WINNER
Useless
by Nice and Serious
As the world rethinks its relationship with materials and processes, zero-waste shops are at the forefront of a cultural shift – and in London, there are plenty to choose from.
Wanting to point consumers in the direction of packaging-free purchases, studio Nice and Serious set out to develop a platform that mapped each one. Supposedly, the idea for Useless came to the team as they sat around the lunch table one day, eating extensively plastic-wrapped meal deals, and after being introduced to the concept of zero-waste shops, the team began to develop the idea. It settled early on two important boxes that their project needed to fit into – Useless needed to be useful, but also easy to use.
Research had found that many zero-waste resources were ugly and cumbersome to use, therefore pointing Nice and Serious to a mission that balanced style and usability, with a tone of voice that didn’t rely on “doom- mongering”. Useless was created to act as the “beautiful digital wrapper” that zero-waste stores deserve, but its impact soon outgrew just London. By adding a crowdsourcing feature to the platform, new towns have been mapped and listings for zero-waste shops are currently at 422 (and counting) and are located in places not just in the UK, but across the world, from Sheffield to Seattle, Oslo, Sydney and Scheibbs in Austria. The next step, the team says, is Useless.earth.
The judges said: “A playful and creative point of engagement to highlight a get-up-and-go solution to a local, city and global challenge. The online platform has an effortless simplicity that makes finding a plastic-free store easy – even its name is smart and easy to remember – while taking a slight activist and informative approach. The bold colours and type are balanced well with the charming local feel of the shop front drawings.”
The Urban Village Project
by SPACE10
Beyond the threats unique to 2020, cities around the world face major challenges as rapid urbanisation, the climate crisis, ageing populations and unaffordable housing continue to dominate built environments. As SPACE10 warns, unless we rethink this, our cities will become increasingly unsustainable, unaffordable and socially unequal.
In response to this, the team developed the Urban Village Project, an integrated solution to how we might design, build, finance and share the homes of the future. Innovations present in the Urban Village include affordable, pre-fabricated and flat-pack homes, which themselves rely on a modular building system in which components can be replaced and reused; democratic land trust and co-operative-inspired governance; and eco-friendly utility solutions like water harvesting, renewable energy and localised food production.
SOCIAL
DESIGN
Creative Differences
by Music, for Universal Music
It is no secret that often people with neurodiverse conditions have hugely impressive creative talents, but for these talents to thrive specific working conditions are needed.
When Universal Music UK identified the need to create a resource to help organisations educate themselves and implement practical changes to benefit neurodiverse employees, they approached design studio Music to design and launch it. The Creative Differences handbook draws on the experience of neurodiverse creatives from across the industry and is presented in a way that is “as neurodiverse-friendly as possible”, including in its pages dyslexia-friendly typefaces and sensory sensitivity-friendly colour combinations, as well as illustrations designed in collaboration with neurodiverse illustrator Megan Rhiannon.
COVID-19: Stay Clean, Stay Strong
by JWDK
After dealing with their peak of the coronavirus pandemic earlier than most other countries, come February many businesses in China were looking to return to their offices. With one of the most effective practices against the virus being good personal hygiene, Shanghai-based design studio JWDK decided to create posters for the workplace that promoted just that.
Taking their creative cues from old Chinese public health posters of the 1950s, the Stay Clean, Stay Strong posters are illustrated in soft colours with vertically typeset Chinese instructions, which echo the recommendations given by both the Chinese authorities and the WHO. Across four posters, the JWDK team has covered a number of important topics, including the best equipment to protect against infection (such as face masks and hand sanitisers); the necessity of frequent handwashing; and the significance of individual action among a collective problem.
MSF Makes
by Hetco Design and Studio Ala, for Médecins Sans Frontières
For nearly 50 years, Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) has operated in conflict zones and countries affected by endemic diseases, and been at the forefront of developing innovative medical products.
Wanting to encourage this further, MSF approached Hetco Design and Studio Ala to design a lightweight digital platform on which staff could share their ideas, since there existed little infrastructure for staff to replicate ideas elsewhere. The solution, MSF Makes, therefore invites staff to share their “recipes”, which each comprise a set of instructions, essential equipment and skills lists. Alongside each recipe, the team has then designed a set of additional features, such as a gallery of images for staff who have recreated the recipe, biographies of the authors and spaces for relevant case studies.
The Valuable 500 - identity
by Interbrand, for The Valuable 500
With a mission to normalise disability in the workplace, the Valuable 500 highlights the worki being done by select CEOs and companies to put the issue on their business leadership agenda.
Wanting to stand out against “a sea of soft- inclusivity campaigns”, the initiative approached Interbrand to create its identity. Focused around the “valuable heart” graphic motif, the new look for the Valuable 500 has been designed to be accessible to, and inclusive of, all – with founder Caroline Casey’s own visual impairment informing many of the decisions.
It features the inclusive FS Millbank typeface, highly contrasted illustrations and bold colours – and the sum of all this is an identity that stands out from other disability communications, Interbrand says, thereby transitioning it from a charity issue to a corporate one.
