The Urban Forest Project banners hanging in Washington, DC and Tacoma, WA.

A series of 100 banners were recently installed in the heart of Washington, DC, the latest city to collaborate with Worldstudio on The Urban Forest Project. This innovative environmental, public arts initiative is being presented by District Department of Transportation (DDOT), in collaboration with AIGA DC, the Corcoran College of Art + Design, and the Downtown DC Business Improvement District.

On the other side of the country, The Urban Forest Project Tacoma is coming to a close. Banners will be taken down this week and be repurposed into one-of-a-kind messenger bags by Alchemy Goods. The bags will be available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting EverGreen Tacoma. Details of how to purchase the bags will be available on the website June 15th. Posters and t-shirts are currently for sale.

In addition to Tacoma and Washington, DC, Worldstudio’s The Urban Forest Project has taken root in Albuquerque, Baltimore, Denver, New York, Portland and Toledo.

Jason McDaniel is used to printing killer letterpress invitations and cards. And it’s not that he doesn’t love his work at Dallas’ trendy Miss Q Press, but when McDaniel was invited to participate in The Feedback Loop project, he thought it would be fun to challenge himself to do something outside of his normal routine.

So he letterpress-printed a journal, something he’d never before tried, the sales of which will benefit kids all over the country.

Mohawk Fine Papers and Design Ignites Change teamed up recently to create The Feedback Loop, a project using the new Mohawk Loop grade as a catalyst for change. In exchange for free Loop paper from Mohawk, twenty-five leading letterpress printers, including Missing Q, were asked to create fifty unique notebooks. These limited editions books are now being sold in a special storefront on the Felt & Wire Shop. 100% of the proceeds will go to Design Ignites Change to support the youth mentorship program School: By Design.

McDaniel says the printing part of the project was easy (he printed the covers by hand on his Vandercook #4). It was the bindery that was new for him. His journal was inspired by a vintage french botanical fieldbook he stumbled upon at an antique shop this summer. “I was really inspired by the fact that someone carried this little journal around studying plants, and so the fieldbook became the inspiration for my notebooks.” Plus, the word “letterpress” looks really awesome in French (Impression Typographique!).  ”I have never done any bookbinding professionally, so I wasn’t sure how to go about this in terms of a finished notebook,” he says. But you’d never know it from the finished result.

Project leader Laura Shore is impressed by the work of all of the participants, now on sale at Felt & Wire Shop. “Some of the best letterpress printers in the country are involved in the project, so I knew they’d be good. But I didn’t know they’d be this good. It all started with the simple idea that Mohawk wanted to be a positive catalyst for social change, and, we wanted to get printers to try our new paper, Loop.”

She says she thinks they’ll sell out quickly. “We set a low fixed price on all the notebooks: $15.00, which includes shipping and handling. Our goal was to raise money quickly and test this as a model for future social ventures.”

That would make Design Ignites Change founders and Worldstudio partners, Mark Randall and Andréa Pellegrino, happy. All proceeds for The Feedback Loop go directly to School: by Design – a Design Ignites Change and Designers Accord youth mentoring initiative.  ”We’re challenging high school students – in collaboration with their college or professional design mentors – to ‘redesign their school.’ A $10,000 award will be granted to the high school with the most innovative project to implement their idea,” says Pellegrino.

McDaniel adds, “I hope every single notebook sells so there is a generous donation made.”

With the first in a series of planned executions of The Urban Forest Project recently launching in Albuquerque, Fast Company explores the history, genesis and future of the initiative. Focusing on Worldstudio’s expertise in creating and implementing socially-responsible projects and programs for corporations and non-profits, the article uses The Urban Forest Project as a case study to follow Worldstudio’s process in helping their clients connect to key constituencies in lasting and meaningful ways. The article, written by Alissa Walker, was published as part of The Designers Accord case study series.

To learn more about how Worldstudio can engage with your organization to concept and execute grassroots programs unique to your CSR platform, and/or upcoming opportunities to sponsor The Urban Forest Project in Toledo, OH, San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC, contact Andréa Pellegrino or Mark Randall.

Topics covered will include:
• Funding models; corporate sponsorship, grants, partnerships
• Identifying and forming collaborative relationships
• How to get your ideas in front of appropriate funding sources
• Writing a project/funding plan

To learn more about how to bring a workshop to your group or school, contact Andréa Pellegrino.

