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GD USA
GD USA GRAPHIC DESIGN USA
HEALTH + WELLNESS DESIGN AWARDS SPONSORED BY OCTOBER 2017
ERICKSON STOCK
RESPONSIBLE DESIGNERS TO WATCH SPONSORED BY
ROLLAND
ANNUAL STOCK VISUAL SURVEY www.gdusa.com
OCTOB ER 2017
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RESPONSIBLE DESIGNERS TO WATCH SPONSORED BY ROLLAND As a complement to our perennial and popular special reports — “People To Watch” (newsworthy creatives) and “Students To Watch” (rising graduates of note) and “Educators To Watch” (influential teachers) — we have added a “Responsible Designers To Watch” to the editorial mix. Growing organically out of our “Green Design” annual feature, we are responding to the fact that more and more designers are embracing responsibility writ large in terms of how sustainably they create and produce, yes, but more broadly how, when, why and for whom they work. The common thread is that these are creative leaders who are using design principles, talents and skills to make the world a better place as they see it. The selection process in a field this deep tends to be subjective and weighted to those we know, admire and respect. We humbly invite your help in identifying our next round of sustainable and responsible designers to profile in our more-than-half-century effort to praise and elevate graphic design as a valuable tool for shaping commerce and culture.
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GAGE MITCHELL
MODERN SPECIES, SEATTLE WA
ARE THERE SPECIAL CHALLENGES OR OPPORTUNITIES IN PURSUING THESE GOALS IN 2017? After years of hard work learning to build and operate a responsible
We’re all passionate, hard working, creative problem solvers who,
design studio, we’re pretty proud of what we’ve accomplished.
under the right circumstances, thrive when we’re given a challenge
That said, there’s always room for improvement. Here are some of
that pushes us beyond our current capabilities. However, we’ve
the challenges and opportunities facing our studio now and in the
all also experienced what it’s like to feel unfulfilled after pouring
near future:
our hearts into a project that ultimately supports something that doesn’t align with our values and interests. That feeling led our
OPERATE MORE EFFICIENTLY
founder, Gage Mitchell, to create Modern Species, and drove the
Because we built this company from scratch with a goal of putting
rest of us here to help build a studio that allows us each to align our values, passions, and skills. HOW AND WHY DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AND/OR SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS, CLIENTS AND CAUSES?
purpose and personal growth over profits, we naively failed to build efficient systems and processes. This is a challenge we’re working hard to solve so we can do even more great work for awesome clients, have less deadline and budget stress, and ultimately build a sturdy platform for the future. IMPACT AND MEASUREMENT
The agency began nearly nine years ago, when Gage returned
Designers are inherently good at empathizing and then communi-
after a year of traveling abroad (a long honeymoon in lieu of a big
cating through words and images. However, we need to improve
wedding) and hung up his shingle in Madison WI. It was there
as a profession in envisioning our impact, planning our projects to
that he took a small business course at UW and began searching
influence the change we seek in a sustainable manner, and then
for more meaningful work. Business quickly took off so his wife Jen joined to help build the studio. After years of research, learning, trial and error, they developed a unique expertise in sustainable brand design and chose to focus Modern Species’ core services on brand strategy and sustainable packaging, web, and print design for mission-centric organic and natural product companies – both because of the huge impact that industry has
measure the outcomes. This is why Gage is working with a team of other socially responsible design leaders on the AIGA Design for Good Task Force to develop and launch the Path To Impact, a workbook that will help lead designers through the process of envisioning, planning, measuring, and sharing impact-focused work. BROKEN SYSTEMS Within our specific niche of consumer packaged goods, there are
on the world (our climate change) and because they love tasty
pervasive problems if we ever want to be a truly sustainable society.
product samples.
