An extra digit to years, a spark of hope for us

A recent article in The New York Times compares today’s environmental challenge with times of war and scarcity. Having addressed the issue with an identical comparison in a previous post, it’s amazing to see how two points made in conclusion to the same analogy can be so different. For those people who don’t have time to read the whole Times article, below is an excerpt to sum up the point it’s trying to make:

“Survivalism, it seems, is not just for survivalists anymore.
Faced with a confluence of diverse threats — a tanking economy, a housing crisis, looming environmental disasters, and a sharp spike in oil prices — people who do not consider themselves extremists are starting to discuss doomsday measures once associated with the social fringes.

They stockpile or grow food in case of a supply breakdown, or buy precious metals in case of economic collapse. Some try to take their houses off the electricity grid, or plan safe houses far away. The point is not to drop out of society, but to be prepared in case the future turns out like something out of “An Inconvenient Truth,” if not “Mad Max.”
…
“If all these planets line up and things do get really bad,” Mr. Marcom said, “those who have not prepared will be trapped in the city with thousands of other people needing food and propane and everything else.”
…
Esteemed economists debate whether the credit crisis could result in a complete meltdown of the financial system. A former vice president of the United States informs us that global warming could result in mass flooding, disease and starvation, perhaps even a new Ice Age.”

In response to this pessimistic survivalist perspective, I would like to point to a symbolic and simple, but nevertheless very inspirational idea. It comes from The Long Now Foundation, about which I’ve first learned in John Grant’s book The Green Marketing Manifesto. Let’s take a look at this excerpt from the book to get a grasp of this nice little idea:

“One of their many great ideas was to give a fifth digit to the years: 02008. For a generation overshadowed by the millenium, this gives us room to breathe again. It shows us a much longer horizon, because the next significant landmark in this dating scheme is not the decade (or whatever we will call 2010-2019) or even century, it is the year 10000. A pessimistic view would be that we’d be lucky to make it to that date without a crisis or change of such biblical proportions that we start the calendar over again. If the sort of civilization that dates itself makes it, at all. But for now (a long now), just adding that zero makes you see the world differently”

I hope this sparks a little optimism and encourages us to continue giving our best efforts while addressing the issue.

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Get your copy of Plan A, because there's no Plan B

I think most of my colleagues would agree that encounters with marketers may not always turn out to be the most pleasurable. You might get the feeling that you are being taken for granted. A stereotype is that you are the designer with no clue whatsoever about how to earn money, and if you are a designer with a soft spot for green issues, green designer, that makes you twice naive. Well, there’s now a ‘dictionary’ for you to avoid getting lost in translation: The Green Marketing Manifesto

John Grant’s latest book was what I found in my hand as I first set foot in Pli. Having done a great deal of reading about green design, this was my first green read on a field other than my own. To be sincere, seeing the words green and marketing together was about to get me started with my prejudices, of which there was no sign once I started turning the first pages.

However, the strength of this book does not just come from its ability to make peace between the two concepts that have previously been seen as polar opposites, or the fact that it is really up-to-date with the latest examples from the Web 2.0. It is derived from the inspirational way that it has a balanced tone, avoiding both dreamy optimism and dark pessimism. It does not leave it at only a clear diagnosis, but comes up with an endless number of solutions. It is full of marketing and business ideas and, attention colleagues, you can even find tips for possible new design ideas, which is something you might not always expect from an author who’s not a designer.

Grant is in my native Istanbul as I’m typing these words, where he will present his ideas before the most cruel marketers of the city. Good luck John, I hope you can initiate a sparkle of change!

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Forgive me father, for I have sinned

The breaking news were delivered by German weekly newspaper Die Zeit: Philippe Starck is “fed up with his job and plans to retire in two years”. The renowned designer went on further to claim that “design is dead and his work ‘unnecessary’”.

Well, there are people who hate the French designer and others who adore him, as is the case with star names in any business. Some of those tree huggers out there might even be celebrating. Blogs are filled with outraged people arguing that they will not accept Starck’s confession, for he has done so much damage and made so much money out of it. I will approach this piece of breaking news from another angle.

Change is good, and there is no right timing for it. It is great that Starck had his sudden change of heart today, rather than tomorrow. His confession is to be appreciated.

However, there’s another problem here, which is the content of the confession. One could still feel the arrogance in words like “in the future there will be no more designers”.

It seems like Starck has made a thorough analysis of what he has been doing, but not of what he could do in the future, using his skills. He still thinks that there is only one way of designing–which is his way–and now that he has realized it is causing too much damage, he thinks the world will be better off without it.

What he misses is that there is a whole lot more ways he can design, and help reduce his past damage while doing so.

I am not going to advise him to take a look at what socially and environmentally responsible designers from all around the world have been up to.

I am actually going to recommend him to take a businessman, named Ray Anderson, as his role model. Mr. Anderson has had his sudden change of heart about a decade ago, and instead of throwing in the towel, he has continued doing what he does the best, but this time doing it responsibly.

Take a look at this excerpt from the documentary ‘The Corporation’, and see for yourself.

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