Ecological thinking and sustainability are valuable issues as part of D.P. in Media and Arts- studies, alongside e.g. emerging media, art, music and developing entrepreneurship skills. Lecturer Fanni Niemi-Junkola of fine art study path did a study trip to Iceland University of Arts in Reykjavik (IUA) to meet the students and teaching staff.

IUA is situated about 5 km from the center of Reykjavik at a seaside. The university is a self-governing institution providing higher education in fine arts, theater, dance, music, design, architecture, and art education. All departments are situated in the same building. Students have their own studio spaces and there are some lab spaces, for example for sculpture, painting and AV-equipment available too. IUA offers BA and MA -level education and is part of our exchange program on BA -level.

"I had a very interesting time meeting the fine art -students discussing the topics that they work on. We all took part in Olafur Eliasson (an Icelandic-Danish artist) SOE Kitchen communal project, for the artist talk and lunch by OE. I also gave a public talk of my own work processes in IUA and the place was packed! I totally recommend IUA as a choice for exchange, especially if you are interested in environmental issues and ecology."

IUA Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavik

Fanni Niemi-Junkola: Artist talk in IUA, Reykjavik

Olafur Eliasson SOE kitchen project in Reykjavik, Marshall House

More info: fanny.niemi-junkola@tamk.fi; international co-ordinator sohvi.sirkesalo@tamk.fi

As future (or already active) creatives in various fields of design, we students are to create thoughtful products, no matter our media of action. We also should to be aware of the constant creative and technical innovations and keep up with them. This is how we can better ourselves and allow our work to be relevant in our time, and luckily enough, even in the future.

Currently, sustainable design is a hot topic of discussion. It has and will bring countless changes in the whole creative process, whether you work with digital or print media. Sustainability will be an integrated component of our work process and a criteria for producing good design, like the more traditional aesthetical and functional concerns. Certain areas of design are more advanced than others in the matter, like architecture. It is all a matter of education though. Architecture students learn extensively about such practices and have the means to execute them through projects. But it is still a rare thing for media students for instance.

In any case, if we do not develop our skills in sustainable design now, we will be forced to do it the hard way later on.

If sustainable design is just a vague idea in your mind, please get over the kind of bad reputation it might still hold. Sustainability is not just/anymore the redundant "green" slogans or the stereotyped leaf-earth-sunset-flower-kids rolling in the grass- visuals that some short-sighted someones have come up with. It is much more fascinating than that. It is a search for new materials and engeneering, reinventing the way we create and use products, and adding value and durability to our work,... all with the main idea to better our quality of life and minimize our impact on nature.
Why should we care? Because we are the ones more or less indirectly, creating all this crap. And we can use our (more or less limited) influence to (I won´t say it! the make a difference cliché! make the world a better place? worse!) make design thoughtful and valuable again!

Most importantly, sustainability is not a rigid set of annoying guidelines. It is rather a flexible concept that anyone can adapt to his/her lifestyle, ideals, interests and will to get involved. (You won´t have to make leaf logos!)

I am writing this post because I did not know much myself either on the subject. This was before I decided to write my final thesis on sustainability and the future of print design. I read a lot (!) and I got to really know what it meant. Now that I am brainwashed, I selected few major links for the ones who got it too but don´t know where to look:

AIGA, American Institute of Graphic Arts, If you call yourself a creative, a must check. Good resources about sustainable design too.
Green Graphic Design by Brian Dougherty and Celeri Design Collaborative. The book that got me started. Easy read, very complete and not cheesy.
Green Marketing Manifesto by  John Grant More complex and business oriented but good as well.

Thanks for reading!

-Camille

The Serious Game Design Summer School, or the "SGDSS" as it is shortened, kicked off today at the Ada classroom, fifth floor in the TAMK Finlayson campus. The summer school is led by Paul and Maja Pivec and the aim is to have very intensive two weeks focusing on different aspects of game design and game development.

Read more »