Nathan Shedroff is one of the leading design thinkers preaching the gospel of sustainability today. On a recent visit to UC Davis Kleiber Hall – Shedroff spoke to a packed house. The topic was “sustainable design” and not only how to design products to be sustainable but how to communicate the need to the public for a different approach.
Sustainability, according to Nathan Shedroff is really the only choice. According to Shedroff we can no longer afford the old ways of designing for comfort and fashion without any consideration to how the product is made, how long a useful life it has, and where it ends up when it's life is over. Throwing everything in the landfills when we're done with it is akin to sweeping it under the rug – sooner or later you run out of rug.
To address this we have to address the key questions that the common consumer has: What is the incentive to incorporate sustainable design? Why would anyone do it if it costs more? If it is sustainable will it still meet the needs of the people?
With a simple “bullseye” he breaks the areas of importance into three categories: Financial, Social and Ecological. He stresses that you cannot focus just on one and ignore the others. Truly smart design one must address all three.
One of the most powerful tools is communication. In the past the rift between the need for sustainable design and the belief that it was necessary has been a matter of communication. Educating the public in terms that they can understand is key. Leading the graduate MBA program at the California College of the arts he teaches his students to how to successfully paint a picture of the need for change.
Shedroff cautions us to avoid use of the term “Green” as in “Green building and “Green Design”. He states that it's basically a marketing or communication issue. “ People have a lot of old images associated with the term 'green' - hippies, dirty feet, granola....connotations of another era”. According to Shedroff, these old images cause people to close their minds and quickly look away so if we're trying to sell people on sustainability we need a new approach. Also the term has a tendency to focus just on the Ecological impact of design and divert attention from the financial and social aspects. These are simply too important to be passed over. If we stress the interaction of all three areas and the concept that smart design addresses them all people will be more likely to take the concept seriously.All in all, in order for sustainability to be embraced with open arms we are going to have to think on all levels and take a smart approach.
Nathan Shedroff is chair of the new Design Strategy MBA program at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
Above: New graphics for better communication to the public emphasizing the three major components effected by and effecting design and their interaction.
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