GDES3003 STUDENT SUSTAINABLE PRINT PRESENTATIONS

Green Design students presented different facets of 'Green Print' techniques found via research.

Some good talks this week from students on the Green Design module. They were set a session task to research and then deliver to their peers updated information on a particular facet of Green Printing practices.

Here students Dani and Georgi talk about sourcing raw materials for paper-making and how this is now being done much more sustainably via new methods made available. Students Aaron and Sophy won the student 'vote' at the end and went off with the spoils: two large choc chip cookies (which I'm told they very carefully shared between their peers too!).. Well done all.

CAT Trip 2017

Some quick ref pics of the group over at the Centre for Alternate Technology (CAT) this year. Always a good day, we had a welcome talk with Chris McLennan and then a lecture/workshop with Paul Allen - CAT's 'Zero Carbon Britain' project Co-Ordinator..

"This trip was a big eye opener to me as it made me aware to things that I had very little previous knowledge of. It was definitely a large inspiration to me and my work."
Student on the module taken from the submitted report.

Some of our group for the day en route over there..

The amazing water-powered cliff railway at CAT.

Students inside one of the cliff railway carriages on the
way up to the main site..

Our group for the day and design lecturer Andy

Paul Allen's talk on 'Zero Carbon Britain'..

The amazing Sheppard lecture theatre - made from 'rammed earth'..

CAT's head of education, Chris McLennan gives an overview talk..

A large slab of vegan cake that we 'user tested' in CAT's canteen.. :)

Gdes3003 Final Creative Concept Submissions for the Worcester eBike Project

Here's a selection of this semester's student submissions for the Worcester eBike project. These will now be passed out to partners involved in the eBike scheme and will be looked-over with making a shortlist of potential design treatments in mind. Katy Boom, UW's Director of Sustainability visited the student hand-in and explained the next steps in the process. Students were told that one or more of their visual solutions will definitely be used in any final project - amazing news!

"(the) Green Design module and the Worcester Cycling Network Project was very beneficial to me as I look at design (now) from a different point of view... I have also developed my skills from the 2nd year in terms of map-making and navigational design which I really enjoy doing... I believe that this project has a great scope and in the future it might bring something wonderful to Worcester.. I'm more than happy that I got a chance to work on it for a couple of months."
- Student comment on this project (sanctioned, from report).

“… Green Design and this brief has helped me develop as a designer.. Being more self-aware of all these (sustainability-related) factors in how we look at the production and design of projects, advertisements, print is definitely beneficial to how I look at potential briefs in the future.. Big brand companies are becoming more eco-aware, which in turn provides work and opportunities for people with the knowledge to make their products sustainable and have less impact on the environment.. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about different developments..”
- Student comment on this project (sanctioned, from report).

Joe Baber

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Gabrielle Booth

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Scott Booth

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Charlotte Bullock

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Markeec Butler-Stephen

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James Campbell

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Anca Coltofeanu

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Tom Hodgson

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Katie Ledgerwood

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Margarett Passos

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Anna Peskova

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Christina Pop

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Noa Rakic

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Lenka Simackova

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Anna Solcova

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Georgia Stanley

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Alex Williams

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Gdes3003 Prototypes Deadline Individual Tutorials & Feedback

This week I was keen that I caught up with all on the module to both see where students were progress-wise (Prototypes Deadline) and to review research gathered and your devt processes too. Below is a list of general tips and my own observations per person at this stage before next session’s peer assessment.

General Top Tips At This Stage

1. Make sure that you’ve revisited the brief and have devt work ongoing that addresses the various primary and secondary wants.

2. Consider some level of basic user testing to make sure that your key ideas are reviewed by at least 5x individuals who count as ‘general public’.. You can do this (refer to previous sessions and user test discussions) via questionnaires, interviews etc.

3. While the primary aim is to have the support booklet as a .pdf, it will likely be printed by some orgs and occasional individuals. As it’s A5 this means that the booklet will be ‘pocket-sized’. It may be printed ultimately as a short run too by orgs linked to the system – i.e. Worcs City Council in small quantities. If it is printed in this way then it’s likely it’ll be done so using both eco print considerations as well as sustainable paper and board.

Feedback to individual students attending tutorials

Joe Baber
Needs to collect all refs together so can populate a blog.
Great research on PPt to date + notes. Very good x-section of sketch devts + notes – needs to experiment more with layouts and some of the good visuals he’s been developing .. Not had chance to look at the blog in a big way as yet..

