Footnotes on Designers’ Perspectives: Climate-Centric Communication Design for Sustainable Fashion Consumption By Natalie R. Chiovitti HONOURS BACHELOR OF ARTS University of Toronto, 2023 Supervisor: Dr. Katherine Gillieson A critical and process documentation thesis paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF DESIGN Emily Carr University of Art + Design 2025 © Natalie R. Chiovitti, 2025 Contents ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES v LIST OF APPENDICES vii GLOSSARY ix INTRODUCTION 1 Research Questions & Objectives CHAPTER 1: METHODOLOGY 1.1 Theoretical Framework 1.2 1.3 4 5 1.1.1 Developing an Ecosystem of Climate-Centric Communication Design 7 1.1.2 The Case of Sustainable Fashion Consumption Through the Lens of Communication Design 7 Methods Limitations & Rigour CHAPTER 2: ON THE MEND SERIES: MY REFLECTION ON SUSTAINABLE FASHION CONSUMPTION 2.1 Aim 2.2 Critical Documentation Method 2.3 Practice Setting 2.4 Data Collection 2.5 Reuse, Repurpose & Repair Project 2.5.1 2.6 3 Process Installation in Gallery & Pop-Up Settings 11 14 15 16 16 17 17 17 18 21 2.6.1 Process for On the Mend Installation 24 2.6.2 Individual to Community: Comparison of Installation in Gallery and Pop-Up Settings 24 2.7 Artist’s Book On the Mend: A designer’s experience of sustainable fashion practices 2.8 2.7.1 Process of On the Mend Artist’s Book 28 2.7.2 Sharing My Artist’s Book at the Vancouver Art Book Fair: Engaging With Community 29 Findings: From Individual Reflexivity & Design to Community CHAPTER 3: ZINE-MAKING WORKSHOPS & FOOTNOTES* INSTALLATION 3.1 Aim Research Design 3.2 Study Setting 3.3 3.4 Recruitment and Participants 3.5 Research Ethics Consideration 3.6 Data Collection Data Analysis 3.7 3.8 Strategies and Skills for Facilitating Zine-Making Workshops 3.9 Findings: Footnotes on Consuming Between the Blurry Lines of Fashion Sustainability 3.9.1 3.10 27 Footnotes* Installation & Discussion of Findings Climate-Centric Communication Design Process of Footnotes* Installation 30 32 35 35 35 35 37 38 40 40 42 42 57 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION: KEY REFLECTIONS & UNDERSTANDINGS 60 FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND CONCLUSION 67 BIBLIOGRAPHY 69 APPENDICES 73 Abstract i The United Nations identify that within the next five years, the goal is for everyone globally to have information for everyday sustainable lifestyles. Communication designers are positioned to support this goal by creating cultural meanings, practices, experiences, and particular ways of living. The aim of my project is to develop a climate-centric communication design practice within the case of sustainable fashion consumption. The research questions guiding this work are: What might a climate-centric communication design practice look like? How can climate-centric communication design facilitate everyday sustainable fashion consumption in Metro Vancouver? These research questions are addressed using a Research through Design (RtD) approach. Guided by a critical documentation method, the On the Mend series documents my own designer experience and reflexivity on sustainable fashion consumption through the mediums of an installation in gallery and pop-up settings along with an artist’s book. Further, two zine-making workshops were conducted at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) with seven student designers and visual artists using descriptive qualitative design with content analysis of participant data. Participants explored their individual and collective meanings of what climate-centric messaging and design could include based on their experiences of sustainable fashion consumption. The identified overarching theme ‘footnotes on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability’ describes how participants balance sustainable practices with convenience and other factors that compete with sustainability. Although a footnote is usually considered as extra and not part of the main conversation, in my research, the idea of a “footnote” is repurposed to be part of the main conversation on how can we live and not harm the planet. “Footnotes” describes how participants experience their successes with sustainability along with the exceptions to engaging in sustainable fashion consumption. The Footnotes* installation reflects participants’ own and collective meanings of ways of being and doing that are not always visible in everyday life or through commercial communication channels. The Footnotes* installation is a collective reading experience of multiple perspectives on sustainable fashion within the three categories of fashion consumption, maintenance, and messaging. Communication design practices such as zinemaking can assist designers in uncovering their own individual and community narratives to create a visual language to promote sustainable fashion consumption. A comparison of communication design mediums and settings are discussed in relation to how each contributes to a wider network by facilitating a consistent back-and-forth movement between individual making and community dialogue. In this post-digital era of the information age, where vast amounts of information, technology, and materials are available, the creative direction concepts of “on the mend” and “footnotes” together with the careful choices of messaging, medium, spaces, materials, and design aesthetics are key to the practice of climate-centric communication design. This work may assist designers with the conceptual and practical elements of communication design to navigate the interplay between environmental, economic, and social sustainability together with making sense of the dense information landscape within which designers are constantly moving and that surrounds us everyday. Acknowledgements It takes a village to support and guide a communication designer. I am grateful to my Thesis Supervisor, Dr. Katherine Gillieson, for her expertise in communication design as an empowering tool for socially-engaged projects; and for her energy, support, and inspiring constructive guidance throughout my graduate studies journey. To my thesis committee members, Robin Mitchell Cranfield and Dr. Neal Haslem, thank you for your appreciated insights, thought-provoking feedback, and enthusiasm. I would like to respectfully acknowledge, with gratitude, that the work for this thesis occurred on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations. I also want to extend my appreciation for the art and design community at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU). To the seven ECU student designers and visual artists Emilia Abundis, Jefferson Alade, Anne Cho, Jonathan Lovely, PA, PD, and PE; I am thankful for their participation and for generously sharing their experiences and perspectives in the zinemaking workshops aspect of this research, which led to the development of my installation Footnotes*. Thank you to the technicians that I worked with in the ECU studios and labs throughout the formation of my climate-centric communication design practice including Kathleen Jacques in the Communication Design Studio; Logan Mohr in the Digital Fabrication Lab; and, Joshua McVeity and Eduardo Rodriguez in the Digital Output Centre. Further, I am grateful to my professors, instructors, and peers for their back-and-forth brainstorming and support along this learning journey. I am grateful for the spaces at ECU which allowed for my pop-up installation in the cafeteria; and, my installations in the Elbow Gallery and Knee Gallery along with my zine-making workshops, in which the space for these were coordinated by Danny Benda. Further, gratitude to the ECU Wednesday Afternoon Press and the Vancouver Art Book Fair organizers who assisted me in navigating the sharing of my On the Mend artist’s book with the community. I am appreciative of the ECU President’s Research Fund, (Re)framing Emergent Practices–Interim Thesis Project Development Award: MDes, ECU Entrance Scholarship, and Dr. Annie Smith Graduate Scholarship. Finally, I wish to extend my gratitude and appreciation to my parents Rosalina (née Fiorino) and Lino Chiovitti, who consistently encourage and support my creative journey. iii iv List of Tables Table 1 Typography and design considerations for facilitating climatecentric messaging: On the Mend receipt within artist’s book, gallery and pop-up installations 23 Table 2 On the Mend artist’s book: Design through texture, paper choices, and typography 28 Table 3 Overarching theme of footnotes with categories and sub-categories based on student designers’ perspectives on sustainable fashion consumption from content analysis of zine-making workshops 43 Table 4 Examples of participants’ questions from zine-making workshops 64 Table 5 Takeaways for climate-centric communication designers based on taglines and footnotes within the three categories of consumption, maintenance, and messaging in sustainable fashion 66 v List of Figures Figure 1 Theoretical framework overview 6 On the Mend Series: My Reflections on Sustainable Fashion Consumption Figure 2 Activities within critical documentation to facilitate individual design process and interaction with community 16 Figure 3 Reuse process: Embroidery patches on sneakers 18 Figure 4 Repurpose process: Transforming my shirt into a tote bag 19 Figure 5 Repair process of darning my cardigan 20 On the Mend Installation–Gallery and Pop-Up with Artist’s Book Figure 6 On the Mend gallery installation, Elbow Gallery at ECU 21 