AIGA Introduces Quadruple Bottom Line for Design and Business

AIGA, the professional association for design, unveiled a new sustainability framework, The Living Principles for Design (www.livingprinciples.net) at Make/Think: AIGA Design Conference on October 9. The Living Principles for Design distill the collective wisdom found in decades of sustainability theories and bring them to life in the first quadruple bottom-line framework.

The Living Principles weave together environmental protection, social equity, and economic health — thus building upon commonly accepted, triple bottom-line frameworks. Most significantly, The Living Principles for Design incorporate cultural vitality because culture is where all aspects of sustainability find their way into the blood stream of society, and culture is where designers have the deepest impact as their creations and choices shape habits and values. “The influence of design on culture is enormous,” says Richard Grefe, AIGA executive director. “As designers create messages, artifacts and experiences for consumers, they have an important opportunity to weave sustainability into the broader fabric of culture, helping to shift consumption and lifestyle aspirations to a more sustainable basis for living.”

Environmental iconoclast Adam Werbach notes, “The Living Principles are incredibly useful for designers as they make sustainability endemic to their work. Right now, the battle is getting people to understand that cultural vitality is as central to sustainability as environmental protection. The Living Principles do an elegant job of clarifying these concepts and making them accessible.”

The AIGA Center for Sustainable Design (CFSD) and AIGA, the professional association for design, will submit the Living Principles for global adoption at the Icograda Xin World Design Conference in Beijing later in October. The Living Principles, and the comprehensive analysis that led to it are available at www.livingprinciples.net and www.sustainability.aiga.org.

The architects/authors of this framework are CFSD co-chairs Gaby Brink and Phil Hamlett, and CFSD’s strategy committee chair, Nathalie Destandau. AIGA, the professional association for design, stimulates thinking about design, demonstrates the value of design and empowers the success of designers at each stage of their careers.

AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force. Founded in 1914, AIGA remains the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design, and is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational institution. www.aiga.org