The Sustainable Design Standard is a framework created to guide communication design projects. The framework consists of sustainability principles or criteria that can be used to consider the impact of a project on the environment and society.
The current SD Standard (version 1.0) consists of 56 sustainability criteria organized around a set of four pillars: environment, society, culture and finance.
The SD Standard is flexible enough to apply to a variety of design disciplines, including:
- visual communication (graphic design, illustration, communication design)
- digital communication (Interactive design, UX/UI, motion graphics, video production, animation)
- material design (packaging design, industrial design, interior design).
How is it different from other tools?
Although there are other sophisticated tools to evaluate environmental impact of physical objects, the SD Standard is designed to consider the four pillars of sustainability: environment, society, culture and finance. This systematic approach is helpful for designers and organizations to consider unexplored areas of their work that could have a positive impact on their communities and the environment.
The Sustainable Design Standard (SDS) is an open source tool that is free to use for everyone, regardless of geographic, social, cultural or financial restrictions.
How was the SD Standard created?
The SD Standard has been made possible by a small group of visual communication designers from various countries. Currently, the SD Standard is maintained by three passionate people who believe that design can change the world. Using our tool to access your project(s) we hope to help you to make an impact in all four pillars of sustainability: Social, Cultural, Environment, and Financial.
The team
The SD Standard is a team that provides tools, resources and services for communication designers and design-driven organizations choosing to pursue progressive and sustainable solutions in their work.
The SD Standard team provides two main services:
1. certification of sustainable communication design, including a traceable chain of custody between the designer, their clients and consumers
2. educational tools, including resource and energy calculators; and other training materials in sustainable design.
Our core team members are: Valerie Elliott (Canada), Alex Quinto (Mexico), and Tuuli Sauren (Germany).
Founding members and contributors: Ajanta Sen, Alex Quinto, Banu Dökmecibasi, Betty Lam Yan Yan, Bonne Zabolotney, David Berman (original concept and founding chair), Donna Campbell, Edi Berk, Ezio Manzini, Heidrun Mumper-Drumm, Jiang Hua, Marc Alt, Peter Perstel, Riitta Brusila, Richard Henderson, Simon Berry, Sophie Thomas, Stephen Palmer, Tuuli Sauren, Ursula Tischner, Valerie Elliott.