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When Kristin Rogers Brown -- Portland-based art director for the global consulting firm, Oliver Wyman -- began looking for ways to make her company's operations more sustainable, she knew there would be questions.

Management would want to know how making a product sustainable would affect quality. That's an important question when your firm has to make a positive impression on Global and Fortune 100 businesses. And of course, there will always be the question of cost. Doesn't sustainable means more expensive? The numbers would have to be good for a sustainable approach to achieve management buy-in.

So Kristin picked a visible and achievable target to begin her sustainability initiative... a binder full of PowerPoint slides called the Learning Journal.

“The 'Learning Journal' is a very visible and important document that our company's clients use and carry away from one-on-one leadership development sessions,” said Kristin. “Before our design group got involved with its production, it was simply a collection of PowerPoint presentations collected into a binder. It doesn't take much to figure out a product like that can be improved, so that's what we set out to do.

"Initially, we just wanted to make it better from a design standpoint. In our first iteration, we transformed the piece into a 7 x 9 inch booklet format, making it something our clients would be more likely to use. Then we continued to design greater sustainability into it over time. We changed papers to a lighter recycled stock with more tooth; we did away with polylaminates; and we went with 100 percent soy inks and varnishes. Plus, the binding is recyclable aluminum.”

How did all of these changes affect cost? According to Kristin, simply changing from binder to booklet translated to savings of 50 percent. Then, as greater sustainability was built into the process, another 10 percent cost reduction was achieved. All this while significantly improving quality and usability. But Kristin was quick to point to successful partnerships as an important part of the process.

“Vendor partnering will be key to any effort to build sustainability into your design process,” Kristin said. “For example, our printer has been a great partner. They brought a good sustainability rating to the table initially, and have been very flexible in working with us. They even made the paper stock we selected their house stock.”

Ultimately, the success of this, or any, systemic effort to make a process more sustainable depends on client acceptance. To better gauge client reaction, Kristin worked with strategic account managers at Oliver Wyman to conduct some informal primary client research. To prepare account managers for this task, her design group worked with them to make them conversant on the subject of sustainability.

“They needed to be able to talk to clients,” said Kristin. “and believe me, it was worth the effort. We found out that clients loved the new leadership booklets. Plus, conveyed a genuine interest in the subject of sustainability in general.”

For Kristin, her design team and Oliver Wyman, the Learning Journal has proven to be a successful venture into the business of sustainability. It has set a tone that the company has taken notice of. The firm's Portland office is emerging as one of its international leaders in sustainable design.

Is there is a “best practices” lesson to carry away from this exercise? Kristin thinks so.

“Isolated projects are great, but if you can build sustainability into your design process in a systematic way, the payoff is continuous"

About the designer...
Kristin Rogers Brown is an experienced art director and designer specializing in identity, brand development and communications design through print media, packaging and environmental graphics. In addition to her work with Oliver Wyman, Kristin has been an AIGA member since 2001 and a Portland board member since 2003. In 2005, she brought AIGA and WorldStudio's Urban Forest Project to Portland. Her interest in design and sustainability stretches to include ORLO'S Bear Deluxe Magazine, where her work has been recognized by Print magazine and the Utne Reader. Kristin has taught and lectured in the creative field at primary, graduate and professional levels.

About the author...
John Vincent, a principal with Portland marketing communications firm Yulan Studio, helps promote sustainability initiatives for clients and sustainable organizations when he is not working on a screenplay or tending his organic plot in Southwest Portland's Gabriel Community Garden.

Photos courtesy of Chris Bell and Oliver Wyman Leadership Development. All rights reserved.