BPIF Launches Carbon Calculator!

In March the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) launched a 'special carbon calculator' to measure the carbon footprint of a one-off print job and the annual carbon consumption of a printing business; only a few years after Leap launched theirs in conjunction with St Austell Print Company.
“We’ve tried to do a full life cycle of the printing process,” explains the BPIF’s Liam Gardner. “But it’s massively complex when you try to calculate the impact from cradle to grave,” he admits. For instance, if you’re looking at inks and solvents, do you calculate the energy needed to extract the oil in the first place, he asks. “So we’ve focused on getting the basics right,” he explains.
This move by BPIF couldn't come at a better time with the UK print industry worth over £14 billion with a carbon footprint to match.
For more information Click here.

Futerra's 10 signs of Greenwash

These are the things to look out for on advertising and packaging that can indicate when a company is trying to use greenwash to sell its product or service, according to Futerra's Greenwash guide..

1. Fluffy language
Words or terms with no clear meaning, e.g. "ecofriendly".

2. Green products v dirty company
Such as efficient light bulbs made in a factory which pollutes rivers.

3. Suggestive pictures
Green images that indicate an (unjustified) green impact eg flowers blooming from exhaust pipes.

4. Irrelevant claims
Emphasising one tiny green attribute when everything else is "ungreen".

5. Best in a bad class?
Declaring you are slightly greener than the rest, even if the rest are pretty terrible.

6. When it's just not credible
"Ecofriendly" cigarettes anyone? "Greening" a dangerous product doesn't make it safe.

7. Gobbledygook
Jargon and information that only a scientist could check or understand.

8. Imaginary friends
A "label" that looks like third party endorsement ... except it is made up by the company itself.

9. No proof
It could be right, but where's the evidence?

10. Outright lying
Totally fabricated claims or data.

For more info visit: http://www.futerra.co.uk/
Or http://www.leapmedia.co.uk/

Maxim Laithwaite - The Water Pilgrim

With the tagline "Walking without money for those without money", Max is walking the 1000Km of the South West Coast Path raising money for WaterAid. Taking just over two months, he will leave Minehead in Somerset on 10th July and (all being well) he will arrive in Poole on 12th September.
The route has more than 35Km of ascents which incredibly is four times the height of Everest!
Max is planning on Walking and talking along his route with several supporters and famous faces to raise his profile. To date he's invited Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Ray Mears, Rob Hopkins and Tim Smit to join him along his route and discuss the issue of water conservation.
Leap pledges their support and wishes him well!
To follow the exploits of this remarkable man click the pic...

Bear 13/Lucy McLauchlan - "Tacit"

Here's a great piece hosted by Vimeo of Lucy McLauchlan and Beat 13's "Tacit", great music and great art!

Beat13 / Lucy McLauchlan "Tacit" from Beat13 on Vimeo.

Guerrilla Gardening: Fight the Filth

A great link this one...
A guy in London who began planting his neighbourhood with seeds in all kinds of places...
Click the Pic for link

Great News on Two Fronts!

So here we are, coming to the end of the awards season with yet more great news! The last post announced the nomination of the Good Energy Shop for the Observer Ethical Awards. We can now say that Leap designed the most ethical online retail site in 2009! That's right folks... Good Energy Shop won! Everyone is thrilled at the news and we'd like to congratulate everyone at Good Energy for ensuring that a great website is backed up with a great team and customer experience. As the award was decided by nominations from customers, we'd like to add to Good Energy's words by thanking all those customers who voted for the site. We also have had MORE good news... Leap has been awarded a Big Tick for Climate Change by the Business in the Community (Bit) organisation. As one of only 106 companies achieving this award nationwide and one of 12 in the Southwest, Leap are proud to be one of the only companies of its size achieving such a recognised accreditation. The ceremony is on Thursday and I will post the best pictures to the blog next week.

Nominations Galore!

More great news on the awards front this week... Yet another Leap designed website has been nominated for a prestigious Observer Ethical Award. The awards sponsored by Ecover recognised that the Good Energy Shop site, designed by Leap in 2008, is one of the country’s top three Online Retail Initiatives. Upon being nominated by their customers Good Energy said: “As a young business (we're only 7 months old) it's a real pleasure to know that you support us in our aim to tackle climate change and are as dedicated to promoting low carbon living as we are.”
Voted for by Observer readers and a panel including Colin Firth, Ken Livingstone and Steve Punt, the awards are to be announced next Wednesday 3rd June.