Figure 7 On the Mend pop-up installation, cafeteria at ECU 22 Figure 8 Participation table at Elbow Gallery and ECU students at the On the Mend pop-up installation in the ECU cafeteria 25 Figure 9 Visitor reading a copy of Gently Used zine at the On the Mend pop-up installation 26 Figure 10 Select images of artist’s book titled On the Mend: A Designer’s Experience of Sustainable Fashion Practices 27 Figure 11 My exhibitor table at Vancouver Art Book Fair for On the Mend artist’s book: Interaction with community 30 Zine-Making Workshops & Footnotes* Installation Figure 12 Footnotes* on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability, 2025, 10 x 40 feet, typography inkjet-printed on 384 sheets of 100% recycled paper wheat pasted onto a wall 33 Figure 13 Take-away installation guide for Footnotes* installation, risograph printed on 30% recycled and 100% recycled paper 34 Figure 14 Diagram of zine-making workshops and installation: From individual to community reflexivity among student designers 36 Figure 15 Recruitment poster for zine-making workshops 37 Figure 16 Participants making zines in workshop #1 and workshop #2 39 Figure 17 Participatory Activity Emerging Narratives During Open Studio 41 Figure 18 Excerpt from PA’s zine about The Long Wearing 46 vi Figure 19 Footnote 1 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: I am Long Wearing 46 Figure 20 Excerpt from Emilia’s zine about the joy of thrifting 47 Figure 21 Footnote 2 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: Am I doing this for myself? Or am I actually doing this for the planet? 47 Figure 22 Excerpt from Jefferson’s zine with poem about fashion consumption 49 Figure 23 Footnote 3 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: Do we make the clothes or do the clothes make us? 49 Figure 24 Excerpt from PD’s zine about “No. I know the right thing, but I don’t feel inclined.” 50 Figure 25 Footnote 4 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: Do the right thing, give it your all and to start now…No, I know the right thing, but I don’t feel inclined 50 Figure 26 Excerpt from PE’s zine about hand-me-downs from family and friends, and thrifting 52 Figure 27 Footnote 5 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: People consume fashion like they consume groceries 52 Figure 28 Excerpt from Jonathan’s zine about his favourite thrifted cardigan 53 Figure 29 Footnote 6 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: I think I gave up a little bit on trying to be sustainable 54 Figure 30 Excerpt from Anne’s zine about work in progress 55 Figure 31 Footnote 7 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: There’s a problem inside 56 Figure 32 Footnotes* installation: Small-scale iteration #1 58 Figure 33 InDesign file with wall A and wall B set-up 58 Figure 34 Installation set-up of wheat pasting 384 sheets of paper onto the Knee Gallery wall over 24 hours (2 days) 59 Figure 35 The back-and-forth movement between individual and community design practices through On the Mend series and zine-making workshops with the Footnotes* installation within the case of sustainable fashion consumption 61 vii List of Appendices Appendix A On the Mend Installation in the Elbow Gallery: Critical Documentation 73 Figure A1 Before Design Process: Reflective Experiment Logs 73 Figure A2 During Design Process: Reflective Experiment Logs 74 Figure A3 Iteration 1 of Gallery Installation Design Process: Reflective Experiment Logs 78 Figure A4 Feedback from Peer/Professor/Supervisor: On the Mend Installation (gallery) 79 Figure A5 Iteration 2 of Gallery Installation Design Process After Feedback: Reflective Experiment Logs 80 Appendix B Pop-Up at ECU Cafeteria: On the Mend Installation 81 Figure B1 Iteration 3 of ECU Cafeteria Pop-Up Installation Design Process: Comparison Notes of Pop-Up Setting with Elbow Gallery Setting 81 Figure B2 Gently Used zine shared at the On the Mend Pop-Up 82 Appendix C On the Mend Artist’s Book: Critical Documentation 83 Figure C1 Overview of Critical Documentation of On the Mend Artist’s Book 83 Figure C2 Artist’s Book: Versions of Editorial Design 84 Figure C3 Artist’s Book: Tests of Binding & Printing 86 Figure C4 Artist’s Book: Milestones of Laser Etching Tests 88 Figure C5 Artist’s Book: Milestones of Final Printing and Binding Process 90 Figure C6 Artist’s Book–On the Mend: A designer’s experience of sustainable fashion practices 91 Appendix D Figure D1 Inspiration for On the Mend: Reuse, Repurpose & Repair Project 94 May Morris, Panel, ca. 1890 (designed), ca. 1900 (Sold) 41.1 x 44.2 cm. Coloured silks and ink on cotton, worked in stem stitch and darning stitch. 94 Figure D2 Su Richardson, Hot Flush Handbag with: Fan, Towel, Re-usable pad, HRT pills, Mask, 2021, 20 x 30cm. Crochet. 95 Figure D3 Celia Pym, Elizabeth’s Cardigan, 2002-2016, 50 x 65 cm. Cardigan and wool darning. 96 viii Appendix E Participation Elements for On the Mend Installation 97 Figure E1 Participation Table at Elbow Gallery 97 Figure E2 Participation Table at Pop-Up in the ECU Cafeteria 98 Figure E3 Call-to-Action Online Padlet Forum, Accessible with QR Code at Both the Elbow Gallery and at Pop-Up at ECU Cafeteria 99 Figure E4 Information Excerpts on Clothing Hangers at Elbow Gallery and Pop-Up at the ECU Cafeteria to prompt discussion, with a Take-Away Pamphlet That Includes a QR Code for Online Participation 100 Appendix F Zine-Making Workshop Materials and Documentation 101 Figure F1 Information/Consent Online Form for Zine-Making Workshop 101 Figure F2 ECU Research Ethics Board (REB) Letter of Approval 107 Figure F3 Zine-Making Workshop Slides 108 Figure F4 Instructional Skills Workshops Certification 113 Appendix G Participants’ Zines 114 Figure G1 Participant A (Anonymous): Zine-Making Workshop 1 114 Figure G2 Participant B (Emilia): Zine-Making Workshop 1 115 Figure G3 Participant C (Jefferson): Zine-Making Workshop 1 116 Figure G4 Participant D (Anonymous): Zine-Making Workshop 2 117 Figure G5 Participant E (Anonymous): Zine-Making Workshop 2 118 Figure G6 Participant F (Jonathan): Zine-Making Workshop 2 119 Figure G7 Participant G (Anne): Zine-Making Workshop 2 121 ix Glossary Artist’s book A book conceived, crafted, published, produced or altered by an artist, designer or collective with the intention of creating an independent artwork. Binding The process of fastening together individual sheets of paper allowing for materials like zines, catalogs, booklets, magazines, books, and more to be created. The binding process usually consists of stitching, gluing, stapling or punching holes and connecting pages with wire or plastic. Some types of binding include perfect bound, wire-o, saddle-stitch, and square back wire-o. Bleed Refers to a background colour, graphic, or image that extends beyond the edge of the finished paper size. It is difficult for printing equipment to apply ink up to the cut edge of a sheet of paper, so the paper size printed on must be larger than the finish size. Circular economy A framework for commerce which retains and recovers as much value as possible from resources by reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, repurposing, or recycling products and materials. Climate-centric communication design (CCCD) A communication design practice that embraces a reflective design process, and informed material and workflow choices toward environmental sustainability. This is facilitated by a back-and-forth movement between individual making and reaching out to the community for dialogue. Dots per Inch (DPI) Refers to the number of ink droplets a printer will produce per inch while printing an image. 300 dpi is standard for printing. Fashion All products designed to be worn (e.g. clothing, shoes, accessories) based on individuals’ choices that are influenced by social circle, trends, resources, and economic factors. This includes material sourcing, workers’ wages, and global shipping, which determines what the fashion industry makes available. Fast fashion The supply of clothing based on lowest production cost and fastest production time often resulting in low-quality mass-produced apparel with low prices and short lifespans. Inkjet printing A print created by a contact-free printer that distributes droplets of ink over a surface to create an image. Linear economy An economy that moves in a straight line from resource extraction to waste disposal. Finite resources are extracted to make products that are used generally not to their full potential and then thrown away. Linear economy is associated with fast fashion. x Micro-practices Individual or community level fashion activities of repair, repurpose, and reuse that facilitate the on-going use of existing clothing such as secondhand thrifting, clothing swaps, hand-me-downs, mending, and upcycling. Post-consumer waste Waste arising from products that have reached the customer. Praxis A philosophy of action-oriented research that combines theory with practice with a focus on critical reflection and continuous improvement. Print layout The arrangement of text and images on a page for printing purposes. For efficiency in printing multiple pages can be printed per sheet, 8-up printing method prints eight pages on a single sheet of paper, with 4 pages on each side. Reflexivity Expanding on Donald Schön and Alan Bleakley, reflexivity in this project is the process of “reflecting-in-action” on one’s actions as they are unfolding, allowing for real-time adjustments and learning. In contrast, according