Everything that is produced and that is technically dispensable cannot come under ecology… but that amounts to questioning our whole system of consumption, which we are not going to do here, rest assured.
Thus, and even if you have to be honest with yourself about the environmental impact of advertising, there are some good practices to put in place to minimize the footprint of your graphics on the environment.
Whatever your field of activity, and whether you communicate on printed and/or digital media, you are concerned by the question.
But don’t worry, if you don’t know how to do it, we are here to guide you. You can contact Graphic Designing Services Company
Discover in this article all our good advice to set up an eco-responsible graphic design for your company.
Let’s go !
What is eco-responsible graphic design (or eco-branding)?
Also called eco-design, eco-responsible graphics is a concept recently developed by artistic director Sylvain Boyer.
Its principle is simple: reduce the ecological footprint of the visual communication of brands and companies as much as possible .
Its reflection revolves around four main axes:
- the logos
- the typography
- colors
- the UI (user interface)
For each of these subjects, the goal is to reduce the ecological cost of their production.
This approach is thus part of an ecological questioning that could not be more current and which concerns all companies, small or large.
Moreover, and contrary to popular belief, this reflection is carried out just as much on printed media (which are often considered to be more polluting), than on digital platforms.
In short, you won’t find green washing or CSR communication tips here, but real advice to make your visual communication more eco-responsible.
How to design eco-responsible printed communication media?
First of all, let’s take stock of a subject that seems important to us!
As we have just mentioned, printed media are often singled out as being the source of excessive pollution.
On the contrary, digital media, by their dematerialized nature, are reputed to be more respectful of ecology…
Spoiler alert: this is wrong.
Well, more or less wrong. It all depends on the use made of these media and on what scale they are distributed.
Thus, perhaps a well-developed and well-hosted e-commerce site (therefore not very polluting) will have a less significant environmental impact than a 200-page catalog distributed throughout a country…
When a flyer produced with the rules that we mention below, and distributed in a targeted manner to a limited number of people, will have a lesser impact than a very energy-intensive digital communication.
Admittedly, it is not easy to distinguish between things, but it is important for everyone to be aware of the ecological issues raised by these two communication strategies in order to make the right choice.
Our advice: do your research, compare the options and choose the most appropriate solution for your project!
Extend the life of paper media
When you think about it, your goal is to avoid wasting paper as much as possible.
For this, one of the first reflexes to have is to question the relevance of the creation of professional communication media :
“Is this flyer really necessary? Can I replace it with something more durable and less likely to end up in the trash?”
For this you can opt for several options that do not devalue your communication, for example:
- producing good quality and therefore reusable paper supports
- creating a landing page dedicated to the subject of your communication
- making posters that you will place in strategic places
- equesting an online registration, followed by an SMS reminder
On the premises of your event, also promote erasable signage or reusable display panels. To do this, remember to make information such as the date or address flexible on your communication medium.
In the same vein, set up a system for recovering paper media such as plans, badges or catalogs to recycle or reuse them.
Create eco-responsible graphics that consume less ink
You’re in luck, the current trend is for sleek and light designs.
But that’s not the point, because thanks to a logo that uses less ink and a visual identity favoring hollow graphic shapes, you are doing eco-responsible graphics.
And yes, it is as simple as that!
You can either create a brand new eco-responsible logo or make an existing logo lighter by hollowing out its solid colors. You can save up to 40% ink on the original version of the logo!
Your logo is just as powerful as before, but this saving in ink represents a significant saving on large print volumes.
