After five years of stimulating discussions about the role of sustainability in design, Compostmodern 09 once again took center stage here on February 21st in San Francisco to connect the dots between design practice and social responsibility. The one-day conference is a showcase of designers and thinkers who give half-hour presentations followed by Q/A.
Compostmodern 09
Speakers generously donate their time and as in past years the event is presented by AIGA San Francisco and AIGA Center for Sustainable Design.
As the case with most design conferences, CM09 was a mixed bag. Returning as emcee, Joel Makower (Greenbiz.com) set the tone for the day by imagining our challenges as designers amidst the gloomy economic climate. It was during these opening remarks that he tossed out the phrase “5000 days.” I have to admit, I had never heard of this, and it turns out, neither had anyone else in the audience (that’s because Joel made it up). He explained that if we world citizens didn’t change how we live drastically (and by association how we design) – in 5000 days (about 13 years) we would set into motion calamities that simply cannot be reversed. Heavy stuff to hear in addition to all of the other bad news swirling around, but perhaps 5000 days is a useful range of time to consider a longer term approach to both our economic and ecological conundrums, in fact the two may be quite intertwined.
Here are three of my favorite speakers from CM09 and a synopsis of what they presented. Please feel free to investigate more at http://compostmodern.org/
Allan Chochinov (editor-in-chief of Core 77, Coroflot.com, and Designdirectory.com) gave an amazing presentation: Denting and Impossible Design Problem in 10 Sustainable Steps, about a graphic design class he taught recently at Pratt University in New York. Through some of his own research he discovered a book called “The Hand” by Neurologist Frank Wilson, and became increasingly interested in the realm of prosthetic design. With the encouragement of Wilson and others, he created an assignment for his graphic design students, who had no real background in Industrial or Product Design: design a better arm. Better how, you ask? Well, that was up to the students, and I have to admit, the results were surprising.
The responses ranged from the multi-use solution of turning the wasted volume of the prosthetic limb into a storage sleeve bag for life’s essentials, to the realm of haute couture where prosthetic arms could be sensual and fashionable. Double amputee athlete (and Cremaster star) Aimee Mullins visited the class and became so excited she came back for several visits and crits with the students to offer advice and words of encouragement.
During his talk, Chochinov pointed out that, due to the incredibly expensive prototyping processes and limited production of prosthetics, an entire genre of product design had been overlooked by designers (and unconsidered by the companies that produce them). His students’ work demonstrated how a concentrated brief and collaboration with the end users peeled away the onion of discovery to create thoughtful and relevant design strategies.
Saul Griffith, inventor extraordinaire and founder of Makani Power was by far the most entertaining and yet most frightening presenter of the day. A self-labeled “planet fucker” — Griffith encouraged designers to get a better grip on math, while plunging headfirst into intoxicating data-driven graphs and charts that measured every bit of energy consumed by his lifestyle. In fact, you too can visit his site, Wattzon.com and calculate your personal energy consumption. You may be horrified by the results, which is the point. Particularly in the US, but in the west in general, it is shocking how much energy each person consumes (11,400 Watts per person, North America) compared to a typical citizen of Asia (1450 Watts).
Saul Griffith's Energy Use Diagram by Kirk Von Rohr
Griffith left us all in a daze of statistics that were provocative and depressing, but his main thesis was one that might make many designers cringe. He spoke about “heirloom” design, something that I think we all inherently understand, but don’t necessarily subscribe to: the idea of buying one watch (say, a Rolex) or one pen (Montblanc) and then never buying another one of these items again. This concept is not new of course, our ancestors near and far most likely believed that buying quality goods was much more sensible than purchasing cheap items that have to be replaced year in and year out. But in a world of economic turmoil and uncertainty, this notion rings true even more.
The third very interesting speaker was Emily Pilloton of Project H Design. Pilloton trained as architect and industrial designer, and is the author of the upcoming book, “Design Revolution: 100 Products and Solutions that Empower People,” designed by Scott Stowell of Open Design (a former Compostmodern speaker himself). Pilloton founded Project H in 2007 (at age 26) “to provide a conduit and catalyst for humanitarian design.”
Hippo Roller
Project H’s initiatives span the range of water transportation devices to educational environments for AIDS orphans in Uganda. Project H is perhaps best known for their involvement in the Hippo roller project, a clever water transport device that was improved upon by designers from Engineers Without Borders to make it more economical to ship to needy regions. Pilloton deftly swept aside the debate that has raged in previous Compostmodern discussions, which favored material considerations and choices over of the practicalities of solving real problems. To make the plastic Hippo roller out of something eco would be ideal, but real world tests showed that some of these materials didn’t perform well over rough African terrain.
These were my highlights of CM09, in general I think the lingering takeaway is that I have more questions than answers about how we graphic designers can participate in this discussion in a more relevant way. Compostmodern is put on by a Graphic Design institution (AIGA), but the conference doesn’t really address graphic design as directly as architecture and product design. Yes, we are told and we know fully well that we are the message makers and storytellers, but how do graphic designers and art directors fully engage issues like social responsibility? In my own practice I have always taken on a certain amount of pro bono work for worthy local causes and institutions that are instrumental in my community, but beyond this kind of acting locally, what else can we do to elevate this discussion to the same level as our design counterparts?
Ultimately, we as designers need to strike the balance between sustaining our livelihoods and sustaining the planet, especially if we aim to help as many people in need as our planet demands.
To find out more, watch the Compostmodern webcast (organize a group if possible, it is currently a fee service): http://compostmodern.org/
Allan Chochilov/
http://www.designdirectory.com/
Saul Griffith/
http://22.kirkvonrohr.com/?cat=1
Emily Pilloton/
http://www.projecthdesign.com/
Designers Accord/
http://www.designersaccord.org/
Engineers Without Borders/
Further Reading/
The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture by Frank R. Wilson
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