Gabrielle
Blog but only content is CAT visit/task. Needs to evidence all her primary and secondary research + her notes and thinking on this. Needs to add refs gathered from sessions. Has written session notes but needs to transfer these to blog posts. Has a small amount of devt sketches + some useful notes – suggest expanding these to help support final set of ideas. Like the fact that has started to look at where ads and key graphics will go on bikes.. Think there’s potential in the ‘E Cycle’ idea – needs to add an obvious Worcester ref though.

Scott Booth
Has some initial thinking in sketchbook + notes and ideas around naming. Has been out working for the university for large swathes of the last two weeks so is understandably not as far ahead at present as some of of his peers. Looking at info graphic style – simple, minimalistic. Has useful set of refs on blog – good that has asked the public about their thinking about this sort of scheme too.

Charlotte B
Has well populated blog with useful notes and imagery from research and sessions. Has set of devt sketches visible + early screen refs here. Advised to go back to brief and double check key requirements of brief for 3D artefact element.  Advised on some poss tweeks to graphics treatement and more symbolic ‘cycle’ elements to be brought into existing designs..

Markeek
Has contents and some research in sketchbook has had some computer issues but will transfer content to a new blog by next session. Has refs to eBooks and bike brochures – knows that ideally we need to see his angle and comments on these on the blog. Has evidence of thumbnail sketches and some basic notes in sketchbook. Has early examples of work in illustrator on screen linked to GTech bottle visual – like but wonder if needs to allude more to electric power too? Sugegstd positive/negative signs or eco-power like wind power etc.. Definitely revisit the brief to make sure has all required elements in hand.. Has early refs to one element of the guide – map.. Has early idea for barcode scanning which he wishes to develop further.

James C
Has contents on blog coming together – primary and secondary and refs to ebike trials and CAT etc.. Useful summary of brief + notes.. Has some useful ID ideas developed on screen – have suggested one stronger than others and maybe consider refining this a little more to suggest ‘cycles’ in some way. Suggested various small tweeks to typographic treatments too.

Anca
Content on blog appeared recently from notes some of the key aspects required appearing on here but I would say still some room for extra research into eco packaging, second life packs. Need to see electric bike test pics from session. Wasn’t able to show sketches at this moment or work on screen although Anca knows it’s the prototypes deadline today.  Next week is peer assessment and Anca assures me that she will have all elements here to show.

Tom H
Has range of refs on his blog + some useful notes. Some useful session refs, CAT post and electric bike test pics. Some issues with display of imagery at the point of tutorials - but has shown examples on phone instead.. Consids around user testing of ideas – make sure revisit brief to be sure that has ticked all key wants and also make sure that symbolic cycle-related imagery en route..

Katie
Good blog development of posts and well noted-out, good development of ideas and has had feed in from different tutors and used this to her advantage. Suggested user testing and going back to the original brief to double-check has all key elements covered..

Margarett
Blog seems to be well populated with ideas and research as well as concept work and ideas around 3D artifacts with paper and folds – good. On screen work is progressing well and has mix of typographic considerations textural and illustrative too.  Some unique ideas around fabric use too.

Anna P
Good developments on blog to date, session refs here, well noted out, clear x-section of rough devts. Has good range of refs primary and secondary research – needs to add CAT refs and pics to blog, is considering basic user testing ideas at this time. Anna double-checked about formats and I explained that manual was .pdf but as was A5 it could be printed out and used in pockets. As council is a  partner they may also have small run of printed-out vooklets which (would likely) use basic eco print and paper/board considerations..

Cristina
Good blog work ongoing – rounded set of posts with some still to populate fully yet with contents. Cristina has wrestled with her designs and has various angles on her key ID and early devts with booklet layouts too. Have advised a revisit of the brief and key wants and have mentioned idea of user testing if at all possible – albeit on a small scale.

Noa
Has not attended the booked tutorial. I’d urge her to get in touch so that we can best support her at this point in the module.

Lenka
Has a range of blog research but ideally could do with  wider range of packaging, eco print and papers refs in here + comments. Ideally also pick out key things discovered in sessions to put on the blog to show as inspiration to your ideas.. Visual ideas at present are en route but have suggested that maybe consider more cycle or natural world references as backdrop to pages of booklet. Do also consider going back to the brief to double-check the key asks of the brief and do also consider some form of user testing if possible so that you have feed-in from tutor, your peers and even potential users of such a scheme.

Anna S
Despite time out working for the university Anna has still made additional progress design-wise on this project. I’ve suggested user testing ideas to help refine if at all possible and also to watch how the intricate details of artwork reduce down in size.. Artwork shows promise and Anna will supply further up to date examples of her work and research so that this can be peer assessed in the next session.

