The Designers Accord

Have a design challenge? Ask nature for the solution. Learn about the central principles of biomimicry in our new case study in sustainability on Fast Company.

You can also submit a real life real-life design problem to be solved one of three leading design teams (Smart Design, New York; IDEO, Chicago and Boston; and Taller de Operaciones Ambientales, Mexico City), each with a biomimicry expert working with them. If we think your challenge is a good match for one of the firms, we’ll contact you for more information. Your company could be featured on FastCompany.com as “clients” for one of three biomimetic challenges, and receive a solution for your problem–courtesy of nature, of course.

We’re closing the submission process end of day on March 17th!

Amidst the new outfits swishing down runways at this year’s London Fashion Week was a different kind of fashion launch: The British non-profit named Forum for the Future released its sustainability trend report for the industry. But the report, named Fashion Futures 2025, is no endless stack of statistics, like so many other trend reports that seem like they were written to make your eyes glaze over. This innovative toolkit includes a range of free materials, from a workshop guide to entertaining animation, that its creators hope will help the report’s message reach a wider audience.

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Organic and natural foods have exploded into our supermarkets at an astonishing rate: There has been an estimated 20% growth in volume each year for the last six years. That’s a good problem to have if you’re a consumer who wants to have a range of healthy options to feed your family, but for a marketer who has to help educate consumers about those options and make their brand stand out, it can be a natural disaster. Marty McDonald, creative director of Seattle-based agency egg, was charged with helping the 20-year-old cereal brand Nature’s Path break through a crowded grocery aisle filled with similar-sounding products and reach an audience hungry for sustainable breakfast foods.

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In 2005 a new company named KOR Water founded by Eric Barnes and Paul Shustak handed their dream down to Sawhney’s team: It was an idea called “Water ReDesigned,” and their hope was that they could get people to stop using plastic water bottles by changing the way people drank water. After an analysis of the reusable water bottle market at the time, RKS believed the number of products hitting shelves was about to come to a head. “We predicted there would be a commodification of water bottles,” says Sawhney. “And there has been.” As the market flooded with bottles, they realized that no one was positioning their vessels of water as anything but utilitarian. They saw a competitive opportunity where they could position the act of eschewing disposable bottles as almost…virtuous.

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An economic downturn can be a boon for volunteerism. Not only are people more sympathetic to the needs of their fellow citizens, but thanks to a lightened workload–or, ahem, no work at all–people also might actually have the time to give. Acknowledging the fact that many designers might be using a slow year to build more meaningful connections with their own communities, and spurred by several service initiatives from local and federal government, a group of New York-based designers formed DesigNYC, a new way for New York designers to connect their creative skills with non-profits.

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Eco-practitioner Wendy Jedlicka has worked on the frontlines of sustainable design practice for 20 years and recently edited the new book Packaging Sustainability, but don’t you dare call her an eco-packaging guru. “If someone tells you they’re an eco-packaging expert, run screaming,” she says. “There’s no human being who has that much time to do all the research required for that.”

Start with all the different substrates for packaging, then add in the complexities of sustainable design, and you’ve got a nuanced study in systems thinking. Think of it like a computer keyboard, she says. It’s not a single button (everyone wants that “easy button”), it’s a combination of keys, and how you press them.

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As a graduate student at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, Robyn Waxman became fascinated with the next generation of designers’ role when it came to protest and civil disobedience, a place designers and artists have been focusing their efforts for centuries. Studying millennials, who are generally considered to be a group of participatory, positive, technologically-savvy 18- to 30-year-olds, revealed some interesting insights: This was a generation that had solid respect for the law and was reluctant to publicly criticize the status quo. “[They] are really concerned about defying authority,” says Waxman, who is 39. “They are looking out for their future.” As her thesis, Waxman proposed an intervention that helped redefine protest for the rising creative group–a form of engagement that would help educate and inspire them in how to take action.

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A few years back, Hulger gained gadget geek stardom with their line of phone accessories that turned wireless calls or Skyping into a classy, contemporary twist on the traditional telephone experience. After gaining worldwide attention for their sly cultural commentary on our relationships with our mobile phones, founder Nicolas Roope wanted to turn the firm’s attention to something more universal that could make a wider impact. You could say a lightbulb went off in his head: The Plumen Project was born.

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After a 3-year stint as director of product development for innovation retailer Brookstone, David Laituri decided that it was time to strike out on his own. He remembers a pivotal get-together at a local Denny’s with his future business partner, Tim Trzepacz, a former Brookstone colleague. “Why is it that sound systems today are all cheap plastic boom boxes?” he remembers discussing with Trzepacz. “It’s like everyone is simply adding more plastic to an iPod.” The dialogue quickly moved from idea to cost to schedule to resources–and Vers was born.

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For more than 13 years, Preserve has been a leader in recycling plastics to use in their products like toothbrushes and razors. After years spent making personal care products, Preserve surveyed its customers to find out where else they’d like to see their products, and expanded its offerings into home accessories, like their line of kitchen products. Their Everyday Tableware line, which was recently launched in Target as part of its back-to-college promotion, was designed in partnership with Evo Design and addresses a unique challenge for the affordable tableware market: It’s made from recycled plastic yet sturdy enough to withstand years of everyday use.

Read this case study in sustainability on Fast Company