Design Intervention
October 17th, 2006
Design: Chris Braden and Mike Dudek
Client: Self-made, and distributed at Juice Conference, Toronto ON
Date: 2006
A great design intervention, which is attempting to add a new word to the English language, one used to describe an environmental destructor (SUV driver for instance). Similar in tone to the use of the word Racist, the word Depletist is designed to build understanding and appreciation of the current environmental issues. The designer created multiple ways of getting the word out to the public but the most interesting was this hand out. A five-dollar bill, with the word Depletist and its definition on it, which users get to spend and begin to disseminate this new language. The use of the bill solidifies the statement and is novel for creating an ongoing dialogue with users and how they spend their money, perhaps thinking of the environment during their shopping.
-Todd Falkowsky
Entry Filed under: Graphics, Miscellaneous
5 Comments Add your own
1. Gregory | October 18th, 2006 at 09:08
hmm interesting, but i’m not sure about the execution…i find ironic that these 5 dollar paper bills will now be destroyed and new ones will have to be printed once their circulation reaches the bank of canada.
2. Chris | October 18th, 2006 at 10:07
I see what you’re saying. Given our printing technique (inkjet printer) I’m pretty confident that it will wear off before it gets to the bank of canada. Given standard ways of communicating new ideas (posters, brochures, etc.) we think it is proving our point of not being wasteful. Also, it confronts the owner of the bill when they go to use it. Are you buying something that makes you a depletist? Can this make you think twice about what you are spending your money on? What if it was on a credit card? It is playing of the idea that every time you open your wallet you cast a vote, either for or against the environment.
This project is still very young and we’d love to have a lot more ideas of how we can introduce it to the language in ways that don’t contradict our intentions. We’d love your, or anyone elses help.
3. James Kingsley | October 18th, 2006 at 16:08
Hey chris, great idea! thanks for the visual reminder. I’d love to spend some time working the word into the public realm around my parts out here in victoria – is there a website or any other info on the campaign/initiative by any chance?
4. Chris | October 19th, 2006 at 12:54
Hey James, thanks for the support. We are working on a website and some other related content. When it’s up I’ll post a link here. Hopefully real soon.
5. The Project « Think&hellip | October 23rd, 2006 at 15:05
[...] We are spending the remainder of the semester trying to come up with innovative and meaningful ways of introducing the language into culture. One example, that has been posted on a few websites already is the package we created for the guests who attended the Juice conference at OCAD a few weeks ago. The package contained a five dollar bill with the definition on depletist printed on it. The concept was that we were giving the recipients two tools. One being the word, the second being the money. In the package we quoted Joel Makower “Every time you open your wallet you cast a vote Рeither for or against the environment.” By placing the definition on the money we forced the owner of the bill to think twice about what they were buying. This was also a great way to spread the word, while at the same time creating no waste. We also created stickers with the definition printed on them (which were sized to fit into your dictionary), and to continue with the mandate of no waste we printed instruction on how to add the word to your computer’s dictionary on the back. [...]
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