in crime, or society as a whole.' (Heller, 2003). This quote uses an analogy about stealing and karma of the thief to talk about how creating bad design will effect the karma of the designer and therefore made me establish that I must create something good to put out into society. 

From this I started looking into the new wave of green design and businesses that had changed their business model to incorporate sustainable morals. Shops such as The Body Shop and Lush were key players starting out small, 30 years ago but now global brands. Their success has inspired new businesses to start up. I found the concept of zero packaging shops and discovered there were two zero packaging shops recently set up in Leeds. I went down and visited the shops to have a look at how they sell products and what their branding entails. It became apparent very quickly to me that their branding was in need of updating. The concepts of the company were really strong but the branding is holding them back from developing. They appeal to a small customer range but i think their ‘eco’ branding holds them back. I decided that I would rebrand the Jar Tree based in Leeds Kirkgate Market. The brief was to change their logo, and alter other components such as their website and labels and loyalty cards. ’it has become painfully clear that the standards defining good design must be updated.' (Stephens, 2009, p.1). I wanted to challenge myself to put myself to the test or creating good and sustainable design. 

I feel that my essay answered the question well. As I established the motivations for designers to take responsibility and how this could be put into effect with examples of companies that have done just that. Talking to Ian from the Jar Tree was really beneficial and helped me establish why people should take steps to being more sustainable. This led into my practical element as using the jar tree as a case study in the theory helped me link it to the practical. 

I think improving the design would require a closer relationship with the owners of the Jar Tree in order to create something that they were also happy with. Also having a budget would allow me to incorporate more realistic thinking to the branding and production. Also with more time I think that i should have spent more time on production in order to create better physical components such as the labels and the loyalty cards. 

THE JAR TREE FINAL LOGO

INITIAL ESSAY PLAN

Do Graphic Designers have a responsibility in the industry concerning Social Design? - 5000 Words

1-Introduction- social issues -politics -health -sustainability 

Why is green design Important?

• saving the environment, greenhouse gasses, water, raw materials, landfill, oceans, sea level rising, 
• being ethical
• ways to be sustainable (Multipurpose, reuse, Recycle, green materials)
• design for society byNigel Whitely quotes 
• -green design handbook

500 words 

2-Social graphic design campaigns and how and why they have worked effectively

• political-Obama hope election campaign
• health-NHS public health campaigns
• swine flu motivation, incentive, action 
• green-Iceland advert palm oil- why has it been banned/ worked 
• analyse how the campaigns use audience, information

1000 words

3-Greenwashing 

• examples of greenwashing coca (cola life, McDonalds, Fiji water, Huggies nappies, BP)
• argument that greenwashing gets publicity (branding strategies)
• Does Graphic design boost awareness of greenwash?

500 words

4-Semiotics-graphic design hierarchy of signs and symbols 

-how do these adverts make people engage using semiotics 

-buzzwords such as green and natural

-colours use of green and brown

-triangulate semiotics idea with the social campaigns and greenwashing ideas

1000 words

5-Graphic Designers recognise they have a responsibility to create good design

• Positive (social change, power, work is more than just to look nice
• Negative (pressure to create work when its hard enough to get work anyway, the big bad clients pay good)
• quotes from citizen designer

500 words

6-Consumerism- Client dictated design 

-consumerism leads to greed its about the money not what is being put out there 

sometimes designers cant have their say 

-capitalist practices quotes problems

-consumer effect on the environment 

500 words

7-Move away from this and new wave green design

• minimalism movement
• zero packaging 
• obscelcence for brands, need to have a market for graphic design, no packaging would make this industry shrink
• manipulative design made to look sustainable- water bottles and coffee cups

500 words

8-Conclusion- triangulate the ideas discussed

500 words

THE JAR TREE WEBSITE

I found out some facts on the energy consumptions of different coloured backgrounds. From this research I discovered that black coloured screens use less energy than white ones. From this information i will design my website accordingly. 

I designed the site using readymag.com which was free and easy to use to quickly mock up the site with a simple navigation. I created a desktop site and a mobile version in order to fit the needs of various customers. 




Link to the published website:
https://readymag.com/u86140271/TheJarTree/

The final design was sleek and much more appealing than the old website. Unfortunately Readymag limited the navigation of the website as its controls are pretty basic. 

THE JAR TREE LABELS

The Finished labels were printed onto clear plastic and intended to blend into the container and see the contents behind it. On some size jars this does work but it is not as effective as it could be. The labels are also not very eco friendly as they use plastic. If i had more time i would like to have explored different materials in order to make them more sustainable. It would also have been useful to have more information on the labels for promotion purposes. 

JAR TREE LOYALTY CARDS

The loyalty card designs started off using circles where the stamps could be placed, but i soon realised that circles didn't fit into the rectangular shape of my design. so i started experimenting with squares. These fitted much better as it allowed me to follow a grid throughout  I decided to follow the typography of the Logo through the design to keep in the theme. It also became clear after some feedback that i should not use any fill text in order to use the least ink possible. The typeface was Kenyan Coffee which is a bold sans-serif font that is fun and playful to draw customers in.

Finished product

The final outcomes were printed on recycled card using as minimal ink as possible. The shape was a long ting rectangle that look and feel nice. The cards don't shout about the fact that they have eco intensions.