Paper

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Sustainability

The University Brief

How to have a positive productive career in creativity

What is a book? At a surface level, a book is a collection of pages bound together in some form of sequential order. Those pages can be made of any number of different materials, from paper to parchment from cloth to plastic etc. etc. The invention of movable type and hence the mass production of books is one of the most important developments in our culture, without which we would not have the education, comfort, health, and life we have now. The printed book has served us well for over 500 years. Even in the age of the internet, books still play a massive part in our consciousness, they still have an authority and importance to us, they can literally make you laugh, make you cry and change your life.

We take books for granted, we have always had them around, everyone has opened a book (even if it is just to look at the pictures). What you need to do as designers is start to examine how a book functions, what does a ‘book’ mean to you, what are the conventions of a book, and how those conventions might be challenged.

The Sustainable Graphic Designer

Sustainability can mean many things to a graphic designer. It can be a literal meaning that relates to the materials and methods you choose to use for your designs and solutions. It can also refer to your skills and the ability to adapt to and execute any given design problem.
Throughout your career, you will be tested on your ability to research as well as your design skills. This project is designed to test your abilities in all of these areas.

For example: What materials did you use for print?; What skills can you use to dig deeper into Research?; Did you execute your skills in the making of the book?; Does the actual content of the book influence and inform?.

The aim of this project is to produce a 20-page book that reflects Sustainability.

What I did -

My approach for this project was to demonstrate how much unnecessary paper we use in the world. I provided factional information that demonstrated the various areas where we use paper profligately. My inspiration was triggered primarily by the many letters and accompanying information that Student Finance Wales sends to me. Most of the information is duplicated and is in any case completely unnecessary, as all of it is easily available and accessible online. In addition, all information is provided in both Welsh and English, and whilst such an idea may be admirable, I felt that in the interests of the environment, it should be established early on what the preferred language for communication was for any client.

To make my point as potent as possible I made the sleeve of the book from recyclable materials, such cardboard obtained from disused Lidl’s packaging and the interior pages of the book from the countless letters and information that Student Finance Wales had sent me.