Welcome to the blog of the design studio that’s there for design … and for animals too!
Fortunately, the launching of our blog coincided with a very important and personal decision we just made. Sure you’ve noticed the Tag line: “the vegan design studio”, but this wasn’t always the case; It used to say “the freelance design studio”.
Being a Vegan myself I’ve been pondering on the idea of taking on non-vegan projects for a while now. We already have one major long term customer who’s products are full of dairy, and a week ago we got approched by another dairy company with a huge long-term project.
That was the catalyst. A decision had to be made.
And believe you me, this wasn’t an easy decision to make. It took a combination of meditations, near depressions, and no work done for 3 whole days to reach the verdict, and that was the easy part. The hard part is breaking the news to the customer. How do you approach a customer with such news, and you’ve been working together for the past 2 years, you understand their whole strategy, their brand image, their customers, their visions, and their dreams for their company? How do you approach a friend…
‘…how do you break free without breaking apart*’ ?
We decided to attend the meeting unmasked; With completele honesty, transparency, and while being true to our own convictions and ethics, and without trying to be someone else.
The customer had a hard time swallowing it, but was very understanding, respectful, and as supporting as one can be in this situation. We assured him we would do our best to help make the transition to the next design house as fluent as possible.
We are extremists, but we do understand that the line between vegan and non-vegan projects is a very feathered one. For instance, would you take on a medicinal drug package, or a cosmetics project knowing that testing was performed on animals?
Where would you draw the line, and what are some of the extremely tricky cases that would leave even the wisest ones undecided? Tell us what you think.
* from the must-see movie “Revolutionary Road.”
Willy dear,
Lots of respect and love (like always).
I bow before your integrity although it will not prevent dairy traders from finding other “Image Builders”.
Looking forward to more commitments and innovations.
Thank you Nic for your visit,
and for your words 🙂
Much love and unconditional respect in return.
also be sure to visit David’s blog, you will love his work.
yes it can !
you just did 🙂
congrats !
brilliant. absolutely brilliant! I regularly dream that one day (I really do!) everyone with strong beliefs is able to take such decisions without risking their entire life (let alone career) – I approve and applaud 🙂
Thanks Pia, I believe that if everyone keeps having this dream, then I’m sure that in no time it’ll become reality and we’ll all move on to even bigger dreams!
So keep dreaming (no pun intended 🙂
much love,
P.S. speaking of dreams joanna and I had the same dream on 2 consecutive nights, but each from his own eyes; weird.
question: how did u link my name to my blog in a reply comments box?
Joanna’s last blog post..Cultural Probes Coming Soon
oh yes I forgot that you do posh html stuff.
Joanna’s last blog post..Cultural Probes Coming Soon
it takes a lot of courage to be able to live by your truth.
yes revolutionary road, it had that effect on me too.
be free. but post more. kisses
Yes it does take courage, but it gets easier the more people do it 🙂
This was our second post, we just launched our blog today, you’ll definitely see more posts here, more events, workshops, and special projects.
I loved you blog, it’s something I think everyone would enjoy! 🙂
love.
This is a very courageous step forward for .: there for design …
it also contributes, even if on a microscopic scale, to changing habits and trends around the world. If every design studio thought twice about the projects they take on board and their effects, then the world would be a nicer place. I do have one comment on the word Vegan as I think that what the studio is trying to do goes beyond the Vegan diet. For example, would you design a logo for a weapons manufacturing company? Or advertising for a cigarette brand? Or a catalogue for an industry releasing excess CO2 in the atmosphere?
I think .: there for design … falls under a broader umbrella. It is an ethical design studio.
Thank you Joanna!
I completely agree with everything you said, and I do wish all design studios would take it just one small step at a time, then the impact on their business would be minimal, but on a global scale it would be at least be noticeable.
And yes you are right about the word “Vegan” and everything that follows, it’s just that as it is, the line is already extremely vague and ‘feathered’. If we were to use the word ethical, then the line would disappear completely. I mean would you design for an airline knowing that the amount of CO2 released per trip is 7.5 times more than the equivalent trip by train? I would stop designing for airlines when I stop using airplanes, and I would stop designing for a certain mass construction company when I stop living in concrete buildings, etc. This way, for me at least, the line is extremely sharp; I don’t design for something I would not use, and I would keep designing for the things I use, until I stop using them. But I know that one day the word “Vegan” would move aside to a word even stronger than “Ethical”.
hello team .: there for design …
I love the idea that you’re a vegan design studio, it’s kind of funny at first, but come to think of it, it’s a brave thing to do.
can’t wait to see some posts here and some of your work.