to Schön, reflection, specifically, ‘‘reflection-on-action” is the process of thinking about past experiences to learn and improve future actions. Risograph printing A printing technique with a digital duplicator stencil process. It was designed in the 1980s as a cost-efficient way to print high quantities of limited-colour graphics. It is popular with artists and designers for its unique look, texture, and vivid colours (that other printers cannot produce). The machine looks like a printer or copier, but the way it works is similar to screen printing. Spread A spread is a set of pages viewed together, such as the two pages visible whenever you open a book or magazine. Sustainable fashion consumption The practice of buying, obtaining, and wearing clothing, shoes, and accessories in a way that minimizes environmental damage and supports the well-being of people and the planet. Thrifting (second-hand shopping) Purchase of used or pre-owned items. Vector Image Computer-made images consisting of lines, shapes, and points created using mathematical formulas, not pixels that can be scaled to any size. Vectorization is a way to prepare art or design work for print resolution. Zine Self-published, small press and handmade publications, created for the purpose of distribution. Zines allow individuals to interact with like-minded people and form communities based on their shared interests. Zines are a medium for expressing informal and subjective viewpoints not always apparent in everyday life or commercial media. Introduction Meredith Davis asserts that sustainability is important to explore in design research to address designing for quality of life and environment.1 This is a challenge due to the complexity of social behaviours, environment, technology, and economy.2 The United Nations sustainable development goal 12 (target 12.8) states that within the next five years, the goal is for everyone globally to have information for everyday sustainable lifestyles.3 Communication designers are positioned to support this goal by creating cultural meanings, practices, experiences, and particular ways of living.4 Communication designers create these by using “...[graphic or visual] elements in designing a strategic plan to communicate a broader message to an audience...choosing specific pieces of information to include, and decisions around where, when and how a message should appear to have maximum impact on a desired audience.” 5 In the post-digital era of the information age, where vast amounts of information, technology, and materials are available, careful consideration of messaging, medium, and materials are important to the practice of climatecentric communication design. Eric Benson and Yvette Perullo propose that nature can serve as a powerful model for communication designers to create sustainable print and digital work by making informed material and vendor choices based on environmental factors.6 Historically, the discipline and practice of design have contributed to perpetuating mass consumerism through advertising. There has been a longstanding call for designers to reframe communication design practice to move away from perpetuating consumerism that fuels consumption.7 Internationally, this is echoed in the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA), which provides communication designers with 12 principles of effective messaging for everyday sustainable living that address gaps in climate-centric communication for behaviour 1 Meredith Davis, “What is Worth Doing in Design Research?,” in Graphic Design Reader, e.d. Teal Triggs and Leslie Atzmon (London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2011), 273-277. 2 Davis, 273-277. 3 United Nations, “Target 12.8 of Goal 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns,” last modified July 10, 2023. 4 Teal Triggs, Fanzines: The DIY Revolution (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2010), 7; Arturo Escobar, Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds (Durham: Duke University Press Books, 2018), 2. 5 Perrin Grauer, “What’s the Difference Between ‘Communication Design,’ ‘Visual Communication Design’ and ‘Graphic Design?,’” Emily Carr University of Art + Design, last modified May 07, 2021. 6 Eric Benson and Yvette Perullo, Design to Renourish: Sustainable Graphic Design in Practice (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2017), 99-109. 7 Ibid, 99-109; Ann Thorpe, “Design’s Role in Sustainable Consumption,” in The Social Design Reader, ed. Elizabeth Resnick (New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2010), 241-256.; Matthew Wizinsky, “Design After Capitalism, in Practice,” in Design After Capitalism: Transforming Design Today for an Equitable Tomorrow (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2022), 237-269. 1 2 change, using actual examples worldwide.8 For instance, Metro Vancouver9, the site of my research, is recognized by the CNCA as an example of the fourth principle of “Identity” due to Vancouver’s city/resident pride and its framing of itself as being the “greenest” city.10 The focus of my project is to develop a climate-centric communication design practice within the case of sustainable fashion consumption in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Based on qualitative content analysis of my zine-making workshops with seven student designers and visual artists, I use the finding of “footnotes on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability” as a creative direction to express their diverse lived experiences in my text-based installation called Footnotes*. Communication design practices such as zine-making can assist designers in uncovering their own individual and community narratives (social capital) to create a visual language that can provide the basis for conversation and practices for sustainable fashion consumption. In this context, zines are a learning tool for communities11 and a do-it-yourself (DIY) space for public discussion that positions designers as the “makers of cultural meaning”.12 This allows communities to take part in “the construction of the very pop culture that they critique” by creating unique narratives.13 For this reason, I not only engage designers’ perspectives on sustainable fashion consumption through zine-making and a large-scale text-based installation, but also my own lived experience and reflexivity14 with reflection15 through designing my On the Mend series comprised of a gallery installation, pop-up installation, and an artist’s book. 8 Michael Shank, “12 Principles for Climate-Centric Behavior Change Communications,” [PDF] Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, last modified August 26, 2019, 1-14. 9 Vancouver is one of the two Canadian cities in the global CNCA. 10 Ibid, 5. 11 Anne Hays, “Citation Analysis About Scholarship on Zines,” Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 8, no. 1 (2020): 1-34; Suzanna Hall, “Fashion Torn Up: Exploring the Potential of Zines and Alternative Fashion Press Publications in Academic Library Collections,” Library Trends 70, no. 1 (2021): 51-71. 12 Teal Triggs, Fanzines: The DIY Revolution (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2010), 7. 13 Triggs, 7. 14 Alan Bleakley, “From Reflective Practice to Holistic Reflexivity,” Studies in Higher Education 24, no.3 (1999): 323-324, 328-329. 15 Donald A. Schön, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (New York: Basic Books, 1983), 54-55, 61-62 Research Questions & Objectives The aim of this project is to develop a communication design practice that focuses on the role of design in sustainability by providing a perspective on the case of sustainable fashion consumption. The research questions guiding this work are: what might a climate-centric communication design practice look like? How can climate-centric communication design facilitate everyday sustainable fashion consumption in Metro Vancouver? The overall objective is to compare communication design formats and spaces that facilitate the interplay between individual and community interactions in varying degrees. In response to this objective, the first practice-based project involves creating a series that documents my own designer experience and reflexivity on sustainable fashion consumption through the mediums of an installation in Elbow Gallery and cafeteria pop-up settings at Emily Carr University (ECU) of Art + Design, and the documentation of this installation in an artist’s book. The second practicebased project includes the facilitation of two zine-making workshops with student designers at ECU. In the workshops, designers explore their individual and collective meanings of what climate-centric messaging and design could include based on their experiences of sustainable fashion consumption, maintenance, and messaging. First, student designers make their zines individually in the workshop and in the second part of the workshop they describe and share their zines. The themes that emerged from the analysis of audio-recorded conversations about their zines are shared with the art and design community through an installation in the Knee Gallery at ECU. The reason for choosing ECU as the setting for my practice and research is that this community specializes in art, media, and design. Further, ECU has designated spaces suited to multiple mediums for messaging including studios, labs, galleries, flexible public areas for pop-ups, and community partnerships with events such as the Vancouver