My first year as a climate designer
It’s been one year since launching Climate Designers, a hub for designers and creative professionals from all industries, committed to using our creative skills for climate action. We’ve come a long way from a simple landing page website and an email sign up box.
The idea behind this project started with random conversations with colleagues and mentors while at at the same time, my friends were calling me the “climate designer guy”. This title got me and my business parter thinking,
“We can’t be the only designers working on climate, right?”
The past twelve months have proven our hunch — that there are designers like us who want to take climate action in the work they do. Our online community, launched in March, has now grown into a 800+ (and counting) global community.
Never would I have thought that I’d be running an online community, let alone one with designers interested in using their talents towards our climate emergency. Pretty crazy. It’s been so humbling to see the community grow, the number of people stepping up to volunteer, and the amount of interest I get from people emailing me each week.
“…After joining you all here and starting to read some of your testimonials and aims, I know I am where I was supposed to be. My purpose was found. Thanks for that! Thanks to all of you for existing and aiming higher! :)”
– Rita Falcão Monteiro, member of the Climate Designers online community
“I’m feeling personally energized and excited to be part of this network and actively pursuing the growth and evolution in my role as a climate designer. I often feel a bit like a lone sailor in a tiny boat, but reconnecting with a community gives me strength and joy.”
– Alyssa Hayes, member of the Climate Designers online community
“Hi, my name is Marc. I’m a climate designer.”
During a recent virtual design event, I introduced myself as a climate designer in the chat. The moderator seemed curious about it as she called it out specifically reading through the incoming messages.
That was one of the first times I called myself a climate designer in a professional setting. It’s been on the my portfolio site and on social for a while, but I’ve never really said it out loud before.
Over the past year, I’ve had numerous Zoom conversations with random people, either being introduced by a mutual friend or finding me online, wanting to learn how they can become climate designers. It’s as if they have found their next journey in their professional career along with a community of others along side of them.
This new initiative has brought up opportunities to collaborate with long time friends while at the same time, make new friends from around the world. It’s been great to collaborate with kindred spirits fighting the good fight.
And, I’m able to bring this work into my academic world. I’m now in the middle of teaching my second Climate Designers class at California College of the Arts. My hope is that the class inspires and encourages design students to pursue climate-related design work. Climate change is, after all, something they are going to be inheriting.
Change the narrative, change the outcome
I’ve been seeing more and more climate related content being picked up and discussed by mainstream outlets; documentaries on Netflix, songs by musicians, the work of artists, celebrities taking action, late night talk shows discussing the topic, etc.
I keep thinking,
“We need the movie industry, music industry, the sports world, we need every major outlet to use its channels and influence to play a role in addressing our climate breakdown. We need more films, art, and music to uplift people, to educate, inspire, and encourage them to take climate action.”
The whole “doom and gloom” narrative has to end. We see it on the news every day, we hear it in conversations, and see it in movies and apocalyptic YouTube videos. This doesn’t get anyone out of bed to want to do something. This doesn’t get people motivated to act.
The last few years, I’ve taken a more “doom & bloom” approach in my work and in the talks I give. It’s a narrative that highlights the possibilities and opportunities climate change is providing/will provide us. It’s a way to shift people’s perspectives and mindsets so that they can join us on this journey.
What if we view this as an opportunity to embrace this crisis as a moment to wake up, reevaluate our existence, reimagine how we live with each other and love one another?
Imagine the new products, new technologies, new jobs, new economies, new systems we will create over the next few decades. (Solarpunk, anyone?)
And, this is where designers, and other creative folks, come in.
We know our world is heating up. Many scientists, researchers, policy-makers, and others on the front lines in addressing our climate crisis are doing the hard work. Too often their message comes out muddled, failing to convince people to change behavior or policies quickly enough to make an impact.
Designers are a special group. We use creativity to solve problems and have the ability to visualize ideas. We help communicate important messages. We design interactions that encourage others to take action.
And, it seems that this approach, this flag in the ground is resonating with a lot of other designers.
If I can take this moment to speak to my family
Hey fam, check out what I’m doing. It’s pretty cool! Climate Designers got written up on Eye on Design, a design industry blog seen by thousands of people.
