Environmental Practices in Graphic Design - Part 4

This is what my teacher had to say.

Assessment Feedback

Student Name - Colleen Sedgwick

Assessment Number - 30528-01

Course / Study Period - Diploma of Graphic Design / Study Period : SP1

Trainer -  April Solomon

Holistic Feedback

Strengths 

Well researched with lots of appropriate references and specific examples.

Areas for Improvement

Would like to see more of your own creative solutions for sustainable practice as a designer or business in the strategies for parts B and C.

Specific Feedback

Communication Piece

• Create a ‘communication piece’ that could be shared with other graphic designers to promote a positive attitude to sustainability in their professional practice.

• Include research about sustainability issues specifically affecting Graphic Designers

• Gather first hand information from Graphic Designers about sustainability measures they are using to improve professional practice.

• Must include images/copy that depict current and emerging trends for sustainable practice.

• The ideas and concepts should be designed to improve sustainability practices that include:

o Adopting alternative sources of materials, including recycled products

o Maximising the use of waste products from the creative process 

o Using sustainable materials where possible

o Monitoring and measuring personal use of resources

o Considering environmental impacts when making design decisions.

• A reference list is required – Including the sources used to conduct research and acknowledge any direct quotes or images.

• Your communication piece could be deployed in a number of suggested formats.

For example:

o A printed piece (newsletter, or poster)

o Digital (newsletter, website or blog)

Outstanding - Great work on your survey Colleen. The questions are quite pointed which shows that you have researched the topic well. These questions benefit the respondent of the survey on two ways, they are easy to answer and they help the respondent become aware of their own shortcomings in their sustainable practice.

Well done on your communication piece. You have a great slogan - catchy and gives a cliche phrase a deeper meaning. Great to see your experiments in different treatments. I think the analog treatments such as raw unfinished cardboard, and colour pencils appeal to the ‘natural’ feel of sustainable practice. The punk one also really stands out.  Has a revolutionary feel which also suits the topic.

Report – ( approx.1500 words )

• Written report that describes the sustainable work practices you will implement in your role

as a graphic designer. You will need to conduct research to complete this activity.

Your report may focus on:

• Your current graphic design role

• A graphic design role in a company that interests you or that you aspire to work for - You will need to refer to your findings about your resource usage that you completed for learning activity 3 in the workbook 30528A.

The report must address the following:

o Introduction that includes background information about company and graphic designer’s role that is the focus of your report

o The source of materials that are currently used by the company, including their place of origin and

abundance

o Analysis of the resource usage in Analysis of the resource usage in your daily work routine (you will have completed this analysis of two week’s usage in learning activity 3 in workbook 30528A)

o The findings of your research into sustainability issues relevant to your workplace or specialist area

or discipline in the design industry (the research that you undertook for Activity 1 may form part of this research)

o Strategies you intend to use for sustainable practice in a graphic design role

o An analysis of existing and potential environmental risk and hazards in a workplace where graphic design activities are undertaken

o Identify sources of information and professional development opportunities that will keep your knowledge of sustainability and your skills up to date

o Identify the requirements of environmental legislation, codes and national standards relevant to sustainability and evaluate the impact on Graphic Design industry

o A bibliography.

• The report should be approximately 1500 words and include relevant images, diagrams and tables.

• The report should be professionally formatted. Information on how to structure your report can be found at Appendix A.

Outstanding - Well done explaining your current situation as a design student and Australia Post mail sorter. You describe in detail the sustainability issues effecting both these roles.  You have listed the resources you use at home but how much of these do you use over a certain period of time or over the course of producing a project for college (see activity 3). Did you attempt any of the eco footprint calculators to see your personal impact on the planet? Excellent response to hazards and risks by identifying very particular issues and using research. You have listed some great strategies for sustainable business practice that your company currently follow. Others can learn from this. Can you identify any thing else that they could that are not currently doing?

Well done identifying frameworks and standards governing sustainable practice in your work. What about as a designer? For example, the AGDA code of ethics.  Your conclusion mentions packaging,

which is an area that has a lot of room for improving sustainable standards.  Packaging is a great area to head as a Packaging is a great area to head as a designer as it is more future proof than a lot of other areas of design which are being overtaken by technology and less skilled workers.

Action Plan

• Research and assess the environmental impact of a design brief. (You can use a brief that you are currently working on or you may use the case study at Appendix B)

• Interpret the design brief and undertake research to assess the environmental impact of the design process and production. Use your findings to complete the action plan in Appendix B to record the details of your sustainable design decisions.

• The report should be structured in the following sections.

Introduction

o Background information (Name of company)

o Graphic designer role and responsibilities

Body

o Source of materials

o Resource usage analysis

o Sustainability issues

o Strategies for sustainable practice

o Environmental risk and hazards

o Professional development

o Regulatory framework

o References

Conclusion

o Summary of your recommendations to improve sustainable practice to address the issues and risks that you have examined in earlier sections of the report)

Good - Great work on the action plan. You have analysed the brief and scenario in careful detail including hazards and solutions. You are aware of how the end user may use the product and whether this is sustainable. Again, you have backed up your claims with research.

The overall mark I got for this was a Distinction, which I was very proud of :)