Georgia
Is slightly behind on progress with both her blog and also her practical work. After a tutorial Georgia is aware of the requirements for next session’s peer assessment. Georgia will add further refs and research gathered in paper from to her blog and seek additional interim feedback before the peer assessment session.

Alex Williams
Some good blog devts here, lite on sketch devts and comments on these at present.. Some early ideas on screen – poss need user testing to refine further. Make sure looked at brief again, at other hire schemes and what elements they use on their bikes visually etc..

Gdes3003 eBike Test Run & Blog Post Task

While I'm away in London managing the University's UCAS stall I've arranged for you as a cohort to go over to Katy Boom's office in the Hines Building (nr the post room, back of the SU/Peartree Cafe by the crossing). 

Katy will be able to give you access to the UW test eBike so that you can examine one first hand and (if you wish, not obligatory) have a go yourself so that you know the nature of electric bikes. While this isn't the style of the eBikes proposed for Worcester's scheme it will still give an idea of the mechanics and experience of riding an electric-powered/assisted bike.

Linked blog task (please have completed before your session with Wendy):
While you're over at Katy's in the Hines Building I'd like you to undertake the following and put the outcomes on a blog post on your own blogs. These posts will then be expected (along with your CAT post) on final submission of work for the module:

1. Please take pictures of the bike as a whole and it's electric power plant and control mechanisms on the handlebars (+ any others you feel is useful as general primary refs here).

2. Describe 3x differences between the eBike you're looking at and/or sitting on and a 'normal' pedal bike.

3. Compare the test bike at Katy's to the GTech eBike, describe 3x differences - think in terms of either 'design', 'weight', 'ease of use' (or) notable differences arrived at on your own inspection/comparison.

To prove that I wouldn't ask you to do something that I wouldn't do here's a cheesy picture of tutor Andy on the test bike today:

Some of the mechanics in the eBike's electric power unit.

Cheesy pic of tutor Andy on the eBike
(I've ridden it powered around campus too!).

Gdes3003 Rough Ideas - eBike Brief

Here's a few quick ref snaps of student rough work spotted at our 'roughs' deadline this week in session. There's a wide range of treatments and ideas and some have created pencil ideas to date and some have moved on to trying out early ideas on screen..

Some great early roughs here. Loads of possibles and I really
like the notes to help clarify separate ideas too.

Simple pictogram style imagery - bold, clear. Some ref visually with
the lower section to the NHS though seemingly.

Seemingly a bit further down the line than sketch roughs,
simple, like the idea of different colour treatments..

Loads of potential here with various possible treatments.. Great roughs.

I like the use of leader lines here to point to bike specifics. Useful for a manual.

Interesting play on the idea of cogs, power.

Gdes3003 Lecture Visit to The Centre for Alternate Technology

We'd like to pass back a huge 'thanks' to Paul Allen, CAT's Co-Ordinator for the 'Zero Carbon Britain' Programme that the Centre has produced. Paul gave a talk about Zero Carbon Britain at the UN Climate Talks in Paris, 2015. This week Paul kindly shared some of his thinking with our own Green Design students who are made familiar with Zero Carbon Britain early on in their studies with us.

Our students are more likely to be asked to consider sustainability in their design practices on graduation nowadays due to CSR's or Corporate Social Responsibility Charters. Large companies such as Marks and Spencer, Nike and Heinz now build in sustainability to their procurement process - even when it comes down to services such as design of goods and packaging.

“The visit to the Centre for Alternate Technology was an essential moment during my process of understanding the principles of sustainable living. That was when I fully understood that it is my responsibility as a designer not only to look at materials uses, but also to be more aware of responsible (graphic) design and how crucial it is to (help) educate the public..” Design student comment.

“For me the inspiration came after our visit to the Centre for Alternate Technology… The visit not only meant that we got an insight as a designer, but after the Zero Carbon Britain talk led by Paul Allen the subject became a concern.. Which I think made me feel empathetic to.. How -we- can ‘fix’ the problem in our own way as designers.” Design student comment.

 
An interview with Paul at the Paris Climate Talks:

Here's a few pictures from the day's events:

Students note down points from Paul's lecture.

Some of the re-used/re-purposed elements in CAT's grounds.

The Sheppard Lecture Theatre - made largely out of compressed earth.

Paul Allen takes a Q+A session after his lecture to our students.

Students within the Sheppard Lecture Theatre.

Paul Allen during his lecture - discussing some of the psychology
behind marketing methods.

One of the many natural areas on site at CAT.

Student Feedback:
Students attending the trip have been asked to feed back on a set of question so we can see their thoughts on reflection after the trip and lecture.