Art Book Fair. Examples of studios and labs used for this research are Communication Design Studio, Digital Fabrication Lab, Digital Output Centre, and the Soft Shop. 3 4 Chapter 1 Methodology 1.1 Theoretical Framework Communication designers are skilled in creating appealing messages through text, image compositions, and expressions that shape narratives around how individuals and communities engage in climate change through everyday practices.16 The theoretical framework used in this project is based on elements drawn from symbolic interactionism17, in which the meaning a person gives to something and to their interactions, is paramount. At the same time, meanings can change due to everyday life. Symbolic interactionism combined with elements drawn from pragmatist theory18 focuses on describing the aspects of everyday social life that have practical relevance to people and communication design (see Figure 1). This serves as a basis for the critical documentation of my own reflexivity by acknowledging my perspective, experience, and biases to situate myself within the community of student designers in relation to zinemaking workshops. Consistent with symbolic interactionism from a pragmatic perspective19, I view designers, including myself, as active participants whose actions and interactions evolve and influence each other. Bruno Latour’s Actor Network Theory (ANT)20 informs and aligns with my view of climate-centric communication design as existing in a network of interactive relationships between actors such as designers, communities, nature, media technology, and designed artifacts. According to ANT, this means that human beings and objects simultaneously contribute to networks. For example, communication design activities and artifacts such as individual and community zine-making are conceptualized as having just as much agency as the person’s actual and desired everyday sustainable fashion consumption.21 Building on these theoretical approaches, I combine communication design with the case of sustainable fashion consumption as addressed in the following sections of 1. developing an ecosystem of climate-centric communication design; and 2. the case of sustainable fashion consumption. 16 Rebecca Green, “Graphic Design Can Build Trust and Community in Climate Conversation,” n.d. 17 Herbert Blumer, “The Methodological Position of Symbolic Interactionism,” in Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method (California: University of California Press, 1969); Alan Bryman and Edward Bell, “Fundamental Issues in Social Research,” in Social Research Methods (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2019a). 18 John Dewey, Experience and nature (Chicago: Dover Publications, 1925); Joan Huber, “Symbolic Interaction as a Pragmatic Perspective: The Bias of Emergent Theory,” American Sociological Review 38, no. 2 (1973): 274–84. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094400. 19 Huber, 274–84. 20 Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). 21 Ibid.; Huber, 274–84; Jan-Henning Raff, “Theories to Understand Graphic Design in Use: The Example of Posters,” in Graphic Design Reader, e.d. Teal Triggs and Leslie Atzmon (London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019), 449–456. 5 6 Figure 1. Theoretical framework overview 1.1.1 Developing an Ecosystem of Climate-Centric Communication Design Climate-centric communication or environmental communication are interchangeable terms that focus on how information is expressed about the environment, nature, and climate. Climate-centric communication design builds on the discipline of environmental communication, to provide a different perspective on how information is expressed, based on elements of visuals, typography, medium, materials, and processes. I developed my climate-centric communication design (CCCD) practice as an ecosystem or network that includes the interaction between print, digital, and participatory design elements with social, economic, and environmental sustainability in which the environment is prioritized in varying degrees. An ecosystem is “a limited space within which living beings interact with nonliving matter at a high level of interdependence to form an environmental unit called an ecosystem.”22 This definition is applied to developing my CCCD practice as an ecosystem whereby people interact with multiple types of designed artifacts. In my climate-centric communication design practice, I embrace a reflective design process23, by modifying, refining, and repurposing within existing design systems to illuminate climate-centric material choices, mediums, and messaging.24 1.1.2 The Case of Sustainable Fashion Consumption Through the Lens of Communication Design Communication designers can create informative and convenient messaging to illuminate critical nuances of sustainable fashion consumption visually and effectively. Currently fashion is produced and consumed in a way that creates extreme waste and drains natural resources, impacting climate change. In Metro Vancouver, residents buy three times more clothes than they did in the 1980s, and it is estimated that one garbage truck full of clothing is landfilled globally every second.25 There are social obstacles to consuming less, such as the perception that individualism and social status is gained through continuous consumption also known as positional consumption.26 Individuals’ choices are influenced by social factors such as what peers wear and mass media trends which further perpetuates 22 Pierre Dansereau, “Ecosystem,” Canadian Encyclopedia, last modified June 29, 2015. 23 Zoë Sadokierski, “Developing Critical Documentation Practices for Design Researchers,” Design Studies 69, no. 1 (2020): 1-33. 24 Kelly Small, The Conscious Creative: Practical Ethics for Purposeful Work (Toronto: House of Anansi Press Inc, 2020), 1-232; Matthew Wizinsky, “Design After Capitalism, in Practice,” in Design After Capitalism: Transforming Design Today for an Equitable Tomorrow (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2022), 246. 25 Metro Vancouver, “Repair Re-wear,” [previously known as Think Thrice campaign], accessed January 30, 2024. 26 Ann Thorpe, “Design’s Role in Sustainable Consumption,” in The Social Design Reader, ed. Elizabeth Resnick (New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2010), 241-256. 7 positional consumption.27 Sociologist Chris Rojek views this phenomenon as an individual’s “reflexive restructuring” of identity.”28 These concepts combined with Corbett’s discussion of social actors suggests the possibility of social change for climate action by reframing consumers as social actors.29 In this context, social actors engage in behaviours that are socially constructed through interactions between people and the environment. In addition to these social factors, individuals’ choices are influenced by economic factors such as what the fashion industry makes available, which is impacted by material sourcing, workers’ wages, and global shipping.30 Mass-production in the fashion industry has resulted in approximately 2.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in a single year, which is equivalent to 4% of all global emissions.31 Without action, it is predicted to increase to 2.7 billion tonnes a year within the next five years. Locally, Metro Vancouver residents throw out “approximately 20,000 tonnes of textiles each year, which is equivalent to the weight of 44 T-shirts per person”.32 The enormity of this fashion consumption problem has been associated with individuals feeling that sustainability is impossible to attain.33 The recycling and disposal of clothes that cannot be repaired remains a gap due to some donated fashion and owned fashion items still going to the landfill locally or across the world. Further, there are no consistent designated waste collection system for fashion, specifically clothes (textiles). This has led to what has been called the “clothing waste crisis”.34 In response to this, the Repair Re-wear campaign in Metro Vancouver35 is working to reduce clothing waste from landfill and incinerator. It encourages Vancouverites to reduce, repair, and repurpose clothing to minimize waste by educating communities that clothing and textiles do not belong in a landfill.36 While campaigns such as Repair Re-wear are facilitators, the feelings of consumption guilt, confusion, and misinformation persist in relation to 27 Julia B. Corbett, “Individuals as Social Actors, Not Consumers,” in Communicating the Climate Crisis: New Directions for Facing What Lies Ahead, ed. C. Vail Fletcher (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021), 53-78; Thorpe, 241-256. 28 Chris Rojek, Celebrity (Islington: Reaktion Books, 2001), p.193. 29 Corbett, 53-78. 30 Corbett, 61. 31 Achim Berg et al., “Fashion on Climate: How the Fashion Industry Can Urgently Act to Reduce its Greenhouse-Gas Emissions,” Mckinsey & Company, 2020. 32 Megan Bourassa, “Reduce your fashion footprint with these BC [British Columbia] repair and alteration resources,” last modified January 18, 2022; Baneet Braich, “Textile Waste is a Growing Problem — And Canada Still Isn’t Doing Enough to Solve it, Experts Say,” CBC News, February 28, 2022. 33 Sarah Stolar, “When Sustainability Feels Impossible,” The Michigan Daily. October 5, 2021. 34 Bianca Graulau, “The Clothing Waste Crisis: How Our Shopping Habits Are Hurting the Planet,” NBC-LX, January 24, 2020, video, 04:05. 