My research explores how principles of sustainability can be more fully incorporated into the professional graphic design studio. I am greatly influenced by using local materials and existing objects in my, which require little energy to obtain and leave less of an ecological footprint than mainstream practices.

The experiments and projects that I have undertaken include both and digital pieces that educate the designer on the impact and importance of his or her work, as well as projects that both promote design work and sustainable principles in the final object itself. A good example of my explorations is showcased in a series that used take-out coffee sleeves as a material to construct domestic items, such as a lamp, kitchen hot pads, a wall weaving, a coffee table and a mail sorter. These pieces were intended as commentary on our society's addiction to over consumption and disposable living. The coffee sleeve is a "band-aid" for a poorly designed cup, the production of which, in turn, contributes to our global problem of deforestation.

I have adhered to strict design parameters in all of my projects, using only organic, recycled or "sustainable" materials. It is my goal that this work provides a starting point for graphic designers to further explore environmentally conscious design in their daily practices. Through my work and graphic design research, I hope to inspire, to advocate a shift to a sustainable approach to production and living.

My reproduced image is one from a series of four prints. The physical dimensions of the prints in this series increase in size, while at the same time, more of the image of trees is deleted from the pictured landscape. This conceptual design project addresses our current paper consumption: as demand for paper-based products increase, so does deforestation.

Annually, Americans receive, in total, 65 billion pieces of direct mail (catalogs, credit card requests, coupons, etc.), which is equivalent to 68 million trees.*

*Source: www.environmentaldefense.org