Kate Andrews is a graphic designer and design researcher living near London, UK. Educated at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, she holds a First Class Honours in Graphic Design and a Merit Award from The International Society of Typographic Designers. Kate has worked for The Sunday Times Magazine in London, Synectics Innovation Consultancy, has exhibited at Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida and ever continues to write for Roger-Live (Germany), Osocio.org and Design21. As a designer, Kate is passionate about the ways that visual communication and human creativity can affect daily life, reflect human needs, and inevitably impact the world.
London based Graphic Design agency, Studio8 Design, have designed this beautiful example of environmentally friendly graphic design. The At This Rate booklet and poster were produced to raise awareness of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest for the US-based charity Rainforest Action Network.
Each booklet is made from only one sheet of FSC certified paper, folding out from the cover into a 12-page concertina, maximising the sheet and minimising waste. Proceeds all go to Rainforest Action Network. Photographs by Giles Revell.
Social Design Network Design 21 has a brand new design competition, with a fantastic purpose! Hosted by the NPO Millennium Promise, your challenge is to create a campaign design, with the mission to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – eight globally endorsed objectives that address the many aspects of extreme poverty – in Africa by 2015.
Social design organizerion Design 21 recently launched an inspiring bicycle-focused design competition called Power to the Pedal. The challenge is to design a biking accessory or add-on for existing bikes that will improve the bicycling experience and encourage more people to make biking their primary means of transport – more convenient, more enjoyable, safer and more integrated into daily lifestyles – whether it’s for commuting, working, shopping, transporting, leisure or all of the above.
The sleek industrial contemporary kitchen is challenged in Mike Meiré’s The Farm Project - a brand imaging campaign for the German fixture manufacturer Dornbracht. This barn-like, “real-life” stage is charged with aromas, animals, plants and objects housed with an archetypal rural building with an outer cover made of patchwork materials. A beautiful exploration of design and living, The Farm Project shuns the “hidden” kitchen, enclosed in steel and stone, to connect people to that which sustains them.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is now officially open as of last week, after nearly thirty years of planning. The facility is not only a storage space for seeds from all over the world, it’s a gorgeous structure to boot, built in the permafrost of a mountain on Spitsbergen Island in the Arctic Island Svalbard, that is part of Norway. The Global Seed Vault has been designed to store duplicates of seeds from seed collections from around the globe and from nearly every variety of food crop on the planet, such as wheat, rice or maize. So in the event of global catastrophe, we’ll be agriculturally prepared!
British-born sculptor Tony Cragg uses color families and a carefully curated collection of flotsam and jetsam in his large-scale installations. Born in Liverpool, Cragg has an amazing collection of pieces made from found materials from household trash to construction refuse. We love the impressionistic charm of his pieces- gorgeous and graphic from far away, intricate and detailed from up close.
The Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) may not be new news, but is a fabulous example of innovative, zero-energy, sustainable housing on a multi-unit scale. The residential and workspace development in the London borough of Sutton is a carbon-neutral community with plentiful green spaces, recycling facilities, water saving features, and a legally binding green transport plan. It’s the whole kit-and-caboodle of sustainable living, and has been a flourishing green community since its conception in 2002.
We’re guilty of overlooking good green graphic design sometimes on Inhabitat, but here’s a great example of visual communication as an effective tool for environmental and social change. London-based illustrator Jody Barton is just one example of the power of graphics as an education tool, producing a plethora of bold illustrations focused on environmental crises. Using hand-drawn typography, Barton’s illustrations evoke preconceived notions, stereotypes, and challenge beliefs around these issues, and make us stop to think about our environmental impact.
Fernando and Humberto Campana, the Brazilian brother design duo, have long been known for their unique combination of craft-meets-contemporary, recycled-meets-high design furniture. This past summer, they debuted their latest creations, called TransPlastic, at London’s Albion Gallery, which showcased their wicker and plastic crafty yet modern furniture designs. We love the super-cool take on a vernacular form, made hip and new using traditional materials in a cocoon-like encasing technique.
“Annie” is a shopping cart turned into a comfy cute chair from reclaimed design gurus Reestore. We’ve all seen old decrepit shopping carts left by the side of the road, and it is a sad, sad sight. Thats why we are touched to see UK designer Max McMurdo taking an interest in these old cast-offs and restoring them to life by turning them into bright and cheery furniture.
Bathtubs are places for relaxation, and here’s a new interpretation- turn your tub into a sofa! This clever design by Max McMurdo breathes life into an antique fixture, and turns what was headed for landfill into a smart, provocative, and comfy conversation starter. Founded by UK product designer Max McMurdo, Reestore is a line of green products based on the recycling of old home products. Taking everyday waste objects and turning them into charming yet functional pieces of furniture and accessories, Reestore attempts to “avoid traditional eco materials in favor of contemporary finishes, fabrics, and, above all, style.”
