Kurt Weidemann – typographer, graphic designer, brand identity consultant, and teacher – passed away one week ago at age 88. Widely accepted as one of the most influential typographers of the 20th century, he leaves behind an indelible mark on the industry, as well as printed communications in general. Yet, perhaps the greatest lesson to be taken from his life is in the manner in which he conducted business – with the courage and conviction to follow his strong morals and ethics.

Weidemann’s spirit is beautifully captured in this video from Gestalten TV, filmed in his home studio in Stuttgart. He shares a bit of his rich experiences, including a decade spent breaking rocks at a Russian prison camp during WWII, his work as an identity consultant for Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, his views on typefaces, the distinction between professional design and art, and at the very end of the interview…the keys to his success! I highly recommend taking 16 minutes to watch this video.

Kurt Weidemann 1922 – 2011: The King Is Dead, Long Live the King! from Gestalten on Vimeo.

Treehugger recently published an interesting article on the concept of the standing desk, focusing on the offices of Herman Miller as a case-study, both as a designer of such workspaces (Herman Miller’s Action Office, 1964) and as a potential user group (looking at the Herman Miller’s offices today)… The Standing Desk: Why Hasn’t It Caught On?

Over the years, there have been many purported benefits of using a desk that allows one to stand, beyond the obvious increase in choice and freedom of movement it provides:

- Improved productivity
- Increased energy
- Better circulation
- Reduced wrist strain
- Reduced back and neck pain
- Greater mobility

While the vast majority of my own work time is still spent at my main desk, in a traditional seated position, I really value the ability to break up the work day with other options. I’ve long enjoyed the option of a standing workspace, and even found it to be helpful in breaking creative blocks. I built a small, secondary desk at standing height in a little corner (photo at right), which I primarily use for hand illustration. I also use it in combination with a BioFit stool as a quiet place to write with a laptop.

“Man’s physical machine has evolved to do many things well but no single thing continuously…Proportioning some of our work to standup work stations would do more than anything else to overcome sedentary decline. The office can be a kinetic, active, alert vigorous environment.”

- Robert Probst, The Office: A facility based on change, 1986

I’d love to hear what works for others. What’s your workspace like, and is it working for you?

Re-nourish, together with partner organizations including the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, has launched the Sustainable Design Auditing Project (SDAP), a public process to develop open-source metrics for measuring the environmental, social and economic impacts of the graphic design supply chain. The multi-stakeholder process is intended to provide the design supply chain with a more accurate, transparent way to manage sustainable decision-making across projects, companies, and the entire field.

From re-nourish.com:

Many would have us believe the design industry is changing from a dependence on designing commodity materials to experiences and systems. This may be true: with climate change and conventional resource extraction now recognized globally as a legitimate threat to human development, we’re rethinking our relationships with production, consumption and disposal. There are many opinions about how designers should go through this process, and what direction we should move in as an industry, and as a culture. But which direction the industry moves is irrelevant if the language used to articulate this new reality remains opaque and exclusionary. [...]

A universally-accepted set of metrics that measure impacts and outcomes in meaningful ways will allow designers to explore the implications of new design methodologies and frameworks on equal footing. It will prevent one small group of people or one particular commercial interest from monopolizing the conversation. It will encourage transparency and accuracy instead of greenwash and platitudes. This is a matter of fairness and inclusion and justice – everyone with skin in the game (and that includes every designer who finds themselves grappling with their changing industry) must have access to a shared language to ensure private interests don’t dictate the terms of our existence.

For more information on this terrific, much needed initiative here, and/or sign up for project updates (and perhaps get involved) here.