Here’s the deal. The world the kids will adopt if we don’t do something about climate change doesn’t look good. It’ll get a lot worse before it gets better, if it gets better. Believe me. I hate to admit this, I hate that this is reality, their reality.
The next 10 years will be key if we really want to avoid a devastating future. We need to drastically cut our fossil fuel emissions by half, among other major industrial, business, and policy shifts. Individual action is great, but collective, large-scale action is what is needed.
But, there is hope. I see what my clients and others are working on. Their projects, their businesses are really cool! Their work spans a variety of industries, so no matter what the kids are into, they will no doubt find a job that suits their personal interests.
Imagine the kids, my nieces and nephews, living in a world with fresh air, access to healthy, locally-grown food, and working steady, good paying jobs that are contributing to regenerating our planet for the better.
And, imagine the world they will be creating for their kids, your grandchildren. Think about the stories you will share with them about how we collectively came together to address our climate crisis. Your grandchildren’s world will look vastly different than the world we grew up in, for the better.
Please take some time to check out the videos and articles below. They provide the information about our changing climate as well as the approaches and solutions being developed around the world.
+ How the United States can create 25 million jobs (A video made by a few volunteers from the Climate Designers community)
+ Understanding Our Changing Climate
+ We broke down what climate change will do, region by region
+ The Short List Of Climate Actions That Will Work
+ 11 policy ideas to protect the planet
It’s going to take a top-down and bottom-up approach. It’s going to take all-hands-on-deck, every industry including the design industry, to address this.
So, this is what I’m doing, using my creative skills to address our climate emergency. This is my journey now. I don’t see myself working on anything else. I’m doing my best to make a mark so that your kids (and their kids) can experience a world of beauty and wonder.
This is one of the many reasons why I’m excited about Climate Designers, The Determined, and teaching.
I know we don’t talk much about this stuff, which is something I’d like to change. I’m happy to chat with you about this, answer any questions, and think of ways you and your family can take part.
— Marc
The shape of climate design to come
It’s OCT 2020. The future of the US, as well as the world, is in crisis, brought on by climate change as well as the greed of certain politicians and businesses. Those in power are protecting their own interests at the cost of others and our natural world.
We must all become “climate woke”. We must focus on what is being done/can be done to create a more beautiful, positive, beneficial world for all. Let’s support those doing the hard work.
And, one way I know how to do this is to continue to grow Climate Designers.
Within this past year, we’ve accomplished a lot. Where will we be in another year?
My dream vision for the next 12 months
+ We offer an online course covering multiple topics so that people can be certified as being a Climate Designer
+ We have a pipeline of climate-focused project opportunities for our community to collaborate on
+ We have a small team producing a steady stream of content; podcasts, videos, articles, events, campaigns, and more
+ Our global online community reaches over 3,000 members
+ We have 300 featured profiles on the site
+ We have 40 chapters around the world hosting events and meetups
+ My Climate Designers class is offered in 6 design schools
I feel that all of this can be accomplished because of these two major opportunities coming up:
- We’ve been asked to participate in the AIGA National Design conference in this November. We are moderating a panel on climate design, bringing this idea in front of thousands of designers from the US and beyond.
- We are launching our first ever summit, Climate Designers Party Program, for February 2021. This multi-week virtual event will be created by climate designers for climate designers. Our goal with this summit is to inspire and encourage designers from all industries to take climate action in the work they do. Details coming soon.
Keep moving
I’m excited about the next year, the new collaborations, the new people I’ll befriend, the progress all of us working to take climate action will make.
I want to push myself more, stepping beyond my comfort zone and boundaries to be vulnerable on this journey, owning the fact that I don’t know what I’m doing, but I do know that I’m on the right path.
I don’t believe in the idea of pursuing your “dream job”, rather in pursuing your most authentic self and doing what you can to invite that into all aspects of your life.
Although, with this comes hardship. It hasn’t always been easy. Some of you know my struggles in pursuing a career at the intersection of design and social impact.
But, nonetheless, my work has always been fulfilling and that is my belief of success.
I’m grateful to those who have supported and guided me along the way — something I strive to do when paying it forward to others; students, colleagues, friends, strangers.
Now let’s go! We have a lot of work to do.