One example is the disjointed material recovery system in the U.S. that has different processes and abilities for recycling and compost-
Today, we are based in Seattle with a core team consisting of two
ing in each city and state, making it nearly impossible to distribute
(soon to be three) designers, a project coordinator, and Gage.
truly sustainable CPG packaging nationally. There’s definitely a lot
About 80% of work still comes from our primary niche, but we
we can do to make packaging more sustainable, but the system
also take on cause-related projects within the mental and physical health, and social and economic impact realms because it fits our values and we enjoy helping great organizations do amazing things. We believe in a holistic approach to responsibility which means that: we carefully choose which clients and projects we work on; we
needs to be overhauled. DESIGN A BETTER WORLD Long story short, we design responsibly because we care enough to get off the sidelines when we can help make an impact. To do our best work as designers though, we need to recognize the realities of the complex, interwoven, and often broken/unjust systems we’re working within in order to create smarter solutions and a better world
use our expertise to guide that work toward the most impactful and
for future generations. The cards may be stacked against us, but
sustainable outcome possible; we operate our business the way
we choose to believe change is possible and we vow to keep push-
all companies should be run – by making social and environ-
ing ourselves and the industry forward. That is, after all, why we’re
mental impact as important, if not more important, than profit.
called Modern Species.
PICTURED OPPOSITE PAGE (LEFT TO RIGHT): Joshua Yu, Kellie Komorita, Gage Mitchell, Carla Williamson-Britt
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| 31ST ANNUAL |
STOCK VISUAL READER SURVEY BY GORDON KAYE
AN ESSENTIAL DESIGNER RESOURCE RESPONDS TO SOCIAL AND TECH CHANGE If forced to summarize the findings of our 31st annual stock visual survey, I could do so in one sentence.
“Creative professionals need stock visuals to feed a visually hungry media landscape from print to web to social media, they appreciate the accessibility and abundance of stock offerings, but they wish providers would hurry up with imagery that better reflects how America lives, loves, looks, labors, and links.” I admit it is a long sentence but, in my defense, it does have some nice alliteration.
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HEALTH + WELLNESS DESIGN AWARDS SPONSORED BY ERICKSON STOCK
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GDUSA’s American Health + Wellness Design Awards™ honors outstanding graphic communication by this high-profile segment of the economy. The 2017 winners showcase features 100 projects encompassing the big picture of health and wellness: traditional medicine and healthcare; holistic and alternative healing; healthy lifestyles and nutrition; and the aging of our society. DESIGN FIRMS REPRESENTED 21-13 Impact Graphics AARP ABILITY Network Access TCA Alight Solutions Amanda Culver American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) arithmetic Back Forty Creative Barnett Design, Inc. BC The Magazine BerkleyMed BigEyedWish Blue Star Press, LLC BrandQuery CBX CCI Health & Wellness Services Centermost Marketing Cepheid, Inc. Christiansen Creative Contrast DesignWorks Donna Huff Design Eternal Works Evolutions By Design Extra Credit Projects Florida State Association of Occupational Health Nurses (FSAOHN) Garrison Hughes Inc. Gauger + Associates Ginevra Design Haberman Hudson Valley Graphic Design i-Health LAM Design Lisa Cain Design Little Big Brands
m0dm0d Meridian Health Services Miskowski Design LLC Nancy Reed Design Nationwide Children's Hospital NIH Medical Arts Branch NJ Designs Parry Branding Group Paul Werth Associates PRESENT e-Learning Systems Professional Office Services QNY Creative Ron Kalstein/RKDK Design S2 Design Group Sage Age Strategies Sarott Design Smith Design sparc, inc. Swimmer Integrated Marketing Taylor Design Ted Stoik / Hartford Design / Woz Design Test Monki TFI Envision, Inc. The Barber Gale Group The Creative Pack LLC The Morgan Leary Vaughn Fund The Vivere Design Team Tortuga Creative Services, LLC UNC Health Care Walgreens Wallace Church & Co. Warkulwiz Design Associates WinshipPhillips [x]cubeLABS Xue Xia Zarbee's Naturals ZDI
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