Owain,
Just out of curiosity and from designer to designer, do you come across, or use
a lot of re-cycled material?
There are several websites sporting re-cycled material that Ken Friedman and
Chris Sherwin have provided - looking there I found re-cycled glass and paper
products (FMCG, etc) - but not the real durable consumer goods. The data on
these sites seems to support the 6% typical ratio that Chris Sherwin suggests
for better industires, as in Scandinavian ones such as Electrolux.
The green design subject really worries me, as I totally agree with Chris
Sherwin that it is RE-USE and REPAIR of a product that is more valuable than
RECYCLE.
Suggest: as designers we contribute directly against the longevity of a product
by its marketed redesign - for example sports footwear and fashion design (back
to Starck?). Its almost as though we are on the Titanic assuring ourselves that
6% of the doors are closed, but still noticing the rise of the water, and yes we
are trying hard and the band is still playing - so don't knock their efforts. I
am also guilty of this sin, but am trying very hard to incorporate some kind of
elegance, repairability and longevity in what I do. This is not an attack on
design and designers, just on our blinkered acceptance that design is still
great and good - it is not in many ways.
Industrial design maybe rediscovered by archaelogists as ultimately responsible
for the plastics landfill strata they see centuries from now. (hopefully)
Glenn
My local stores seem curiously out of Papanek and Fuller products by the way.
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