Cornwall Business Awards

Unfortunately we didn't win the Best Website Award at the Cornwall Business Awards. Congratulations go to Finisterre for their most excellent web store for selling their bodacious surf wear. But seriously, their website has contributed so much to their business success that they deserved to win unreservedly.
Other winners included: Best New Business; Large Diameter Drilling, Business Improvement Through People; Pall (Newquay) and Entrepreneur; Lyn Thompson.
Congratulations to all of them.

"Slowly but Surely"

Scott Billings, in an article for Design Week Magazine last week, gave a detailed analysis of the state of designed obsolescence in graphic and industrial design.
He cites the 1964 publication of Ken Garland's 'First Things First' manifesto as: "a cry for less triviality, transience and wastefulness, and for more value." Scott also mentions the 2000 Adbusters version of 'First Things First' and how it lamented against "how graphic designers' 'time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential, at best'".
In the wake of Greenpeace's most recent Green Electronics Survey, Scott goes on to discuss the slow progress being made by the particularly polluting global electronics industry and highlights some exemplary products from the survey.
It's good to know that even some of the biggest players in industry are beginning to take sustainability seriously.
See the whole article here.

10 Energy Myths

Renewable technologies have had a tough time of it ever since they came onto the scene almost a hundred years ago. In response to their continued attack Chris Goodall, author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet decided to dispel some widely held myths on the Guardian website. Highlights include: Nuclear power is cheaper than other low-carbon energy sources and Electric cars are slow and ugly.
You can read the full article here. There is a discussion of these myths here connected to the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.
Chris Goodall's new book, Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, is published by Profile books, priced £9.99.

Another Nomination

In April we were told of our success in being nominated for a Cornwall Business Award in the Best Website Category. Entering on behalf of Bedruthan Steps Hotel, the website is a terrific fusion of intuitively tactile high design and practical functionality. Kieran's design encourages the casual viewer to 'discover' the various aspects of the website and the hotel in turn, whilst the visitor set on booking a room is able to do so quickly and efficiently. Through the use of an interactive 'window with a view' on each reception page, the visitor 'explores' their way to each page rather than just being taken there.
To see the website for yourself click here.
The winners will be announced at the awards dinner at the St. Mellion International Hotel, Golf and Country Club on May 14th, when I will let you know of the result...

Peak Oil Parliamentary Speech

Prof. Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of 'The Upside of Down' and 'The Ingenuity Gap' is giving a major speech hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group On Peak Oil and Gas on 5th May. Entitled How Should We Respond to the Converging Crises of the 21st Century? the speech is concerned with Climate Change, Peak Oil, Economic Meltdown, Environmental Degradation and Population Growth.
If you happen to be in London on the 5th May the speech is being given at the Grand Committee Room within the House of Commons from 1830-2000hrs. For more information click here.

Adobe Goes Green

At ETech 2009 in San Francisco last month, Adobe Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch announced a series of programs that could transform designers awareness of sustainability.
View the speech he gave here:

New Times Ahead, Porth, BAD BEEF & Cradle to Cradle Design

Hey there, my name's Chris Maynard; I'm Marketing Assistant under Charlie and Matt and I have taken responsibility for the Leap-design for change blog. Don't worry, I will be asking for everyone's involvement over the coming months, but for the time being, I'll be the main contributor.
As a short introduction to myself; I'm a finalist at University College Falmouth on their Journalism BA course. I met Matt over a year ago at an event at UCF called InTransition. It was concerned with the role of the designer in a post oil future and really inspired me to turn a passing interest in the environment and sustainability into the core of my imminent career. In November of last year I started a five week placement with Leap and enjoyed it so much that I put all my effort into making myself indispensable. As it happened, fate stepped in to make it so.

First a bit of news:

On 12th March Leap won the best CD/DVD category at the Media Innovation Awards in Bristol. The award was given to our interactive CD-ROM that we designed and developed for the 'Tales from Porth' Cornish Language books. Leap managed to beat off competition from Mr. B. Productions and KOR Communications who respectively produced 'Substance' a surf film in association with Wavelength Magazine and 'Doing Our Part for Our Part of the World' for Clinton Devon Estates.

Click Here for thisiscornwall.co.uk Story

Matt forwarded me this Image that Lee had sent him on his web wanderings. I think this could form one of the major facts that will shape the next phase of the green journey; the quest for Water for All. One of the biggest uses of water in our day-to-day lives is in the production of the beef we eat. In the image it says that 1,500 gallons of water are used to produce just one pound of meat. This equates to over 12,500 litres for every kilo. (Click on image to find out more) I have just finished our entry to the Carbon Positive Awards 2009. At the end of the entry form there was a section for an inspirational quote and a couple of bullet points that are important in your resolve to combat climate change. The quote that I chose came from this TED talk back in 2005 given by one William McDonough. The co-creator of Cradle to Cradle Design describes the design brief for something as 'Simple' [sic] as a tree:

"To use something as elegant as a tree. Imagine this design assignment: design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distils water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates micro climates, changes colours with the seasons and self-replicates. Why don't we knock that down and write on it?"

