Can you remember why you became a designer? That joyous day where you realised you could make an actual living out of being creative, the promise that every new day would be filled with fun and inspirational ways to meet new, stimulating briefs – all stuff that made you excited to get out of bed.
Are you still living that dream? I bet the reality for most of you is that dream has been squeezed into an awkward gap inbetween corporate stuffiness and brand guidelines. Well, last week my inspiration was reawakened, I had that feeling again – the one where you are inspired to make a difference, to contribute to something, to give something back, to change the world.
The reason for my inspiration? I was privileged to be able to listen to an incredibly motivational man, John Sauven, the Executive Director of Greenpeace UK. A well known, international environmental charity, famous for their contentious campaigns, purposefully created for maximum impact. Campaigns to cause reaction and more importantly to drive results, results like reducing deforestation figures from 27000 sq kilometres down to 4000 sq kilometres in the last 15-20 years. These staggering results mean Greenpeace are truly a force to be reckoned with.
How did they do it? Did you know that rainforests don’t have any corporate value until companies like Cargill (an international food conglomerate) destroy it to make room to grow soya beans? It was shocking to hear that they seem to have the monopoly on food production and how Greenpeace were able track the supply of soya beans from Cargill’s farms in Indonesia to Liverpool and then into McDonald’s restaurants. Fascinating, but somewhat frightening!
The vastness of this problem meant they needed the help of some of the greatest creative brains in the industry. After launching a campaign that lasted a mere 24 hours, Greenpeace got a call from McDonald’s who then committed to sign an agreement not to touch chickens that were fed on Amazon soya. They are now in the 8th year into the agreement – all of this off the back of a powerful campaign managed by a creative force for good, which not only inspires but causes action!
Similar stories can also be told for giants such as Procter & Gamble, Colgate Palmolive, Johnson&Johnson, Kelloggs, Shell, and Unilever, but the list certainly does not stop there.
This hard hitting video was asking Nestlé to “give rainforests a break” and again the campaign was a huge success.
When was the last time you had complete freedom to create design without boundaries, to be devil’s advocate and deliver a strong, fundamental message? No I can’t remember either, but your luck might be in. In his closing statement, John mentioned that they are always looking for talented creatives to join their team – so what are you waiting for?
Becca Stevens wants to live in a world where clients stick to the initial brief and designers go home on time. As a Studio Manager, she’s been subjected to all kinds of job juggling, patience testing and deadline moving situations. When she’s not training other agency folk how to use Streamtime to harness the chaos, you can find her poking around antiques and vintage places, finding curiosities to treasure.