Worldstudio is delighted to announce that the 2010 Design Ignites Change mentoring initiative will be developed and implemented in partnership with The Designers Accord, a global coalition of designers, educators and business leaders working together to create positive environmental and social impact.

The brief or challenge will be created to address the project theme of sustainability and be multidisciplinary and multicultural, engaging a wide variety of design disciplines from around the world. This initiative is the first of its kind, unique in scope and scale around the issue of sustainability.

The project will tap into an army of creatives ready to actively focus on the complex environmental and social issues facing our world today while mentoring undeserved high school students through the design process.

To learn more about involving your school or students in Design Ignites Change, contact Mark Randall. For more information on program sponsorship, contact Andréa Pellegrino.

Banner designs left to right by Janice Arroyo, Katya Crawford, Tristan Pittard, Rudi Backart, Janice Arroyo and Jamie Jett Walker

The Urban Forest Project launched in Albuquerque, NM on October 1st with a kick-off event at the Open Space Visitors Center. Banners by local artists and designers are currently displayed on light poles throughout downtown Albuquerque. Each banner incorporates the form or metaphor of the tree, making a powerful visual statement about the environment. The city is using the project as an education and messaging platform for AlbuquerqueGreen, the city’s innovative environmental program.

The banners will move to various high-traffic areas of the city through Spring 2010, at which time they will be recycled into unique tote bags designed for the project and sold exclusively through local Whole Foods Markets. Sales from the bags will benefit Tree New Mexico, supporting their tree planting efforts in Albuquerque and mission to “keep New Mexico clean, beautiful and healthy.”

K-12 public schools students will also have a chance to submit designs for additional banners that will be hung in November in the Rio Grande Zoo at the BioPark. Wells Fargo helped support this aspect of the program.

The Urban Forest Project was first executed in New York City’s Times Square in the fall of 2006 in partnership with the Times Square Alliance. Albuquerque is the first in a series of planned executions worldwide. Spring 2010 will see the project unfolding in San Francisco, Toledo and Washington, DC. To learn more, visit The Urban Forest Project website: www.ufp-global.com

This project, conceived and implemented by Worldstudio, is being presented in collaboration with: City of Albuquerque and Tree New Mexico, with generous support from Jamie Jett Walker, LithExcel, PNM Resources, Inc, Mesa del Sol, TaGG Studios, Wells Fargo and Whole Foods Market.

Core77, has tapped into a diverse group of contributors to publish Hack2Work, a collection of essential advice and tips for design professionals. With articles on topics ranging from process to staffing to client relationships, Hack2Work offers something for everyone – including a piece outlining tips for funding social change projects from Worldstudio’s Andréa Pellegrino.

The City is bringing this innovative banner program to San Francisco to raise public awareness around greening and tree planting initiatives and education. The Academy of Art University, Adobe Youth Voices and AIGA San Francisco are already on board as key partners on this community-based, public arts and environmental initiative. Once the banners come down, they will be converted into recycled products by students at the Academy of Art University, to be auctioned off to raise money for local tree planting initiatives and education.

Worldstudio originally conceived and executed the project for Times Square Alliance in the Fall of 2006. An unexpected outcome of the New York project was grassroots outreach from cities around the world interested in bringing The Urban Forest to their communities. San Francisco will be the first in a series of planned executions of the project with Albuquerque, New Mexico not far behind.

The project will rely entirely on corporate and foundation contributions. If you are interested in supporting The Urban Forest Project San Francisco or bringing the project to your community, please contact Andréa Pellegrino.

In addition to our unique ability to create custom-tailored projects and programs for clients that demonstrate their CSR platform, Worldstudio has created two highly-visible, global projects that are garnering much attention – The Urban Forest Project and Design Ignites Change.

Each of these initiatives invite participation in a number of ways:

The Urban Forest Project will plant the seeds of sustainability and creativity in cities around the world, offering corporations an unparalleled opportunity for visibility on both global and local levels.

Design Ignites Change, launching in January, brings together talented design students, educational institutions, the business world and civic leaders to foster real solutions to pressing social issues.

To learn more about how these programs can be shaped to meet your marketing goals, click on the links above or contact Andréa Pellegrino at apellegrino@worldstudioinc.com

Click to view/download the article pdf Communication Arts 11/08 design issues