European design duo Kathi Stertzig and Albio Nascimento of the Home Project have made a career out of playing with familiar objects and using them in unexpected new ways. Their MAX 5000W installation is a great example of their environmentally provocative thinking. Asking “What is the value of energy?” and “Is electricity really necessary for light?” this clever candle holder made from an old extension cord plays with the boundaries of high-tech and low-tech.
Ever wondered what could be done with a 1,200 foot spool of rope? Designer Josh Urso answers the question with this marvelous innovation in table design: KNOOP (Dutch for “knot”) is his latest line of table designs, which uses resin-impregnated military-grade rope to deliver wonderful inspiration to often discarded materials.
A UK initiative called ConnectingSouthwark.com is putting the green in public transportation with an EcoPod tram station that provides information and a great teaching tool for environmental responsibility. Made from recycled shipping containers and powered by renewable energy such as solar panels and wind turbines, the EcoPod is a great symbol of the green principles underpinning both the tram and its recent regeneration program.
For anyone with a taste for motorcycles and retro product design styling, here’s the perfect lighting solution. Recycled from old motorcycle parts (and the occasional household appliance), Lamponi Lamps are designed and constructed by Milan born artist Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi, bringing sleek speedy and recycled design to your tabletop.
Bringing graphic design back to its roots and creativity, Princeton Architectural Press launched D.I.Y. Kids in October 2007, a book by twin sister design-duo Ellen and Julia Lupton, founders of Design Your Life. Beautifully illustrated with “real artwork by real children”, D.I.Y. Kids engages young people to create from existing things, from binding their own books, sewing their own clothes, making stickers, logos, clothespin dolls, box buildings, graffiti furniture, ribbon accessories, and many more projects. What a fab way to get those creative juices flowing while recycling!!
Sharkah Chakra is a new luxury clothing label that takes the Golden Rule to new fashionable levels. Their philosophy is to “make the world’s best and only hand made denim using a simple age old concept of treating others as you wish to be treated.” The organic Fairtrade cotton is hand-picked in West Africa and colored using natural indigo dye, it is then woven on hand looms in Southern India before traveling to Italy where the jeans are finished and laundered.
Take a small stand for the environment (or in this case a seat, a coat stand or art easle). Ecotots is a full-line of environmentally friendly, real wood modern furniture and furnishings which assemble and disassemble quickly and easily without any tools or hardware. Made from 100% renewable FSC Certified Smart Wood®, all products are available in a variety of eco-friendly, UV finishes.
Here’s some eco-friendly kids furniture that parents will love, but kids could put together. Celery Furniture’s Lullaboo line of children’s furniture is not only environmentally sustainable in material, but without tiny metal connections like nails or hinges — it is much easier to assemble, safer for small fingers, and is easy to store and transport. The connections are simple mortise and tenon systems that slip together seamlessly and sturdily, making the furniture safer and easy to fold and store for a rainy day as your child grows up.
The Aptera (Greek for “wingless”) is an environmentally-friendly car that’s as clean and green as it is fantastically futuristic. The three-wheeled hybrid, which offers an all-electric or plug-in hybrid option, isn’t just a concept- you can reserve your own with just a $500 deposit. Seating 2.5 with plenty of room for luggage, the Aptera can get up to 230 miles per gallon at 55 miles per hour, and has an (electronically limited) top speed of 95 mph. Plus, it’s just so darn cool looking, we can’t resist the arthropod automobile aesthetic.
Part hanging plant, part green art installation, the Indoor Fabric Garden from the recent 100% Design in London is a green and eye-catching collaborative project from fashion house Ted Baker and UK branding agency JAM. The installation merges tasteful fabrics and beautiful flora, giving modern dwellers a great way to integrate greenery into their interiors seamlessly and stylishly. Plus, the hanging vessels are made use from reused lampshades and their fabrics to reinforce the environmental focus of the project.
Kent Gration’s Wambamboo Costello Seat is a wonderful example of sustainable materials used in an eye-catching way. Made from cross-laminated bamboo ribs, the ergonomically-designed small storage holder puts the focus on the exotic nature of the materiality, creating a vivid mosaic of the bamboo’s colors and layers. The seat has been created as a prototype for future production which will use plywood molding techniques.
Australian Designer Kent Gration’s Wambamboo products make beautiful use of sustainable production methods including recyclable materials, water-based finishes, energy-saving fluorescent lamps, and natural fibers. The Lucille Chaise Lounge showcased at this year’s 100% Design London is a great example of the power of bamboo in its natural form. Gration explains the Chaise as “a marriage between natural unprocessed bamboo poles and modern design.”
Next time you pick up your dry cleaning and think about disposing of the hangers, think again- they may have a second life as a gorgeous light fixture. Lighting Designer Ali Siahvoshi has done exactly that with his blue Cascading Hanger Light. This light was featured at 100% Design London this year and, along with his hanging silverware chandeliers, is another stunning example of the Iranian designer’s approach to contemporary lighting design, exemplifying the beauty of recycling objects for new purposes.
Get Inhabitat Email