Margarett Passos
 
Had you heard of CAT before you came on this module?

No I hadn't
 
Decarbonizing our power generation infrastructure via renewables - can it be done, is it feasible? What will it take before changes on the scale suggested by Zero Carbon Britain could happen - government intervention or market forces?

In my opinion, power generation via renewable sources is possible and it's something that some countries are already starting adopt. I believe it depends on the country's environmental policy and history. Some less developed countries might look at renewable energy as a cheaper solution to power the country while others are still so dependent on fossil fuels that these changes might take a while to happen. As discussed in the lecture laws are one way to go, enforcing environmental friendly policies on all companies, and impose green lifestyles are things that might not work in a global scale. I think the solutions depend on the countries and that it should suit each one the best way it can.

Decarbonizing our transport infrastructure - electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered - are they feasible/have you heard of them? Air travel - is it feasible to lower it to the levels suggested in Zero Carbon Britain (?)

I've heard of a few projects involving electric vehicles, by using rechargeable motorways for electric cars, etc. I believe that it's a process. Electric cars are becoming more and more appealing to the current market and starting with cars and proceeding to public transportation, the transport infrastructures can become green themselves. As for air travel, I haven't personally heard of any other renewable sources that are able to reach air travel, but we will be able to gain the technology to do so.

Decarbonizing our food infrastructure (according to Zero Carbon Britain) means lessening our reliance on meat and it's various production methods. When grazing land is freed up, it can be 'better used' to grow crops (which ZCB says is a much more efficient use of it). What do you feel about this? Is it feasible? Would you personally want to lessen your meat intake in the week (unless already a vegetarian)? Does the very thought of this annoy you?

I quite liked the fact that Zero Carbon Britain worked with nutritionists to reach a solution that won't alter diets extremely, it will in fact make us healthier while still decarbonizing. I think that some changes are being made when it comes to food waste, but even today the distribution of food globally can be inefficient. I haven't heard of any country that altered their diet in order to reach such goal. It's a simple idea, and I personally if offered a vegetarian option that I would enjoy I go for it, and because I come from a country that lives also of not only meat but also fish, my diet already differs from the current meat intake of others.
 
Please tell us your thoughts, concerns and/or proactive suggests on the 3x most notable things seen on site at CAT (i.e. it could be one of the specific exhibits seen, or maybe the clever use of materials with specific buildings to help reduce CO2 emissions, or maybe their Cob Oven setup/Covered social area or maybe the food on site etc).

I tend to watch programmes that involve people designing their dream houses, and how they look for environmental friendly solutions when it comes to isolation and energy reduction. But it was great to enter a house and a room that is build in such way. Also the fact that the amount of energy that is used in houses without one actually thinking about it, was quite eye-opening. There was a panel in a house that showed the watt percentage used by household items, and it was quite interesting. The food on site also had not carbon footprint as it was grown on site and used no transportation, which made CAT almost as a country on it's own. They produce all the food, energy and infrastructures they need, and that could later on serve as model for the country.
 
Now you've had time to reflect, what 3x things gained from the CAT visit might you bring forward into your own ideas and developments for the various aspects of the eBike brief? Please explain your answers and any proactive suggestions in as much detail as possible.

The CAT visit was important for me as I gained more insight on the type of research that is being currently done on renewable sources of energy, transport and food. It also made me see the type of design challenges we could face when exposing this research to the public, as it can be intense and quite a heavy read and it opened my eyes towards what I might face with the eBike brief. I'm considering reaching design solutions that are environmental friendly throughout.

Katie Ledgerwood

Question 1
Had you heard of CAT before you came on this module?

I hadn’t heard of the centre for alternative technology before this module.

Question 2

Power
- Decarbonizing our power generation infrastructure via renewables can be done because you can use renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal, hydro and tidal; these produce energy and heat. Also wind energy, on shore and off shore provides an energy supply. The gorverment could help changes by providing free solar panels for every house, they could also adapt a marketing campaign to make the public aware of the options that are avaliable to help achieve the zero carbon britain scale.

Transport
-I think electric cars and other economical modes of transport are feasible as they are being used now. And by people walking or cycling when its not necessary to drive is also helping. I dont think the air travel could be lowered as much as they want as I think to many like to go on holiday and travel that they wouldnt be willing to give it up.

Food
-I think it’s definetly feasible to reduce the amount of meat we eat but it’s whether people would be willing to do this. I personally don’t eat a lot of meat anyway so I would be willing to give it a go .

Question 3
Please tell us your thoughts, concerns and/or proactive suggests on the 3x most notable things seen on site at CAT.

