Sustainable Communication Design

This is an analysis of environmental ethics in current graphic design practice in Ireland.
It investigates the most common obstacles, challenges and misconceptions that are presently being cited by Irish designers for not practising sustainably.
A mixed method approach of a survey and a series of semi-structured interviews, accompanied by a small scale case study of a best practice design studio led to the result that designers in Ireland are very interested in sustainability but certain obstacles hinder them from implementing sustainable solutions in their work practice. Recommendations are made based on the findings for methods to be explored that may help to resolve said obstacles, master the challenges and overcome misconceptions.

Sustainable lifestyles are at the heart of the solution for solving the complex environmental and social problems we are facing. The corporate world has a crucial role to play in this realm, yet despite some exceptions, convincing business to do the shift of paradigm from a purely economic growth model to a more sustainable paradigm has failed until now. Although marketing plays a major role in promoting sustainable production and consumption patterns, conventional marketing practices persist. This paper examines the fundamental reasons for the established economics and proposes a new kind of marketing for creating a more sustainable society. The paper begins with an overview of the current economic growth model in society, giving particular attention to the consequences of overproduction and overconsumption and to the sustainability issues of mainstream marketing. The second part examines the current state of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the fundamental gap of coherence between CSR and marketing. The last part of the paper identifies sustainability marketing as a new orientation to help businesses successfully tackle environmental and social problems.