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The Designers Accord
Valerie Casey
This article appears in the August 2008 issue of Print.
The idea of sustainability, says IDEO’s Valerie Casey, is suffering from eco-fatigue. She calls it the Britney Spears Factor: “Everyone loves you. Until they don’t.” At the third biennial Compostmodern conference held on a balmy January day in San Francisco, Casey pointed out that this backlash is typical of any new movement, which occurs after the initial buzz but before general acceptance. She should know: A year ago, Casey founded The Designers Accord, a pledge to discuss better environmental solutions—yes, especially with clients—and to share knowledge about findings with each other rather than duplicating efforts. Now, graced with Eric Strohl’s new logo (above), the Designers Accord—whose advisory board includes Paul Hawken of the Natural Capital Institute—has 100,000* members as well as official endorsement by AIGA and the Industrial Designers Society of America. This summer, the organization will launch a new website that will feature extensive case studies and serve as a sounding board and general battery recharger. While the publicity isn’t quite Britney Spears–level yet, Casey says the project has been a whirlwind. In just two months, she went from sharing airtime on Canadian radio with Guns N’ Roses ex-guitarist Slash to meeting Al Gore. RHONDA RUBINSTEIN*The original article incorrectly stated that the Designers Accord has 22,000 members. We regret the error.