35 Metro Vancouver, “Repair Re-wear,” [previously known as Think Thrice campaign], accessed January 30, 2024. 36 Metro Vancouver, 2024. 8 recyclability of materials and lifespan of fashion items.37 These gaps have led consumers to choose convenience over sustainability.38 Challenges remain including how to recycle clothing and how to assess clothing materials. Two main obstacles are that the fashion industry still produces items using non-biodegradable petroleum–based synthetics and that it provides insufficient information about the recyclability of clothing. Kenneth P. Pucker from the Harvard Review alerts communities to the myth of sustainable fashion. He invites communities to stop thinking about sustainability on a continuum because “less unsustainable is not sustainable”.39 In contrast, Spoljaric asserts that sustainability is not all or nothing and occurs in varying degrees for people.40 While ethical consumerism is a growing market and increasingly people donate, recycle, change where they shop or refrain from continuous consumption, this does not mean that the underlying systems that perpetuate overproduction of fashion are changing.41 Challenges remain due to clothing continuing to go to landfills in Metro Vancouver and globally.42 Obstacles include low repair skills, time, and the cost of repair or alteration services, compared to the low price of some new fast fashion clothes. Further, obstacles to repair not only exist at the individual level but also at the fashion industry level where it is viewed as costly, timeconsuming, and as a sales barrier compared to the continuous production of new clothes.43 37 Meredith Davis, “What is Worth Doing in Design Research?,” in Graphic Design Reader, e.d. Teal Triggs and Leslie Atzmon (London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2011), 273277; Sarah Liang, “Should We Shoulder All the Fast-Fashion Blame?,” The Kit, April 22, 2021; Shahana Banerjee, “Shifting the Fast Fashion Guilt: A Peek into the Common Victim of the Fast-Fashion Mindset,” 34th Street Magazine, March 1, 2022; Stella Hertantyo, “How to Let Go of Eco Guilt at the Beginning of Your Slow Fashion Journey,” Conscious Life & Style, October 28, 2021; Ishani Dutta, “Dealing with Consumption Guilt, Confusion, And Misinformation When Purchasing Fashion,” Ensemble Magazine, June 28, 2021. 38 Molly Flemming, “Consumers Don’t Want to Choose Between Sustainability And Convenience,” Marketing Week, February 26, 2020. 39 Kenneth P. Pucker, “The Myth of Sustainable Fashion,” Harvard Business Review, January 13, 2022. 40 Sarah Spoljaric, “You Can Quit Feeling Guilty–Sustainability Isn’t an All Or Nothing Game,” The Good Trade, July 2, 2018. 41 Liang, 2021. 42 Karen Storry and Andrea Mckenzie, Unraveling the Problem of Apparel Waste in the Greater Vancouver Area (Metro Vancouver and City of Vancouver: 2018); Kathleen Simpson, “Where Thrifting Goes Wrong,” Thrifting, July 2024, 82; Rachel Cernansky, “Costly, Time-Consuming and a Sales Barrier: Why Fashion Hates Repairs.” Last modified May 5, 2022. 43 Storry and Mckenzie, 2018; Cernansky, 2022. 9 Collective Circular Economy & Individual Micro-Practices Circular economy is highlighted as a design issue by the United Nations44, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation45, the Canadian federal government46, and locally by the government of Metro Vancouver.47 Micro-practices are situated within the individual level where people (individually and collectively) engage with fashion items and textiles that already exist such as thrift, hand-medown, and care of existing fashion items. Circular economy is a systems solution framework based on the principle of circulating existing products and materials by reusing, repurposing, repairing, and recycling at the macro level.48 Circular economy has value in eliminating waste and regenerating nature by decreasing natural resource extraction, but alone cannot address climate change.49 Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham call for a paradigm shift to an Earth Logic view that prioritizes environmental sustainability by holistically following the planet’s limits and capacity.50 Earth Logic is opposed to the prioritization of continuous and over production within the Growth Logic paradigm.51 Fletcher proposes engaging in new fashion experiences that are not dependent on continuous consumption.52 The new fashion experience from an Earth Logic view includes: Caring for and on-going use of existing clothing are expressions of Earth Logic in that these actions are driven by a wide range of fashion activity not confined by the narrow lens of consumerism. Rather, they trade in the economies of time, creativity, community, imagination. They draw upon well-established practices including thrift, care for others, the gift economy, the informal hand-me-down channels through which clothes pass between friends and family. They stretch resources, making them go further, appreciating them in greater detail, infusing them with human warmth and memory, folding them into others’ lives. (Fletcher and Tham, 46) Parallel to Fletcher and Tham53, Corbett’s analysis of social actors in the context of climate-centric communication design provides insight into how 44 United Nations, “Target 12.8 of Goal 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns,” last modified July 10, 2023. 45 Laura Franco Henao, “How Important is Communication in Promoting Circular Design?,” January 17, 2022, in The Circular Economy Show Podcast, produced by Ellen MacArthur Foundation, podcast, MP3 audio, 00:38:31. 46 “Circular Economy,” Government of Canada, December 23, 2022. 47 Storry and Mckenzie, 2018. 48 Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “Circular Economy Glossary,” accessed November 3, 2023. 49 Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham, Earth Logic Fashion Action Research Plan (London: The J J Charitable Trust, 2019), 20-21. 50 Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham, 31-38. 51 Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham, 53. 52 Kate Fletcher, Craft of Use: Post-Growth Fashion (New York: Routledge, 2016); Ann Thorpe, “Design’s Role in Sustainable Consumption,” in The Social Design Reader, ed. Elizabeth Resnick (New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2010), 241-256. 53 Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham, 46. 10 bridging sustainable fashion micro-practices (reduce, repair, and reuse) can foster collective social change for climate action at the macro level.54 Designers can create a bridge through climate-centric communication design to express these social and economic factors effectively. Fletcher & Tham problematize the notion of circular economy, uncovering a crucial distinction between circular economy actions within collective systemic levels of legislation/government and corporations, compared to individual/community levels.55 Circular economy actions tend to maintain an attitude of business-(almost)-as-usual. This is an issue due to the overproduction that persists within sustainability initiatives to recycle at the multinational company level, including greenwashing in varying degrees.56 1.2 Methods In addition to the theoretical sources and references shared above, this project employs a core series of design methods including descriptive qualitative study methodology within a Research through Design (RtD) approach. To uncover what a climate-centric communication design practice might look like, I employ methods of critical documentation, zine-making workshops, and summative qualitative content analysis, outlined below. Research through Design: I conduct a descriptive qualitative study57 using a RtD approach58 to gain insights through individual and community design practices that provide new understandings of the complex and future-oriented issue of everyday sustainable fashion consumption. The ontology (ways of being) of RtD considers the reality that ‘will be’ through multiple perspectives. The epistemology (ways of knowing) of RtD considers knowledge generation through dialogue and constant reframing of design 54 Julia B. Corbett, “Individuals as Social Actors, Not Consumers,” in Communicating the Climate Crisis: New Directions for Facing What Lies Ahead, ed. C. Vail Fletcher (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021), 56. 55 Fletcher and Tham, 20-21. 56 Ibid, 20-21; United Nations, “Target 12.8 of Goal 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns,” last modified July 10, 2023; Karen Storry and Andrea Mckenzie, Unraveling the Problem of Apparel Waste in the Greater Vancouver Area (Metro Vancouver and City of Vancouver: 2018). 57 Princess Villamin, et al., “A Worked Example of Qualitative Descriptive Design: A Stepby-Step Guide for Novice and Early Career Researchers,” Journal of Advanced Nursing 1, no. 15 (2024): 1-15. Note: A qualitative descriptive design aims to generate data on experiences or events from the participants’ perspectives, allowing researchers to stay ‘data-near’ and gain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena without necessarily focusing on the study of lived experiences or culture or developing theory. 58 Christopher Frayling, “Research in art and design,” Royal College of Art Research Papers series 1, no. 1 (1993): 1-5; Danny Godin and Mithra Zahedi, “Aspects of Research through Design: A Literature Review,” (paper presented at Design’s Big Debates-DRS International Conference, Umeå, Sweden, June 16-19 2014), edited by Lim, Y., Niedderer, et al., 1-15. 