The studio will be closed from Wednesday 22 December – Tuesday 4 January.

Finally, we have managed to find some time to upload all the recent projects on our site. Check out the Design Products Collection identity, Global Fellowship Journal, V&A Summer Camp programme, and recent Forum for the Future reports. We also completed a great schools newsletter for Actionaid, a report for The Tijuca Project in Brazil and last but by no means least, 2012 Velodrome sketchbooks for Expedition.

To find out more about the products visit the Royal College of Art exhibition (23 September – 7 October) or go to design products collection.

Innovation Greenhouse is a project curated by Kingston University in partnership with the Design Museum and staged as part of the London Design Festival at the V&A (The London Design Festival runs from the 18–26th of September).

To find out more about ‘a garden party to make a difference’ (8 –19 Sept at Clarence House) and the Start initiative go to www.startuk.org/events

Working with the V&A team and Mark Garside (Crystallise), thomas.matthews has produced the identity concept and graphic design for the Summer Camp. The concept came from 'un-picking' the design process and empowering the public to realise they knew more than they thought they did. 

Our concept will interject the graphic design of the event programme – through annotation and design mark-ups, it will reveal the story that has lead to the making of the piece. i.e. from initial idea through to production. 

The back of the programme opens up to reveal a poster framework. Using the information they have learnt from the programme and with various cues, tips and a clear grid, visitors are encouraged to make their own poster, reflecting on the event.

The event runs from Friday 30 July, 18:30–22:00 to Saturday 31 July, 13:00–17:00. So come along and be prepared to roll your sleeves up. Who knows – you might discover you know more than you think you do.

For more information please visit the V&A website:
www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/events/friday_evenings/friday_late/events/july-2010/index.html

As far back as 1975 it was thought that the introduction of email would reduce the amount of paper usage in offices but a recent study from Fujitsu Siemens Computers, found that the the average UK worker prints off 22 pages every working day, accounting to an equivalent paper mountain over 8,000 miles annually. 

When we find our interaction with paper influencing technology, from the web ‘page’ to through to the iPhone we are reminded about the simple power and possibility that a piece of paper represents.

The Pulp Paper book is featured on the Design Museum website as one of their “best books”: www.designmuseumshop.com/whats-new/pulp-paper

Kentlyons blog: www.blog.kentlyons.com/

Here at TM we have built up quite an impressive library full of interesting materials that are innovative, useful and generally relevant to our work. Some are just beautiful materials that we hope one day to get the opportunity to use and most of them come with serious and authentic sustainable creds (for instance look under D for 'sustainably and ethically sourced diamond dust' or under S for 'stone paper').

However going through it recently we realised that it was getting rather out of date and was seriously lacking in a lot of the new innovations that we know are out there.

So here is our call out to all manufacturers and suppliers of interesting, sustainable things… if you make or supply a material that you think we may be interested in - if you have a new paper about to come on line that is made from potato peelings or a new MDF made from algae juice then please get in touch, tell us about it and send us some samples.

Our materials library is used extensively by our design team, our clients and selected design friends with a valid library card so it is a worthwhile opportunity to get your product specified.

Find out more about the thinking behind the project here and this prestigious international design accolade at: www.graphis.com.

Obviously economic recession is not a long-term environmental strategy. The challenge is to re-engineer what survives and re-invent the new, so that when the economy revs up it’s not back to polluting business as usual.

This is what comes to mind when I hear the phrase ‘never waste a good crisis’ (which seems to be quite a fair bit at the moment). I reckon that if necessity is the mother of invention then design is the industry of invention. We are trained to find those ingenious ways to help solve the hardest of challenges. We really should stop being so detail focused for a moment and collectively set about solving these big global issues.

If you open your eyes to the real impact of our industry and take a look around your studio, your house, your life you will see that design lies at the heart in much of our everyday choices. Step back through the chain of suppliers, before this stuff hits the shelves – through manufacturers, corporations, decision-makers – you will find the impact in material, energy, water and waste were determined right at the design and concept stage and therefore most probably by a designer.

