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Not-for-profit and cause-related marketing campaigns are having to fight hard in the current economic climate to stand out from the crowd in order to raise awareness of and support for the causes they promote. That is not to say, however, that many are failing to do so. In fact, arguably some of the most creative, effective and mission-focused communications out there today are coming from the nonprofit sector. It is becoming a great passion and interest among talented designers and marketers to champion campaigns that benefit causes. “Designing for the Greater Good” by Peleg Top and Jonathan Cleveland is an excellent book that captures many recent creative approaches to design for cause-related projects.
The book is split into seven sectors: Family and Community, Animals, Health and Wellness, Human Rights, Environmental Awareness, Spirituality, and Arts and Culture. Interspersed in the snapshots of designs within each sector are 24 more detailed case studies about creative problem solving through the collaboration of certain firms and nonprofit organizations. Actually, one of the case studies is of the design for an organization Plywood People recently featured on our blog: Project 7. The study details how Project 7 came out of Tyler Merrick’s Texas-based firm 29Agency. And with the firm’s focus on environmental and social concerns for Project 7 in addition to their ability to think creatively about product package design, they came up with really simple design ideas that make a good impact: from different materials for shirt production to the water bottle and box designs that fit more product to allow for more efficient shipping.
The book is very approachable for those not trained in design; it is by no means a technical examination of cause-related design, but instead a showcase of inspiration for communicators wanting to visually display messages in the nonprofit realm. I would recommend it to leaders in social innovation everywhere. But more practically, the book prompted me to wonder, “What am I doing for the ‘greater good’?” Sure, I’m a designer, and so the easiest answer is that I can continue to design things for nonprofit, do-good organizations like in the subject matter of the book. But I think that the question can go deeper than that, if we so desire. How can we leverage our talents on a regular basis for the benefit of the greater good? What unique skills, abilities, leadership positions, or relationships do we have that could be powerful opportunities to contribute to the gain of our communities – locally and globally?
What are your talents? What are you doing to use them for the greater good?
