Being environmentally conscious is a trend for some, a way of life for others, but either way you see it, it can play a big role in your graphic design work. If you want your designs to go green (or if your client does!), your first thought is probably recycled papers, then maybe soy inks.

These readily available, earth-friendly materials have lost the “hippie” stigma they once had The quality is great, the cost is usually equivalent to (or sometimes even less than) traditional materials, and clients are more open to using them. But green design can go well beyond this. There are lots of ways to reduce waste and reuse materials in every design project…

1) Keep your work out of the trash. You can use recycled papers and soy inks ’til the free-range cows come home, but how green is that if your design is headed straight for the landfill? Clients often want lots of “throwaway” promos—branded items that the customer really has little use for. That die-cut mini postcard may be a great design to hand out at a trade show, but more practical, dual-purpose promos (notepads, wood pencils) have a longer shelf life. Good for the environment, and good for the client’s brand!

2) Offer creative reuse tips. Typical “throwaway” items don’t have to be. Take shopping bags, for instance—Target places notes on the side of plastic bags suggesting you reuse them for ice packs, kitty litter liners, or care package padding. How might you creatively suggest reuse for a paper shopping bag, large envelope, promotional folder, or product package? Add some reuse tips in these printed designs (as long as your client is okay with it, of course!) and you might just encourage some creative recycling.

3) Change minds with design. Despite most folks being more comfortable with green materials, you’ll always come across some holdouts that think all recycled paper is brown, or that “green” designs will somehow look too hippie-ish. Show those clients printed samples that contradict the myths—bright white papers, rich ink colors, and classic designs all done with environmentally friendly materials.

4) Practice what you preach. If you’re going out of your way to design with the earth in mind, shouldn’t you also incorporate green practices at the office? Recycling paper is essential in a design firm, but you can go beyond that easily. Let’s say you moved to a new studio and you still have three boxes of letterhead with the old address. Bring those boxes to your local copy shop, have them trim off the chunk with the address and make handy notepads out of the perfectly good paper that remains. Use efficient light bulbs (today’s are far better and brighter than the ones you may remember), set your screensaver to come on after just a few minutes of idle time, and use a big water cooler (or large filtered pitcher, even better) instead of buying tons of small bottles of water.

5) Go digital whenever possible. Creative digital design solutions save printing costs, printer headaches, and trees. Open-minded clients may love the opportunity to try some new online promotions instead of their usual paper throwaways. Or consider offering catalogs in both print and PDF versions. Many billboards have even gone digital—maybe your client would like to advertise on one of those rather than have gigantic vinyl billboard materials printed.

No matter how you incorporate environmentally friendly options into your work, every little bit helps, and makes you a more conscientious designer. Try to keep on top of innovations in green design (like waterless printing, or treeless papers such as bamboo or kenaf) and you’ll stay ahead of the game. You may even find green design is a great niche for you, helping you acquire like-minded clients. Combining green practices with creative design is good for everyone!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.