Some industries like the vehicle industry have become much more efficient in their design of a better car (but in the same period our car use has increased globally). And in areas where products are directly accountable for using or emitting pollutants there has been improvement. Other positive impacts have come from Legislation. The waste disposable push from Europe through the WEEE directive and increasing landfill taxes and have forced alternative thinking on a product’s after life. There are now a growing number of new Management systems that focus on sustainability and the debate still rages on about obligation or peer pressure. If people aren’t driving it then legislation must impose it.

Too many clients are still wedded to the system of selling as much product as possible as this is still how we calculate profit and growth. There seems to be an obligation for designers to accept commercial rationale to create such objects though clearly we must find ways to make sure that such processes create environmentally benign stuff.

The focus on resource depletion and challenge of material efficiency is an increasingly exciting area. Recent documentaries have highlighted some extraordinarily resourceful communities in Lagos and Mumbai slums that we would do well to learn from. These people show creativity and inventiveness whilst eking out a living from the stuff thrown out by the rest of society. Not Utopian in any means but resourceful and incredibly efficient.

There is also some fantastic innovation going on in R&D with regards to disassembly and recovery of resources. It seems crazy to me that some designers still do not understand the consequences of their decisions that are sometimes purely concerned about aesthetics. Simple things like co-molding two different plastics together in a toothbrush design or laminating a piece of paper can predetermine its painful and slow landfill demise. This will be where new alliances for designers, waste and materials industry can flourish.

Inevitably as oil prices keep rising and with the much predicted peak oil (the point in time when the maximum rate of global extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline) materials and resources will become ever more expensive pushing further the drive for more environmental efficiency.

Mike Pitts from the Chemistry KTN talked at greengaged in 2008 about other ‘peaks’ in mined materials. He presented a memorable slide of the periodic table – a visual representation of every known element on the planet – showing how, if we continued using and designing without easy (and safe) disassembly and recycling we would banish a big chunk of these essential building blocks to landfill very soon (very soon being 5–10 years in some instances).

So there is need for more responsibility in the way we choose materials and a wider outlook for new opportunities to turn waste into someone else’s raw material. But responsibility does not mean boring. What designers can bring to the party is much more than a reactive approach.
What’s fascinating about sustainability is that it’s fundamentally a value system characterised by reducing and eradicating environmental impact in much the same way that nature does. Taking generic principles like efficiency, non-pollution, whole life design, dematerialisation - one can use them in any area of design. The more creative and more ingenious we are – the quicker and bigger the positive environmental paybacks.

As a final thought I should really mention cost. Everyone always asks about costs. Doesn’t it cost more to produce something more sustainably? Clients don’t want to pay or pass on any extra; designers don’t want to give others the competitive advantage.

The reality is that none of this impact is accounted for, like a lost number in the mother of all excel spreadsheets. Even if you are a hard climate sceptic you cannot get away from the consequences of our excess this planet is now coping with and the role we are unwittingly playing.

We are excited to be helping to take the debate from the staffroom to Parliament – designing the campaign and raising the voice of teachers and lecturers above the party politics of education.

Over forty participants are given an array of low-carbon technologies – solar thermal water heaters, PV panels, super-insulation – and an three story scaffolding frame. 

Working in teams they have two days to use the components to build a low-carbon all-weather shower facility.

Found out more here: www.thinkup.org/index.php/news/view/low-carb-at-the-big-rig-gets-the-temperature-rising/

The inaugural list has been established to profile the incredible achievements of 50 talented women leaders, including Sophie who will have a huge impact on the cultural life of the UK in years to come.

These women are already making a significant contribution to industries including design, libraries, literature, museums, heritage, music, performing and visual arts, the historic environment and creative businesses and have the potential to become influential and established senior leaders in the sector within the next few years.

