This much-hailed label from Timberland was one of the first to label a product with details on the social and sustainability footprint of the product. It was a good start, but not nearly the level of detail that is possible – nor the level that consumers are clamoring for. It’s a laudable first effort — […]
Heart of the Beast theater in Minneapolis held a festival to welcome the water back into the lobby. – For years, the drinking fountain in the building’s lobby had not been functioning. To support their belief that water should be a clean, free and part of the public commons, the theater has focused on water-themed […]
CNN has launched a new application to show how a story has developed over time. This is basically a collection of all CNN-posted stories associated with a particular event. The example they give is the Anthrax case. http://behindthescenes.blogs.cnn.com/ This allows readers to easily dig into the recent history of a story. The impact of a […]
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, this card is worth an entire year doctor-free. The graphic on this greeting card describes the life-cycle of an apple seed/tree/fruit. The scale of each element is irrelevant because segment of illustration concentrates on the most important component of that part of the cycle; giving the […]
Companies are increasingly able to track the life of their products through their supply chains and trace the origins of even the smallest notion. Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles outlines the potential for a company to unveil its transparency in the name of promoting sustainability (and hence, appearing as a sustainable company). From an information standpoint, Patagonia […]
This graphic from the back-side of a Fritos chip bag seems to say that the company is farming-focused. The visual of peaceful farm landscape framed within the outline of a traditional barn is in direct contradiction with the accompanying address. (It’s also common knowledge that the company’s chips are about as processed and far from […]
The “ICE” on this sign gives visual cues to the effect of the product itself. Where the viewer may have understand what “SNACKS” and “SODA’S” mean, they will feel the meaning of “ICE”. This technique can also aid in understanding for low-literacy audiences.
This pair of straight-forward graphics appear on separate pages of “Calculating food miles for a multiple ingredient food product” – a white paper from Iowa State University’s Leopold Center. The graphics show where the ingredients of a specific Strawberry Yogurt have come from. The first graphic is more visual, and thereby more enticing at first […]
We came upon several of child-designed ‘slow down’ in a neighborhood area of this picturesque Southern Belgian village. Not only do these signs get you to slow down to enjoy the art, they also are strong reminders of the reason one should reduce speed:as one sign distinctly puts it “for us”. The circled ’30’ (the […]
This accordion-fold brochure from a vineyard pulls the viewer through the story a bottle of wine from planting to enjoying – in 3 parallel formats: written storyline, photographs and a background illustration which ties the piece together. As a viewer, I’m right there walking with the grapes as they pass from farm to glass. Definitely […]