The Living Principles for Design aim to provide designers with an integrated framework to effectively apply sustainability principles. It distills decades of sustainability theories into an actionable quadruple bottom-line approach that addresses environmental protection, social equity, economic health, and cultural vitality. For each area, it outlines the design opportunity and provides roadmaps for designers with considerations and guidelines to integrate sustainability into their work. The principles are intended to be a starting point and feedback is sought to keep them relevant for the design community.

1. What are the Living Principles
for Design?
www.livingprinciples.net
Kristin Rogers Brown, AIGA Portland

2. THE NEED
While 87% of recently surveyed
AIGA members view sustainability
as a top priority, many of them
confess they are ill-equipped to
apply its principles effectively.
www.livingprinciples.net

3. THE NEED
“One serious problem for designers is that,
even with a systems approach, there are few
tools in existence that wrap these issues
together. Instead, designers must learn
to match together a series of disparate
approaches, understandings, and frameworks
in order to build a complete solution.”
– Nathan Shedroff, “Design Is the Problem:
The Future of Design Must be Sustainable”, 2009

4. PERSONAL
ACTION
STUDIO
OPS
BUSINESS
PRACTICE
PUBLIC
POLICY
CULTURE
FUTURE GENERATIONS

5. weave sustainability into the
broader fabric of culture
shift consumption and
lifestyle aspirations

6. THE NEED
Everybody wants to do the right
thing, but how do we start?
+ complexity of issues
+ decentralized resources
+ lack of filtering for how resources
relate to design

7. History of an idea:
We are standing on
the shoulders of
giants THE APPROACH
The Living Principles for Design
distill the collective wisdom found
in decades of sustainability
theories into
INTEGRATED
the first quadruple
The
Living Principles bottom-line
Kyoto | Cumulus
GDC
Sustainability
Principles
Presidio Model
framework for design.
Natural Capitalism
Sustainability
Helix Okala
Economic
The Natural Step
orum
The Ceres Sustainable
Principles Packaging Coalition
The Hannover
Principles re-nourish ACTIONABLE
IDSA Eco Design
PRINCIPLES
Principles & FRAMEWORKS TOOLS
Practices

8. THE APPROACH
In order for individuals, societies,
economies and the planet to flourish,
we must recognize that these are
inextricably linked.
The confluence of these four streams is the
key to sustainable design.

9. THE APPROACH
where all aspects of sustainability
find their way into society
where designers have the
deepest impact

10. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Actions and issues that affect natural
systems, including climate change,
preservation, carbon footprint and
restoration of natural resources.

11. DESIGN’S OPPORTUNITY
Visualize complex information and make it
comprehensible and relevant.
Invent new systems, products and services
to deliver more value for less material and
energy used.
Integrate environmental criteria
at every step.

12. DESIGNERS’ ROADMAP
Learn and inform about environmental impacts of choices.
Consider the entire lifecycle of design solutions.
Consider the entire supply chain: suppliers, production,
shipping volumes and transportation distances.
Eliminate waste. Plan for use of materials in continuous cycles.
Avoid the use of any environmeltally damaging substances .
Consider appropriate lifecycle and durability.
Minimize energy use. Maximize use of clean energy.

13. SOCIAL EQUITY
Actions and issues that affect all aspects
of society, including poverty, violence,
injustice, education, healthcare, safe
housing, labor and human rights.

14. DESIGN’S OPPORTUNITY
Base messages and designs on principles
of inclusion, equality and empathy to shape
harmonious and healthy conditions.
Visualize acute needs, raise awareness,
prompt response, and affect policy
Help improve quality of life.

15. DESIGNERS’ ROADMAP
Create messages, artifacts, services and experiences that
respond to the needs of all people, and promote and enable
joyful, healthy living.
Consider consequences for individuals and communities over
the entire lifecycle.
Understand the ethical supply chain.
Minimize environmental, health and safety risks to employees
and communities throughout the entire life and disposal cycle.

16. ECONOMIC HEALTH
Actions and issues that affect how people
and organizations meet their basic needs,
evolve and define economic success and
growth.

17. DESIGN’S OPPORTUNITY
Design’s approach to investigation,
analysis, and visualization can help
create opportunities and invent new
economic and business models for 21st-
century realities, to set the foundation
for a more sustainable world.

18. DESIGNERS’ ROADMAP
Understand financial parameters and design to performance
and cost criteria.
Communicate truthfully and with transparency.
Understand and communicate sound business values and
benefits of sustainable solutions (efficiency, profitability, brand
equity, employee morale...)
Consider and encourage business models that incorporate
product takeback systems, end-of-life product collection,
upgrading and recycling.
Consider equitable systems of corporate ownership (co-ops).

19. CULTURAL VITALITY
Actions and issues that affect how
communities manifest identity, preserve
and cultivate traditions, and develop
belief systems and commonly accepted
values.

20. DESIGN’S OPPORTUNITY
Connect people with ideas, motivate
behavior change, and shift mindsets.
This transformative power can shape
new values and provide a compelling
understanding of sustainability that
ensures its assimilation by a broad array
of people, nations and cultures.

21. DESIGNERS’ ROADMAP
Create messages, artifacts, services and experiences that
provide people with choices that can change attitudes and
redefine prosperity.
Support/promote the uniqueness of different cultures and
recognize that highly functional systems are resilient because
of their diversity.
Consider historical, place-based, social, cultural and economic
contexts to make design and messaging culturally relevant.
Make sustainability desirable.

22. History | Framework | Resources | News
www.livingprinciples.net

23. These are ‘living’ principles and as such they
suggest a starting place. Your feedback is critical
to keeping them vital and relevant.
Use them. Test them. Adjust them. Teach them.
And tell us what you find.
We look forward to your contributions.
www.livingprinciples.net