Designers Get Green in San Diego

Last weekend, we packed up the Prius and traveled down to San Diego for the 13th annual Y-Conference. This year's theme was Seeds of Change and tackled issues of sustainability in both design and life. I adore this conference, because the quality of speakers is consistently top notch (of course, there are always a few duds, but this is impossible to avoid), the San Diego chapter of the AIGA is eclectic (designers seem authentic and wear colors other than black) and totally non-snooty, the University of San Diego is a lovely location, the weather is glorious in late March, and the conference is very affordable by AIGA standards. I was so excited when I learned about the theme of Y-13 and couldn't wait to bask in the eco-love.

And I was not disappointed. Robert Noble, of Envision Solar is now my hero. For years I've been ranting about parking lots in SoCal and all that sun that could be generating energy. Well, Mr. Noble is covering those God-forsaken, hotter than hell, gigante mall parking lots with Solar Groves™. What a poetic name for and beautiful incarnation of green design at its best. This is just one of Mr. Noble's many innovative and progressive projects; the man is a true visionary and all around cool guy.

Another super duper inspiring speaker was Brian Dougherty of Celery Design Collective, based in Berkeley. Not only does Celery Design create beautiful work, but it is also eco-innovative, big time. They even created a free online ecological guide to paper to help designers make sense of PCW, ECF, PCF, TCF, FSC, etc. Holy cow, paper specing in more complicated than ever. Thank you Brian for proving that a fabulous printed piece doesn't have to include a matte varnish, a gloss varnish, a double hit of florescent ink, foil stamping, tip-ins, and full bleed images. In my view, any designer who does not at least consider issues of sustainability in their work is, well, a moron.

I have only one negative comment about the conference and that is: Organic ToGo sucks. And it sucks on a number of levels. First, the food lacks, well, flavour. Second, every single item is packaged in plastic. Third, and most horrific: BAGGED SLICED APPLES! Now, I am not a proponent of all caps or the exclamation point, for that matter, but the very core of my being is offended by bagged sliced apples. Apples: perfected packed by Mother Nature. Slicing apples drastically reduces their shelf life and necessitates the use of some form of preservative (usually asorbic acid). So instead of biting into a delicious, crisp organic apple, I had to suffer through soggy slices with a faint hint of what can only be described as chewable vitamin C taste: chalky and faux citrusy. The organizers of the conference actually apologized for the food and mentioned that they had hoped to avoid totally plastic-encased lunches. Oh well, these things happen.

All in all, Y-13 was educational, eye-opening, at times mind blowing, and very inspiring. Nice work AIGA San Diego: you guys and gals deserve a big meyer lemon martini for your efforts.