“Sophie will continue to be a leading figure in design, in particularly in the critical area of sustainability, helping designers to understand their role and responsibility in developing products and services that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable”

“For me, building a successful design business has never been focused on creating enough profit to be able to buy myself a yacht,” says Sophie. “Like many female headed practices we are powered by passion and drive to build up benefit for all. It is therefore great to be recognised for this and I am enormously proud of all our achievements”.

As well as celebrating talented women within the sector, the list has also been established to address the lack of women in positions of senior leadership by inspiring and encouraging more women to aim for the top.

CLP received almost 200 high-quality nominations, from across the UK. After much deliberation these were whittled down by the high-profile judging panel - made up of figures from the cultural and creative industries, the media and popular culture and chaired by Jenni Murray OBE, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour – to the final list of 50.

Jenni Murray, said: “I speak for the whole judging panel when I say that arriving at a final list from such a high quality and quantity of nominations was both a delight and a challenge. While we are obviously celebrating the achievements of outstanding individuals, it is also important to see these women as a collective force and as representative of women’s potential to reach the top of their game within this, and any other, sector. Congratulations and watch this space!”

More information on Women to Watch can be found at: www.culturalleadership.org.uk/w2w

Here’s the story of how we did it:

Let’s start with the paper... We know that by switching to a post-consumer recycled stock we can save up to 70% of the embodied energy of a piece of print. But then we thought, what if we use paper that is already sitting in our printer’s warehouse because of an over order? We riffled through their surplus stock and chose some suitable weights and finishes. We didn’t stop there. We asked our printer to use it as ‘make-ready’ (paper that preps the press on a number of jobs). Once it had finished this useful task, we saved it from being discarded.

Now onto the inks... Even with vegetable-based ones there’s a story. They may be low in VOCs (Volatile Organic Chemicals) and less polluting, but there are some serious questions around soy crops causing rainforest deforestation to contend with. Every time a designer asks for a particular spot colour (even for the smallest job) the printer mixes up a tin. That’s a whole litre of ink when you may only require a spoonful. So instead of contributing to this global impact, we spent an afternoon peering into leftover pots (checking them for low barium and copper along the way) to arrive at our new brand palette. But what about the metallics... Aren’t they a big no-no? Well we checked the supplier’s specification and asked some experts about the silver ink and the effect of using big floods of colour on the de-inking process. They responded by telling us that our approach was great and would not detract from the overall recyclability of the finished article. Hurrah!

So, we had our paper and our inks. Now we could take these back to the studio and get designing. It may seem a backwards process starting with the restriction of leftover materials, then thinking about what items would make best use of space on the press sheet - but it made perfect sense to us!

We love print, we love design challenges and most of all we love our new identity.

...as does Creative Review who have today published a story about it all:

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog

As a dynamic, medium-sized studio, this role will not solely focus on developing new business, but encompass managing and expanding our existing portfolio of high quality projects.

We want someone who:

• has exceptional communication, research and negotiation skills 
• is responsive and intellectually astute has at least 5 years experience (with proven account management and business development skills) and practical knowledge of the creative sector
• is able to create, compose and edit written materials for pitches and presentations
• has a strong grasp of of PM methodologies including budgeting, planning, managing, scheduling, project scoping and profitability
• has an understanding of/ interest in sustainability 
• is interested in a full-time position 

Please send your CV to studio@thomasmatthews.com
or to our Studio Manager at thomas.matthews, 8 Disney Street, London, SE1 1JF.

No agencies please.

Sophie was invited by D&AD to contribute to its recent thought-piece series for London’s Metro daily paper. The series have been highlighting a weekly guest editor’s choice of design or product where interesting, and in this case sustainable things are happening.

Sophie chose to showcase the super smart and innovative company ‘Worn Again’ founded by Cyndi Rhoades and focused on their new range designed by Christopher Raeburn. The raw materials for this range come from deconstructed Eurostar uniforms and decommissioned Virgin parachutes. This collaboration between D&AD and Metro aims to get readers talking about creativity and to give them insight into what makes good design.

Read the piece here: http://dandad.typepad.com/dandad/ and in today’s Metro on your tube journey (remembering to recycle it after you have read it!)