The inner workings of our research studio

As the creators of Re-nourish.com, the industry's most comprehensive free and independent sustainable graphic design resource, we're extremely proud to announce that we did not win the Cooper Hewitt People's Design Award on October 22.

We're proud because being voted into the top three amid such established design minds as Ideo, Frog Design, and nearly 200 other firms represents a significant public endorsement of Re-nourish's mission, and a challenge by working designers everywhere to reconsider the status quo's current definition of "good design."

Re-nourish feels strongly that the design industry needs to move beyond politics, personalities, and mere aesthetics, and embrace a definition of "good design" that addresses - in real terms - both social and environmental impacts. This is our first and only goal. We've moved toward this goal by providing open access to practical tools and unbiased information about sustainable design theory and practice. We've moved toward this goal by developing a comprehensive roadmap for working designers in the form of our Sustainable Graphic Design Standards.

And we've moved toward this goal by reaching out to national design associations, trade associations, working designers, nonprofits, and everyone else who has a stake in this process. Our intention has been to facilitate a collaborative process, so no voice goes unrepresented. We've been met with both open arms and resistance. We continue to believe in the collaborative process, and our nomination for the People's Choice Award tells us it is what working designers want, too.

The three of us - Eric Benson, Yvette Perullo, and Jess Sand - would like to thank everyone who voted us into the top three, who've supported us, shared their opinion with us, told us what they want from Re-nourish. We're incredibly grateful, and a little blown away, by the deep and heartfelt support coming our way.

We wish we could share the final results of the People's Choice Award, and tell you more clearly what your efforts achieved. But the Cooper Hewitt has withheld this information from us, including the vote count for each nominee, disclosing only the first place winner.

Regardless, Re-nourish remains committed to our users, and to the design industry at large. We will be introducing free member accounts before the end of this year, so that designers can track their own environmental impacts and savings, and continue to access reliable, independent information. We will continue to build on the Sustainable Graphic Design Standards, reaching out to all interested parties. As always, we welcome any input, questions, opinions, and concerns you might have about what we do.

Sincerely,

Eric Benson, eric@re-nourish.com
Jess Sand, jess@re-nourish.com
Yvette Perullo, yvette@re-nourish.com