Written by SCOTT STANFIELD
Citizen staff
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Sunday, 04 May 2008 |
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Their Designcanchange.org site was singled out in the magazine's roster of people and ideas behind today's most influential design. Which means the business partners are keeping company with the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Holt Renfrew and IKEA.
"It's really cool to open that up and be with all those other big names," said Karjaluoto, a former graphic designer at The Citizen.
The website is an initiative aimed at uniting graphic designers to use their influence and purchasing power to combat climate change. Time magazine caught wind of the site after it was launched about a year ago.
"We wanted to make our studio more sustainable," said Karjaluoto, noting designers' efforts to minimize the purchase of materials can have "a substantial impact.
"The more we looked at it, the more we realized that there were a limited amount of these resources available for graphic designers. This big idea hit us that if we could spread the word to get designers to change how people buy stuff, we could have a great impact on sustainability."
A client who, for instance, spends $50,000 printing 100,000 annual reports might be convinced to print a smaller report, utilize better print methods, or e-mail pdf files.
"So instead of people asking to put it in the recycle bin, you may minimize that object ever having been created," Karjaluoto said.
In the first year of the site, upwards of 1,500 designers pledged to embrace more sustainable professional practices. Designcanchange.org has received hundreds of thousands of visits.
"I received one (e-mail) from a fellow in China that said as a result of this site, they built one that was similar for the Chinese market to try to get people there to do that," Karjaluoto said. "It seems to have really hit a chord and people are thinking differently as a result of it."
The site won a prestigious Lotus Award last year in Vancouver.
Time's Style and Design issue hits the newsstands this month.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
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