Please click HERE to view the video. I also recommend the book 'Cradle to Cradle' for anyone struggling with the concept or for vindication that you're not alone in the climate struggle.

More posts soon...Peace

'Waste Not, Want Not

Looking back at the austerity campaigns of World War II, you realise how little things change - recycling was called something different back then, but war-time make-do and mend was similar to our sustainability drive. What is different is how the message was put across. The war years were bleak, with many living in already austere conditions, yet the graphic energy and optimism is a far cry from some of the work we see today. The Dig for Victory poster shows a harvest festival of vegetables glistening with just-picked freshness, while Save Fuel for Battle includes a humorous cartoon and graphics that dance off the page. Some of the images are very much of their time, but others, like the Save Metal poster, have a timeless directness. An exhibition of austerity posters and pamphlets is at The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising, with director Robert Opie citing a raft of tip-top designers who gave the material such vibrancy. These include John Gilroy (of Guinness fame), Abram Games (who later designed the first moving ident for the BBC in 1953), and Fougasse, whose poster Careless Talk Costs Lives is as good as they get. 'Our situation is similar to the war years,' says Opie. 'We need to preserve raw materials, recycle and re-use. The war graphics were just so good at it.

National Tree Week

26 November - 7 December 2008

National Tree Week is a great chance for communities to do something positive for their local treescape. Each year, Tree Council member organisations such as voluntary bodies and local authorities, up to 200 schools and community groups, 8,000 Tree Wardens and many others, support the initiative by setting up fun, worthwhile and accessible events, inspiring upward of a quarter of a million people to get their hands dirty and together plant around million trees.

To see what events are taking place around the country visit http://www.treecouncil.org.uk

Leap sponsors ‘Most Inspirational Film 2008’ at this year’s Cornwall Film Festival.

On Saturday, the Sandsifter hosted Cornwall Film Festival's 'BOARDSHORTS' which was presented by film critic Mark Kermode and Leap was one of their main sponsors!
Most Inspirational film 08 went to The Life of Ply by Ocean Motion Pictures and Leap supported them by presenting a cheque for £250 !
The event showcased short films and slideshows from local and international talent, documenting the wonderful world of wave riding in all its forms.
This year the film festival trebled the capacity of the venue to include a marquee to accommodate the expanding audience.
The quality of the entries this year were outstanding, with entries from the Uk’s very best film makers and Leap was very proud to be a part of it!

Leap are due to create the visual identity and communication collateral for what will be the UK’s leading eco-hotel The Scarlet.
The Scarlet is due to open in the Summer 2009 and offers an escape for grown-ups to eat, dream and play in peace.

First things first 2000 a design manifesto

We, the undersigned, are graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators who have been raised in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable use of our talents. Many design teachers and mentors promote this belief; the market rewards it; a tide of books and publications reinforces it.

Encouraged in this direction, designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design. The profession's time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at best.

Many of us have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this view of design. Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact. To some extent we are all helping draft a reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse.

There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help.

We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication - a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design.

In 1964, 22 visual communicators signed the original call for our skills to be put to worthwhile use. With the explosive growth of global commercial culture, their message has only grown more urgent. Today, we renew their manifesto in expectation that no more decades will pass before it is taken to heart.

signed:

Jonathan Barnbrook
Nick Bell
Andrew Blauvelt
Hans Bockting
Irma Boom
Sheila Levrant de Bretteville
Max Bruinsma
Siân Cook
Linda van Deursen
Chris Dixon
William Drenttel
Gert Dumbar
Simon Esterson
Vince Frost
Ken Garland
Milton Glaser
Jessica Helfand
Steven Heller
Andrew Howard
Tibor Kalman
Jeffery Keedy
Zuzana Licko
Ellen Lupton
Katherine McCoy
Armand Mevis
J. Abbott Miller
Rick Poynor
Lucienne Roberts
Erik Spiekermann
Jan van Toorn
Teal Triggs
Rudy VanderLans
Bob Wilkinson

and many more

original Manifesto, 1964

reaction
by Jouke Kleerebezem

disciussion
Info Design Cafe mailinglist

miscellaneous reactions

Bedruthan Steps hotel gains triple success at this years Cornwall Tourism awards 2008!!

Last night at the Cornwall Tourism Awards 2008/9
Bedruthan Steps hotel won the following awards:

Gold Large Hotel of the Year
Gold Sustainable Tourism of the year
Silver Website of the Year


Well done Bedruthan!