11 practice.59 Christopher Frayling60 indicates that the goal of RtD is knowledge and understanding through the process and documentation of making the artefact.61 In this context, I situate my research within Nigel Cross’ concept of design praxiology62 where “the practices and processes of design” inform the development of my climate-centric communication design practice.63 Critical Documentation: I engage in a critical documentation method64 to document my reflective and iterative process of designing my On the Mend series and Footnotes* installation.65 Donald Schön states that a practitioner’s reflective practice can occur in two different time frames of “reflectionin-action” which is the process of reflecting on one’s actions as they are unfolding, allowing for real-time adjustments and learning. The other time frame of “reflection-on-action” happens after the design process; here, the practitioner thinks about past experiences to learn and improve for future projects.66 Building on Schön’s “reflection-in-action” as “professional artistry”, Alan Bleakley proposes “holistic reflexivity” which includes “reflection-as-action”.67 Here, practice is considered as artistry through its co-intentionalities of aesthetics and active world immersion with a focus on multiple perspectives.68 Aligned with Schön and Bleakley, my reflective design practice contributes to design methodology through reflection before, during, and after my design process.69 Zine-Making Workshops: As part of my thesis research, I include collective design practice to expand on my individual design practice by facilitating two zine-making workshops70 with seven (7) student designers who attend 59 Godin & Zahedi, 1-15. 60 Christopher Frayling (1993) introduced the idea of three different forms of interactions between research and design or art: research for art and design, research into art and design, research through art and design. Frayling is an important figure of art and design education of our time. He was mainly interested in film studies and held important positions in more than one British College dedicated to art and design. 61 Frayling, 1-5. 62 Nigel Cross (1999) proposed that design research falls into one of three main categories: “1. Design epistemology–study of designerly ways of knowing; 2. Design praxiology–study of the practices and processes of design; 3. Design phenomenology–study of the form and configuration of artefacts” (p. 6). 63 Cross, 6. 64 The critical documentation method is a generative approach to documenting design research to emphasize the interplay between design practice and literature/precedents; and, to build a ‘credible evidence base’ for scholarly reporting. The method includes: Creating progressive overview maps, analysis of contextual anchors (key literature and practice precedents), reflective experiment logs (of iterative design processes) and peer critique. 65 Zoë Sadokierski, “Developing Critical Documentation Practices for Design Researchers,” Design Studies 69, no. 1 (2020): 1-33. 66 Donald A. Schön, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (New York: Basic Books, 1983), 54-55, 61-62. 67 Schön, 1983, 130; Alan Bleakley, “From Reflective Practice to Holistic Reflexivity,” Studies in Higher Education 24, no.3 (1999): 323-324, 328-329. 68 Bleakley, 1999, 323-324, 328-329. 69 Schön, 1983, 61-62; Bleakley, 1999, 323-324. 70 Ash Watson, “Zine Making as a Method,” Breaking Methods Webinar Series, July 16, 12 ECU. Individual student designers make a zine and each share their zine within the workshop to uncover collective meanings of sustainable fashion consumption, maintenance, and current messaging. Qualitative Summative Content Analysis: Content analysis of qualitative data is a method that is well suited to the purpose of comprehensive description in everyday language of participants. The overarching theme, categories, and sub-categories that emerge from participants’ zines about sustainable fashion consumption are identified through qualitative summative content analysis of transcribed audio recordings from the group discussing their zines.71 Atlas.ti software was used to organize the sub-categories and categories linked to the participants’ quotes in the transcriptions. Through a Critical Documentation method72, the themes that emerge from the analysis are shared through the installation Footnotes*, as a form of community climate-centric communication design that is open to the public for reflection, learning, and conversation. 2020, video, 20:52; Troy R. Lovata, “Zines: Individual to Community,” in Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspective, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues, ed. J. Gary Knowles and Ardra L. Cole (Toronto: Sage Publications, 2008), 323-335. 71 Alan Bryman and Edward Bell, “Fundamental Issues in Social Research,” in Social Research Methods (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2019a); Alan Bryman and Edward Bell, “Content Analysis,” in Social Research Methods (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2019b); Hsiu-Fang Hsieh and Sarah E. Shannon, “Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis,” Qualitative Health Research 15, no. 9 (2005): 1277-1288; Ji Young Cho and Eun-Hee Lee, “Reducing Confusion About Grounded Theory and Qualitative Content Analysis: Similarities and Differences,” The Qualitative Report, 19 no. 32 (2014): 1-20. 72 Zoë Sadokierski, “Developing Critical Documentation Practices for Design Researchers,” Design Studies 69, no. 1 (2020): 1-33. 13 1.3 Limitations & Rigour Frayling highlights that a limitation of RtD approach is the challenge of sufficiently articulating tacit/subjective knowledge which could relate to my On the Mend series, zine-making workshops, and installation.73 Another limitation is that this was a time-restricted study which may lead to less transferability of the results. However, the timeframe of my On the Mend series allowed for the natural unwrapping of the design project to take place through mediums of an installation in gallery and pop-up settings; and an artist’s book. Please see Chapter 3 for On the Mend. Similarly, the natural unfolding occurred through the flow of zine-making workshops, open studio, participant check-in, and installation. Please see Chapter 4 for zine-making workshops and installation. Zoë Sadokierski addresses questions of rigour of RtD through critical documentation where subjective/tacit knowledge is supported with evidence and articulated in a shareable way.74 One limitation of conducting this descriptive qualitative study using zinemaking workshops is that as societal conditions change in relation to consumption practices, it is expected that the themes identified will also change to meet new and changing conditions. This means that what cannot be found in the data at the actual time of this study is a limitation.75 Another potential limitation is that participants’ may have influenced each other’s answers. I addressed this potential limitation through my research design in which participants make a zine individually and then talk about their zine in a group. 73 Christopher Frayling, “Research in art and design,” Royal College of Art Research Papers series 1, no. 1 (1993): 1-5. 74 Zoë Sadokierski, “Developing Critical Documentation Practices for Design Researchers,” Design Studies 69, no. 1 (2020): 1-33. 75 Alan Bryman and Edward Bell, “Fundamental Issues in Social Research,” in Social Research Methods (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2019a). 14 15 Chapter 2 On the Mend Series: My Reflection on Sustainable Fashion Consumption The works in the On the Mend series serve as a space for my reflexivity and examples of climate-centric communication design through different mediums of installation and an artist’s book, which set the stage for the zine-making workshops with student designers. 2.1 16 Aim The aim of the On the Mend series is to communicate my experience of engaging in sustainable fashion micro-practices through an installation in gallery and pop-up settings, and an artist’s book. Similar to Marshall McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the message”,76 I considered the opportunities of these mediums for communication design, specifically how the medium impacts the message in relation to social engagement with the community. The expression “on the mend” is associated with “improving health or condition and recovery, such as a person being on the mend or the economy being on the mend”.77 I recontextualize this expression to include the care of the environment through mindful consumption and maintenance of fashion items. 2.2 Critical Documentation Method I used critical documentation method78 to document the research data that emerged from my design activities and reflections throughout the process of making the On the Mend series. The creative challenge for me, as a researcher and designer, became how to experiment with design processes, making, and dialogue in an installation and an artist’s book. To address this challenge, I intentionally move between individual and community processes through the reflexivity of my Figure 2. Activities within critical documentation to design process and interacting with the Metro Vancouver facilitate individual design process and interaction with community community for collective dialogue (see Figure 2).79 76 Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: Signet Books, 1966). 