Better late than never we present the Be A Design Cast Guide to Going Green. Well, less of a guide, more of a conversation about how to begin the process. Going green (or as the AIGA folks like to call it, sustainable) is not as hard as it may seem, but it does include an awful lot more consideration than just printing recycled paper and using soy-based ink.

The biggest obstacle to going green as a graphic designer, we’ve found, is there there exists no great resource of information on how to do it, or how to know that what you are doing is helping more than hurting. The closest thing is AIGA’s Center for Sustainable Design, but as a practical guide I have found it somewhat lacking. The research for this show was culled from other websites such as the one above, blogs devoted to the green life, as well as articles from our good friends at both STEP Inside Design and HOW Magazine.

Joining us once more is our main man David Kadavy coming all the way from the sunny shores of San Francisco, because he has just formed sustainableprint.org, a wiki guide to green, which we all hope will become that long-needed one-stop shop for sustainable how-to’s. Big thanks to David, who lives the green life everyday, for lending some credibility to the show.

-nv-

podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 39 to your computer (20mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

And the hits, they say, just keep on coming. Our 38th show comes to you live from the Nomad Lounge, which you no doubt read all about in last month’s STEP magazine. It’s the brainchild of midwest design firm Archrival, who you know from just about every design annual published during the past ten years. Donovan and I have known Clint! and Charles for a number of years and have wanted to get them on the show from the beginning, and they deliver in spades. We cover the history and beginnings of Archrival, which should serve as a case study to any young designer looking to do their own thing, to partnering with clients and branching out into other businesses, like the Nomad. This is a great, great show and anyone who’s ever felt like they can’t do good work because they’re not on the coast must give it a listen.

Also this week, another 5 MINUTE REVIEW, this time of thomasjockin.com. Thomas is a senior at Parsons, but even that pedigree doesn’t get him off the hook with us or Clint! and Charles. If you want to take part in the 5-Minute Review, send us a link to your work online at the email address below!

-nv-

podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 38 to your computer (21mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

A lightning-fast Be A Design Cast coming at you this week produced almost entirely by Steve Gordon while at the HOW Conference in HotLanta. Trials, tribulations, and good times ensued. Special thanks for once again being our man-on-the-street. We’ll be back next week with a full show that, if everyone’s schedules work out, should be a blast. Thanks -

-nv-

podcast [at] beadesigngroup.com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 37.5 to your computer (2.5mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

It’s summer, so it must be time to kick off the Be A Design Cast interview season. We get things started-and started right-with something I would not have expected in my days: The return of Robert Brunner to the Be A Design Cast. But how could we resist! Not only did Robert give an amazing interview when we visited Pentagram last year (during which you can actually hear me getting smarter), but then he went ahead and left Pentagram to form his own company, Ammunition, where he will take on his own projects such as the phenomenally successful Fuego grill. We had a lot of fun with Robert this time, and discuss everything from sustainability in design to the obligatory Apple question, plus Robert even answers this week’s listener mail.

And while over 1,500 miles of distance did alleviate much of my designer-intimidation this time around, I can pass along this tidbit: Do not try to bait Robert into making jokes about the Zune. Not a good idea, right there.

So special thanks to Robert Brunner for gracing the BADCast with his presence once again, we were thrilled to him back. More interviews to come!

-nv-

podcast [at] beadesigngroup.com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 37 to your computer (14mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

Don’t give people seizures! Bad design breaks the world and Europe’s grasp on cutting-edge cool comes to a halt more abrupt than Princess Diana. We cover the shame of of the London 2012 logo. After we wipe our hands clean of that mess, Donovan, Steve and I dig into some listener questions that include how to handle “celeb” designers. Also, a new feature comes to the show: The 5-Minute Review. Basically it works like this: you send us a link to your website (preferably student work) and we will give you tough love in return. Good times!

UPDATE: To fix this little “half-a-show” bug we’re experiencing, we have uploaded BADCast 36″B”, a new file that will hopefully clear out whatever is wrong with the old one. Let us know if this doesn’t work, and thanks for letting us know in the first place!

Next week: The Return of Robert Brunner to the Be A Design Cast!

-nv-
podcast [at] beadesigngroup.com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 36B to your computer (15mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.