No answer.

James Campbell
(Andy - These Q's from the sheet at CAT as I understand)

How do we remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that we cannot wholly eliminate from industry?

• My proposal would be to increase oxygen by increasing the amount of plants and algae we already produce and secondly by introducing more renewable energy sources to our environments in place of fossil fuels.

In our zero carbon Britain research how do we propose to solve the problem of variable energy generation from renewable sources not necessarily matching up with the times at which energy is required.

• I would propose using mainly renewable energies for our main sustainability whilst using fossil fuel based energy only as back-up energy reserves and generally means using more bio-methane in

what percentage of the UK green- house gas emissions are caused by food production. what behavioral change would be required to reduce these emissions?

• I would propose to eat meat less in our lifestyles as I believe this is a difficult yet one of the most effective approaches, also to inform people of effective alternatives to foods such as soya in place of milk and suggesting the benefits to it over milk.

Overall, form looking at the information on the amounts of carbon produces from the different sectors of the UK society, langue and industry, what proposition are, as individuals able to reduces from the changes in our lifestyle?

• My proposition would be to greatly reduce the consumption of meat and dairy products we consume; this would be the more straightforward approach but others would be growing your own organic products to eating a more plant based diet.
secondly using less cars and perhaps using public transport more frequently or other means such as bicycles.

How might we extend our influence to reduce green-house gas emissions from the other sectors?

• Improving various city based infrastructures to promote alternate transportation, second proposal would be to convert garbage(biomass) to be converted to methanol and the process is more efficient than cellulosic ethanol we currently use. 

Charlotte Bullock

1) No, I haven’t heard of CAT before this module.

2)      

Power:
I think that it would take the government to give some kind of incentive to the public whether that is giving them the renewable power generators for free or with some money off the cost. The main problem for the renewables, in my opinion, is their storage. The public aren’t going to want to go from having power 24/7 to only when the suns out or the winds blowing. For the public to be okay with the change, the power would need to be at the same flow as it is using fossil fuels. I don’t think nuclear power is something that the world should be getting involved with.

Transport:
The same kind of answer as before is necessary for this question, if electric vehicles would need to have the same amount of power as petrol/diesel fuelled cars otherwise people wouldn’t want to make the swap between the two unless they were 100% for helping to stop global warming. I do think that electric vehicles and hydrogen powered vehicles are all feasible as they obviously work otherwise they wouldn’t be released onto the market but I personally don’t think they are as reliable as there isn’t half as many electric car charging points as there are petrol stations meaning that the UK especially aren’t really set up for the change yet and owning an electric vehicle is more hassle because there is nowhere to charge it.

Food:
For me personally, I can take or leave meat, especially beef but I know a large amount of people that wouldn’t be impressed with this type of change. At the same time though, if beef became less available in supermarkets then people couldn’t buy it anymore so it wouldn’t necessarily be a choice made by the individual but it would help to lessen the reliance of meat. I’m not entirely sure that individuals would lessen their meat intake unless it was enforced by taking it away from them as some people don’t care enough to have the self-control but for me personally, It wouldn’t have any effect on me.

3)   I really like the way the café at CAT use primarily fruit and vegetables grown on site and no meat; this shows the people that visit the site and eat at the café that food without meat are just as tasty and nutritious as those with meat in them. It could also encourage individuals to grow their own fruit and vegetables as it could act as a source of inspiration.
The edible flowers part of the site was quite eye opening as I had no idea that you could eat flowers, this would be another way to inspire people to grow their own and to use them in their own food at home.
 
I also thought the house called the “Whole Home” was really interesting as it gave lots of different ways to help reduce your carbon footprint throughout your house such as cutting down on the uses of baths and instead taking a shower as a bath uses three times more water than a shower which is three times more for the boiler to heat up. It also showed the uses of solar panels and how they can help throughout the average house.

4)   I was considering seeing if I could do a recipe kind of page for the e-book which hosts lots of different foods which could act as a healthy eating guide for the person on the bike but as they will all  be meat free, this would also help to reduce the carbon dioxide.

Solar panels would be used, if possible, to charge the batteries for the electric bikes at the Worcester Bike Network site. Whether there is a solar panel on each bike which powers each individual bike battery or if there is a bigger one which is connected to all of the bikes at one charging station and powers them individually.

 Additional thought:
When there are not any bikes in the charging station, the solar power panels could be being used to power other things such as street lamps or it could be going into the national grid instead of wasting the energy before it is known how to store it. When it is known how to store it, it could work out how much it would need to charge up all of the bikes and then it could share the rest of it.