Customer Reviews

Green Graphic Design

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So far, this book is the most holistic approach to covering all things green in the graphic design industry. It's an easy read that dives deep into all aspects of understanding how to be green and communicate on behalf of your clients. It's not a book, it's a rich and diverse informational tool. A must have!

I just finished reading this book and could not put it down. It is a primer on green graphic design. It talks about every aspect from ink and paper choices to how the item is printed, used, disposed of, etc. It is an important book for any graphic designer to read. I applaud Celery Design (the company referenced in the book) for helping their clients reduce their carbon footprint and take better care of the earth. If more graphic designers read this book and make green choices, then a collective industry we might be able to influence are clients to be more green too. The new color is GREEN.SustainAble: A Handbook of Materials and Applications for Graphic Designers and Their Clients (Design Field Guide)

I was looking for a book like these when I wrote my thesis! It was then that I first discovered Celery Design, and am so pleased that someone finally put together a thoughtful and cohesive book on green design. Well done! Sarah Chamberlain

Brian Dougherty's book "Green Design" looks at ways to combine the environmental ideals of the 60s, with the realities of contemporary science and business.

He argues that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies can be adopted by large businesses because design decisions aren't made at a corporate level, individuals make them, and so the task is to find individuals within organizations that share a designers "green vision".

Brian gives some practical advice for graphic designers, and how we can "go green"

Use post consumer recycled and tree-free papers
Look for printers who use non-toxic, vegetable or soy inks
Devise packaging structures that result in less waste
Strategize with clients about promoting causes
Help not-for-profit organizations communicate and lobby
Investigate cause-related marketing
Help shape the way brands communicate with their audience
As designers, he argues, we don't need "permission" to "do good", any more than we need permission to obsess about kerning. It should be a natural part of our role as designers. There are also two directions that designers need to push for change. One is "upstream" which involves changing management and client decisions, and the other is "downstream" and this involves suppliers, manufacturers and printers.

Brian makes a very shocking point, and illustrates it quite graphically, that most "graphic design" ends up as landfill. Those 50,000 flyers that you sent out to homes and businesses last week just got thrown away, even if they communicated the intended message first. And "thrown away" actually means, moved somewhere else. Out of site, out of mind. There is no "away". It was a well-made point and certainly caused me to sit up and think.

Leading on from this, he argues that increasing our response rates is one of the "greenest" things we can do as designers and that paradigm shifts are much better than incremental improvements. I love his quote, "use more creativity and less stuff". That will certainly be my mantra for the New Year.

In terms of paradigm shifts, Brian encourages us to think about ways of reinventing what was once standard design, such as removing the need for envelopes and making letterheads into self-mailers, or printing postcards that point readers to an online brochure, instead of printing the whole brochure and sending it. As annoying as email newsletters are, deleting them into cyberspace is a whole lot better for the planet than throwing a printed newsletter into landfill.

He discusses the printing process itself and how environmentally unfriendly it is, with all the waste paper and ink involved with starting a print run, the energy consumed by the printer itself and the toxic cleanup of the machines after the run is finished.

His advice for short run printing is to go digital. For medium print runs, use sheet-fed offset and waterless printing or UV printing and for larger runs, again look for UV printing. I also think that any printer who is using renewable energy to run their machines is also a plus.

The book also examines plastics, and I was interested to see PVC or vinyl called "the Poison Plastic" as I have worked in the signage industry, and I know that the majority of printing is done with very toxic inks on to vinyl substrates. He suggests using other signage alternatives, such as 3D laser cutting, cotton canvas for banners, recycled PET plastic fabric or UV print onto reclaimed surfaces or veneered solids.

This review might make the book sound all doom and gloom because I've extracted the main points, but as he says, he's "more interested in innovation than guilt" and I was certainly inspired to innovate more with my design as a result of reading the book. It's actually quite light and easy-to-read, surprisingly, considering the topic and I certainly think every graphic designer should start investigating ways to green their professional practice, one way or another. I look forward to the day when "green design" is synonymous with "good design" and no body thinks about doing the "right thing" anymore, because everyone just does it naturally.

I'll end with another quote from the book that also deserves to be printed on a T-shirt (using soy based inks of course): "In order to design for change, we must change the way we design". Inspiring stuff indeed.

A must read for all graphic designers and students. Dougherty brings you back to the importance of creating and delivering meaningful messages rather than creating more stuff. Redefines Green Design as something that is not only environmentally friendly but also socially responsible. Also provides specific strategies for choosing materials such as paper and ink and binding.

As time rolls on, everything is going green, including art. "Green Graphic Design" is a look at how graphical design is one of the many industries becoming more and more environment-friendly. Eco-friendly inks are only the start of it; author Brian Dougherty says one does not have to sacrifice artistic merit or the client's wishes in order to stay ahead of the eco-friendly game. A must for the artist who cares for the environment as much as his or her work, "Green Graphic Design" is a top pick.

I have been working in my thesis about 4 months ago, and this is one of the books where I've been taking references. Basically, this book shows and explains in a very efficient way this new wave of Sustainable Graphic Design. I strongly recommend it for all designers around the world who wants to be on the forefront of our profession making a difference and producing creatively eco-friendly solutions to their clients. Bravo! for Briand Dougherty and Celery Design Collaborative. Saludos desde México.

My English is not so good I write in spanish.
Recibi el libro en Tiempo y forma. La compra fue muy segura y el libro esta muy bueno.
Muchas Gracias

If you want to be a green graphic designer, this book is full of guidelines and principles to help you get started in green graphic design. Or if you are someone looking to hire a green graphic designer, this book will make the selection process a breeze! As it will give you plenty of information to make an educated selection. Enjoy!

Luis Casstle, CEO
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Great Book on green design, perfect for anyone who wants to learn about green design and implement it into there own work.