77 “On the Mend,” Oxford Learners Dictionary, n.d. 78 Zoë Sadokierski, “Developing Critical Documentation Practices for Design Researchers,” Design Studies 69, no. 1 (2020): 1-33. 79 Katherine Gillieson and Neal Haslem, “Collective Counterfactual: Micro-Publishing as a Discursive Practice (Vancouver),” Emily Carr University of Art + Design. October 29, 2024. 2.3 Practice Setting The On the Mend series was produced in my studio space, and was supported by numerous studios/shops at ECU.80 The installation was shown at Elbow Gallery at ECU (February 28–March 4, 2024). The pop-up version was installed in the ECU cafeteria (March 12–14, 2024). The artist’s book was shared with the Metro Vancouver community at the 2024 Vancouver Art book Fair located at Roundhouse Community Centre (July 26–27, 2024). These showings afforded interactions with community after each phase of individual making across the span of 6 months. 2.4 Data Collection The data collection was conducted through critical documentation which includes a process of: 1. creating overview maps; 2. analyzing contextual anchors (key literature and practice precedents); 3. documenting my iterative design processes through reflective experiment logs; and 4. reflecting on critique.81 See Appendix A for On the Mend Installation in the Elbow Gallery: Critical Documentation, Appendix B for Pop-Up at ECU Cafeteria: On the Mend Installation, and Appendix C for On the Mend Artist’s Book: Critical Documentation. The critical documentation process occurred over 10 months from January to October in 2024. I documented the data that emerged in my design practice through writing, photography, diagrams, and drawings that I collected within the digital platform Miro.82 The aims were to document the technical and reflective aspects of my climate-centric communication design process, and to share practical insights with other designers. 2.5 Reuse, Repurpose & Repair Project I explored fashion micro-practices within the larger context of circular economy by engaging in reusing, repurposing, and repairing of my own fashion items. For visual inspiration, I drew from modern and contemporary artworks that carry an ethos of care, skill, and sustainability, including: 80 I worked with the following studios at ECU to create the On the Mend Series: Communication Design Studio, Digital Fabrication Lab, Digital Output Centre, and the Soft Shop. 81 Zoë Sadokierski, “Developing Critical Documentation Practices for Design Researchers,” Design Studies 69, no. 1 (2020): 9-13. 82 Miro is a digital whiteboard platform that is designed to be a visual workspace. 17 May Morris’ Panel, ca. 1890; Su Richardson’s Hot Flush Handbag, 2021; and, Celia Pym’s Elizabeth’s Cardigan, 2002-2016 (see Appendix D, Figures D1-D3). I chose fashion items to work with that I acquired in different ways, including: a thrifted cardigan that holds happy memories (repair), a long-sleeve shirt that I obtained at an ECU clothing swap (repurposed into a tote bag), and comfortable retail sneakers that I have owned for over six years (reuse). 2.5.1 Process Reuse: I extended the lifecycle of my Adidas sneakers by cleaning and customizing these with flower embroidery patches so that I reuse/rewear the sneakers (see Figure 3). I was inspired by the ‘unfinished’ look of the embroidery in May Morris’ Panel, ca. 189083, which has a visible embroidery drawing. Individuals and communities were empowered through Morris’ embroidery kits which were used to demonstrate techniques for people who would buy these kits.84 Further, these kits would be used to embroider at home to maintain and care for their material things or fashion.85 My hand-drawn and embroidered patches echo Morris’ ‘unfinished’ look. I contextualize the embroidery patches to communicate the idea of ‘making and unmaking’. Embroidery is one way to support sustainable practices of reduce, repair, and reuse. I learned to adapt tools and materials that I had on hand to care for and customize my sneakers, which was a different fashion experience from when I purchased these six years ago. REUSE PROCESS: EMBROIDERY PATCHES FOR MY SNEAKERS Figure 3. Reuse process: Embroidery patches on sneakers. Note: I designed and drew the flower on used linen followed by embroidering the flower using purple and blue embroidery floss. I attached these flowerembroidered patches to the shoes with ‘no sew glue’ and an iron. 83 May Morris, Panel, coloured silks and ink on cotton, worked in stem stitch and darning stitch, 41.1cm x 44.2cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England. 84 Rozita Parker, “A Naturally Revolutionary Art?,” in The Subversive Stitch (London: Bloomsbury, 1984), 199. Note: Historically, embroidery was viewed as a tool for educating women into the feminine ideal and later, as a tool for empowerment to overcome socially constructed boundaries of femininity. 85 Ibid, 199. 18 Repurpose: I made a tote bag by repurposing a long-sleeved shirt that I found at a clothing swapping event at ECU. I was attracted to the poetics of the shirt’s white and blue threads that made a speckling pattern. I repurposed this shirt into a tote bag by using a knotting technique and embroidery floss to ‘stem stitch’ the hem (see Figure 4). I reference the soft, yet bold aesthetics of Su Richardson’s Hot Flush Handbag.86 I decided to incorporate ‘knotting’87 at the bottom of the tote bag to create the hanging elements in Richardson’s work. What I learned from repurposing was that there is room for experimenting with multiple techniques to transform a fashion item which requires a commitment to imagining what the fashion item can be. REPURPOSE PROCESS: TRANSFORMING MY SHIRT INTO A TOTE BAG Figure 4. Repurpose process: Transforming my shirt into a tote bag. Note: I hemmed around the tote bag straps to provide a hand-crafted finish to the bag. 86 Su Richardson, 2021, Hot Flush Handbag with: Fan, Towel, Re-usable pad, HRT pills, Mask, 2021, 20 × 30 cm, Crochet, 20 × 30 cm, l’étrangère, London, England. 87 The Daily Sew, “How to Darn and Mend Your Sweater - 8 Different Ways,” YouTube, May 6, 2022, darning educational video, 5:08-9:18. 19 Repair: I repaired a cardigan through the visible mending method ‘basket darning’.88 During the repair process, I created an abstract flower design using multi-coloured cotton crochet thread, darning needle, and a bamboo embroidery hoop (see Figure 5). As background, I stopped wearing the cardigan due a hole and I mended the hole but since then the thread became loose. I fixed it again because I could not bring myself to dispose of the cardigan. As with Celia Pym’s work, the nostalgic importance of the cardigan is the reason I felt the need to keep the cardigan.89 The cardigan is very comfortable, and is associated with many happy memories with family and friends at an apple farm. What I learned from repairing was that initially it was frustrating to do the darning technique sufficiently; however, with patience, concentration, and consistency, I found that the repair process can be a meditative creative experience. 20 REPAIR PROCESS: DARNING MY CARDIGAN Figure 5. Repair process of darning my cardigan. Note: To repair the cardigan, I chose cotton crochet thread because it is the same thickness as the threads in my cardigan. Further, I used a basket darning technique because the weaving pattern complements the garment and it increases the structural integrity of the torn area. 88 May Morris, “Chapter II: Embroidery Stitches, Chain Stitches, &c.,” In Decorative Needlework (London: E.C., 1893), 26-27. 89 Celia Pym, Elizabeth’s Cardigan, 2002-2016, cardigan and wool darning, 50 x 65 cm, Celia Pym, London, England; Jake Saunders, “Celia Pym’s Story,” YouTube, June 7, 2017, artist interview video, 2:20-2:25. 2.6 Installation in Gallery & PopUp Settings Based on my experience, I explored how sustainable fashion micropractices may be communicated to the art and design community at ECU through the medium of an installation in a gallery setting (see Figure 6) and through a pop-up in the ECU cafeteria (see Figure 7). The aim of the installation was to empower people by showing examples of my own micropractices along with the art historical works that inspired this work. My goal was to invite social engagement, questions, and dialogue on sustainable fashion micro-practices. Figure 6. On the Mend gallery installation, Elbow Gallery at ECU 21 The exhibit threaded together the themes of economic, social, and environmental sustainability, with environmental sustainability as the larger context for sustainable fashion consumption and micro-practices.90 Through the visual language of advertising, I recontextualized artifacts associated with fashion consumption, including a receipt and a mannequin, to highlight the dynamics between economic and environmental sustainability. At the same time, I acknowledged social sustainability by inviting social engagement and dialogue through contextual elements such as including a participation table of mending supplies (see Appendix E, Figures E1-E2). The participation table also included a call-to-action online Padlet forum which was accessible with QR code (see Appendix E, Figure E3). Other contextual elements included information excerpts on clothing hangers, and take-away pamphlets (see Appendix E, Figure E4). Figure 7. On the Mend pop-up installation, cafeteria at ECU 90 Ben Purvis, Yong Mao and Darren Robinson, “Three Pillars of Sustainability: In Search of Conceptual Origins,” Sustainability Science 14, no. 3 (2018): 681–695; Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham, Earth Logic Fashion Action Research Plan (London: The J J Charitable Trust, 2019) 22 As shown in Table 1, an artifact of a receipt was used to reframe fashion consumption towards sustainability through the use of climate-centric messaging that includes typography and design considerations. Viewers were invited to reflect on the large-scale receipt that reaches to the floor of the exhibit. The receipt features a list of sustainable fashion consumption micro-practices such as ‘shop second-hand for treasures’ and maintenance actions such as ‘mend your clothes’. These micro-practices are also displayed through my cardigan, tote-bag and sneakers featured on the mannequin. The bottom of the large-scale receipt ends with the message “Do good. Feel good. And look good while doing it”, which mimics store slogans. I recontextualize the traditional message of “Retain this copy for your records” as “Retain this copy for y(our) future” to communicate a vision for an individual and collective sustainable future. 