Not just selling coffee...CSR

For this task, I decided to investigate about Starbucks, and their Corporate Social Responsibility. For the last few years they have been focusing a lot in the coffee farmers, their farms and crops, and their communities.

They believe that building a better community and having a sustainable environment and crops, result in better relationships and better products.

They have encouraged their exporters, coffee farmers and cooperatives to become Fair Trade Certified, this way, ensuring that this product is well paid and that there are high social and environmental standards applied in the farm.

Also, they contribute to worthy causes in the communities where they do business, like addressing children’s literacy, poverty alleviation, and the environment, to name a few. They contribute with different resources to support young social entrepreneurs who are seeking to change their local communities. This empowers and creates a positive felling not only for the farmers but in the place they live in.

They spent over $1.5 million (in 2007) investing in coffee-growing communities. The funds were used to pay 50 projects located in 11 countries, benefiting more than 50,000 local farmers, their families and community residents. They also work with several alternative-financing organizations that make loans to coffee grower associations so they can wait and sell their crops for more favourable prices.

Starbucks also invests in programs designed to strengthen local economic and social development. They work in collaboration with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that have the experience and that are experts in working with farming communities, this way, they help these farmers & communities improve their capacity to consistently bring their highest quality products to the market. These efforts involve from introducing farmers to better farming practices, to environmental preservation, also, they give out scholarships and education programs.

For example, in the UK Starbucks linked up with the National Literary Trust to create the Reading Communities partnership, so that schools and libraries are joined together by through a love of reading, also they have created a partnership with CARE International UK (one of the world’s top three aid agencies, fighting poverty and injustice in over 70 countries and helping 65 million people each year to find resources out of poverty); they are raising funds to support water resources, education and learning and sustainable agriculture projects in two villages in Ethiopia.

This is kind of social responsibility also applies to designers. I think it is important to help out in the place we live in. Creating pro bono work that will help and strengthen our communities and getting involved in making them better places, and creating awareness to social issues by integrating them with designs.

Am I Moving?!

In the last few years it has been proven that graphics don’t need to be static and fixed. Designers are making images float, move, dance and jump, amongst other many unusual forms. They’ve given design speed, timing and transformation. This has opened a whole new area for designers to use their creativity.

Motion Graphics are a very big part of the design industry these days. They can range from logo animations to music videos. They are in the advertising market, television, music industry, cinema film credits, and even fashion. They are a part of our graphic culture.

We can observe it has grown a lot from the days of just creating film credits in motion (Saul Bass was a pioneer in this area in the 50s and 60s). Technological innovation is a key aspect in creating motion graphics, and with so much new software available these days, it’s easier to create more advanced and cutting edge animations and moving graphics.

In researching different studios, I found that there are common trends: the use of very bright colours, the fluidity of the motion has improved, 3D graphics are being incorporated more and static flat images are being used less every day and there is much more movement of the camera. Also I’ve noticed that the 80’s graphic style is making a comeback in this area.

There are so many motion graphic studios, and I have to say they are all very good. I picked a few that I liked the best:

- PEPPER MELON is a creative studio based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They are a relatively new company, starting their work in 2007. They are a team that integrates directors, animators, character designers, industrial designers, visual effects artists and writers. To me this is very important because this way you can understand your client’s needs more comprehensively and you may have a better final product because of the collaboration of all these different professionals. You can check out their website and see their work, most of it is designed for MTV or VH1. http://www.peppermelon.tv
This is their Reel for a few of their work:

- BOOLAB is a production company dedicated mostly to motion graphics, animation and other visual techniques. It is based in Barcelona, Spain, but has been represented in USA, and Canada by PSYOP (see description of this studio below), and has created different projects throughout Europe. They use a lot of illustration in their work. You can see the reel below and also their website to view more: http://www.boolab.tv

- PSYOP is very big in the motion graphics world, with studios in Los Angeles and New York. Its name is derived from the US government’s psychological operations, and its slogan is: “Persuade, Change, Influence”. They do projects for some big names like: Coca Cola, Adidas, McDonald’s, Nokia, Starbucks, etc. As well as for some very renown artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sheryl Crow. They use a lot of hand illustration and photography that is later interpreted as a moving image. Their work is brilliant and their website is definitely worth checking out! http://www.psyop.tv/

This Coca Cola ad is one of the most recent projects:



And this is an animation made for MTV HD:

In this industry, 3D is definitely the future. Although it is already happening, it will increase and will be made better. It is expected that 3D design will be more manageable in post-production software, so that 3D graphics can be easily handled and all using one program,

Around The Barbican Art Centre

For our second task, I chose the new wayfinding system designed for The Barbican Arts Centre.

The Centre has been refurbished, and now has a new look: much more modern and fresh. This includes its environmental sign system, designed by Cartlidge Levene and Studio Myerscough, who won the Design Week Award in 2007 in Wayfinding and Environmental Graphics, for their work throughout the Centre.

This system has a really bright and graphic feel, and it gives the building a completely new look. It’s been created it to improve the navigation around the Centre. They have designed large graphic signs in deep orange that guide the public throughout its different areas. It is clean and simple, and the orange colour is a great contrast to the building’s neutral tones. It’s designed to flow and integrate with the architecture of the Centre. It gives the space a more vibrant and modern look, very appropriate to the artistic setting of this building.

It is easy to understand, with simple directions, it uses a legible type in colours that contrast with the bright orange. Big signs are built into the building’s shapes, indicating the public where they are or where to go.
They also designed a visitors map to make it easier for the public to navigate through the Barbican, continuing with the visual language of the building’s signage, using the same type, colours, and big signs. The design is simple so the person reading it can find his way easily.

In its weaknesses, some people might think that this signage system is very overpowering and invasive, but I think it is a very good complement to the architecture of the building, and the Centre’s whole concept. And has given the Barbican new and more friendly look.

Visitors map