Re-thinking the “print” in our carbon footprint.
Part of being a “thinkful” designer is doing the normal design problem-solving while working to make as small a carbon footprint as possible. That’s why we’re excited to announce that our work was recognized at the 2013 AIGA ReDesign Show and the 2014 AIGA Minnesota Design Show, where we received the Green Leaf Award. Both awards are in recognition for our “Think More. Use Less.” 2013 new years mailer, which we designed to demonstrate our sustainable sensibilities.
We got our inspiration from the stack of press sheets saved from many of the projects completed in 2012—things that normally go in the recycle bin at the end of the year. Transforming them into mailers was one thing, but we knew we could take things much further by looking at every step in the process, from ink to envelope.
Our design is built around a “T” (for “Think”), which we sculpted out of layers of press sheets from 13 different projects, representing some of our work for the year. Each piece was printed on a random press sheet, giving recipients a glimpse of an actual project and creating a unique, one-of-a-kind brochure.
Our main message, “Think More. Use Less.,” which was screen-printed as the front cover, reinforced the fact that by thinking harder, we can all re-purpose and re-invent and still create great things. The inside of the brochures (the back of the press sheets) was printed at Franklin Press, a certified Minnesota Great Printer, which uses low-VOC soy ink and produces no hazardous waste. And we crafted the envelopes by hand from scrap materials found in our studio.
Working with clients to reduce our collective carbon footprint is something that’s a natural for us at ThinkDesign Group. With any project we can take a fresh look at what we can achieve together to reduce the impact on the world—and still have an impact on the audience.
