Future of the green design & My goal as a product designer

I thought I knew a lot about green design since it was what I wanted to pursue as a product designer. The topic of green design always fascinated me and motivated me. I first learned about it in my freshman product design class. It was very surprising to learn that there’s something you can do to protect the environment and be creative at the same time. At the end of the semester, I realized that green designer is what I want to be in the future. And that future is not that far away.

The future of the green design, in my point of view, has many possibilities. From small gadgets to big machineries, green design can really put positive impacts on us. Because this planet was here for us for so many years, now it’s our turn to protect and reserve it for the next generation.

logo design

In the presentation techniques class, I created a logo that represents my identity as a product designer. The tree explains that I care about the nature. The branches show that I’m willing to spread the importance of the nature.

To be honest, product design is one of the fields that ruin the environment. Manufacturing processes and wastes are the reasons. However, product design is a field that can protect the environment. That’s why I want to be a green designer. I can’t wait to show my passion for the nature!

Alternative Energy & Green Architecture: For a Better World

Image from http://www.ciginvest.com/

Alternative energy

Several years ago, I had a chance to do a green design project in my product design class. By researching and learning about green design, I realized that this is what I want to pursue as a product designer in the future. For the final design concept, I came up with a solar powered public bus station. The purpose of it was to save energy and create eco-friendly community. The floor of this bus station was made out of wasted tires to give comfort on legs while waiting for buses. I came up with this solution to recycle wasted tires. The solar powered touch screen monitor shows the time, schedule, destination, routes and etc.

The common types of alternative energy are...

• Solar energy      
• Wind energy
• Geothermal energy
• Biofuel and ethanol
• Nuclear binding energy 
• Hydrogen

Green architecture

Green architecture, or sustainable architecture is a rising star everywhere. Many countries are currently investing on green building & energy saving projects. The goal of green architecture is to use less energy, less materials, less space, and etc. Green building makes heating, ventilation and cooling system efficient and is a field to look up to for the greener future.

Raefer Wallis, an architect, talks about the green architecture that regenerates in this TED video.

Video from http://www.youtube.com/

What is 'Green Design'?

image from connect.innovateuk.org

What is green design?

Green design, eco-design, and sustainable design are the terms that describe the area of design that eliminates the negative impact a product design can make on the environment. A green design is a building plan that intentionally makes use of natural materials, according to BusinessDictionary.com. A lot of times, the goal of green design is to minimize the use of non-recyclable materials and replace them with natural resources that are reusable and safe to environment.

Professor Jonathan Chapman of the University of Brighton, UK described in his book, Emotionally Durable Design: Objects, Experiences & Empathy that emotionally durable design reduces the consumption and waste of natural resources by increasing the resilience of relationships established between consumers and products.

There are several different design fields that use this theory to increase the ‘emotional durability’ and protect environment.

•      Eco fashion
•      Sustainable architecture
•      Sustainable landscape
•      Sustainable graphic design
•      Sustainable packaging design
•      Disposable products

The use of alternative energy is a big part of the green design too. These are some of the examples.

•          Solar powered lantern
•      Water powered cell phone charger
•      Wind powered fan

In this blog, I would like to share some of the examples of green design to show how they look, how they work and how they can impact the environment around us… because we love our planet so much!