23 Table 1. Typography and design considerations for facilitating climate-centric messaging: On the Mend receipt within artist’s book, gallery and pop-up installations 2.6.1 Process for On the Mend Installation The making of the installation consisted of three iterations. The first two iterations took place in the Elbow Gallery setting at ECU (see Appendix A, Figures A3-A5). For the third iteration, I translated the design to a pop-up installation format at the ECU cafeteria (see Appendix B, Figure B1). I started planning the installation with rough notes and sketches of the design, along with feedback from my thesis supervisor Dr. Katherine Gillieson, which helped to narrow my focus conceptually and materially in this early part of the design process. After measuring the gallery space, I created scaled sketches and a maquette at 1 inch per foot scale to understand how the elements will roughly flow before I print the work, and rent exhibition supports. There were two tests of displaying the fashion items on the mannequin vs. room divider panels. For the large-scale receipt, I transitioned from hand-lettering the design to printing it and tested the scale of the receipt for readability by tiling letter-sized paper together to scale. Similarly, I opted for paper excerpts on clothing hangers instead of using temporary tattoo paper to install it directly on the wall. I experimented with embroidery on paper for the receipt; however, I did not implement this experiment in the exhibit based on peer feedback and logistics. In iteration 1 (gallery), I experimented with block plinths to create movement in the receipt (see Appendix A, Figure A3). In iteration 2, I reflected on feedback (see Appendix A, Figure A4) and updated the small paper excerpts on clothing hangers (iteration 1) with long banners to echo the scale of the receipt and create rhythm in the space (see Appendix A, Figure A5). In iteration 3 (pop-up at the ECU cafeteria), I worked with public space within an educational institution which highlighted considerations of windows with natural lighting, furniture, an existing Indigenous mural in the cafeteria, and people moving through the space (see Appendix B, Figure B1). 2.6.2 Individual to Community: Comparison of Installation in Gallery and Pop-Up Settings Setting: Each setting of the installation afforded a different array of possible interpretations. For example, in the ECU cafeteria, the meaning of On the Mend installation was strengthened and recontextualized through the sitespecificity91 of the pop-up because the ECU cafeteria looks onto the North Shore mountains and in-progress SkyTrain station through the window. Further, the cafeteria space features an existing mural We are Stories âcathônkîwina (2022) by Cree artist Caleb Elison; and, furniture for people to gather.92 Whereas, the Elbow Gallery setting offered space for focused 91 “Art Term: Site-Specific,” Tate. (n.d.). 92 Although the installation was not made specifically for the ECU cafeteria; this “impromptu site-specific” work emerged through my reflective experiment logs and reflection on feedback which is part of the critical documentation method. 24 attention on the installation itself afforded by the gallery’s blank white walls and artificial lighting. The pop-up site offered new relationships between people, natural environment, urban environment, and communication design which illuminates interplaying elements between environmental, economic, and social sustainability within which communication designers are constantly moving.93 Social Engagement: Both installations provided the opportunity to share the work with numerous students, faculty, and community members at ECU. In the gallery, I observed that many people were hesitant to touch the sewing tools on the interaction table or to touch the clothing on the mannequin. In contrast, in the pop-up exhibit people felt comfortable using the sewing tools on the interaction table, touched the clothing on the mannequin, and shared their own sustainable fashion micro-practices with me which was prompted by the pop-up installation (see Figure 8). Figure 8. Participation table at Elbow Gallery (left) and ECU students at the On the Mend pop-up installation in the ECU cafeteria (middle and right). Note: People used sewing tools on the participation table, touched the clothing on the mannequin, and shared their own sustainable fashion micro-practices of repair, repurpose, and reuse with me Over a three-hour period at the pop-up installation, fifteen art and design students talked with me about topics such as personal or family experiences of mending, their enjoyment of thrifting, and the rising prices of secondhand clothing at thrift stores. After going through the pop-up installation, two viewers shared with me that they had never heard of thrifting secondhand clothing and had not engaged in repairing clothing before. However, they said that they wanted to learn more. In contrast, at the gallery, the conversations were focused on the work at formal, reflective, and conceptual 93 Ben Purvis, Yong Mao & Darren Robinson, “Three Pillars of Sustainability: In Search of Conceptual Origins,” Sustainability Science 14, no. 3 (2018): 681–695; Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Michael Shank, “12 Principles for Climate-Centric Behavior Change Communications,” Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, last modified August 26, 2019 25 levels. As shown in Figure E3, some personal experiences of attendees were expressed through the online Padlet board which further enhanced community sharing. In alignment with Alessandro Ludovico, Cath Caldwell & Yolanda Zappaterra, and Gwen Allen, the complementary integration of the sensory qualities of print with the interactive potential of digital formats was a successful dimension of the installation design which offered a combination of in-person and digital forms of participation.94 As shown in Figure 9, a new element that I added to the pop-up in the cafeteria was displaying my Gently Used zine (risograph printed with hand-sewn binding). This zine is a collection of stories about people’s experience with finding a memorable item while thrifting and their associated Do-It-Yourself (DIY) practices (see Appendix B, Figure B2). Numerous visitors took a copy of my zine.95 This signals the importance of the reach and the network of communication design through designed experiences (installations) and how zines carry their own agency to foster further interactions.96 Figure 9. Visitor reading a copy of Gently Used zine at the On the Mend pop-up installation 94 Alessandro Ludovico, Tactical Publishing: Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century, (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2024), 9-10, 23-27; Cath Caldwell & Yolanda Zappaterra, Editorial Design: Digital and Print (London: Laurence King Publishing Limited, 2014), 6, 457-461; Gwen Allen, Artists’ Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2011), 1-7. 95 A few months after the pop-up exhibit, I was a graduate teaching assistant for a second-year typographic communication design course at ECU. Professor Robin Mitchell Cranfield shared with me that a student (in another section) uploaded a picture of my Gently Used zine to demonstrate a typography classification for a class exercise. 96 Troy R. Lovata, “Zines: Individual to Community,” in Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspective, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues, ed. J. Gary Knowles and Ardra L. Cole (Toronto: Sage Publications, 2008), 323-335; Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Jan-Henning Raff, “Theories to Understand Graphic Design in Use: The Example of Posters,” in Graphic Design Reader, e.d. Teal Triggs and Leslie Atzmon (London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019), 449–456. 26 2.7 Artist’s Book On the Mend: A designer’s experience of sustainable fashion practices On the Mend: A Designer’s Experience of Sustainable Fashion Practices is an artist’s book about my experience as a communication designer engaging in everyday sustainable fashion practices of reusing, repurposing, and repairing (see Figure 10). Historically, artist’s books and magazines became an alternative space for exhibitions, conceptual art, and documentation of creative practice in the 1960s-1970s.97 In the same way, my artist’s book serves as an alternative space for the On the Mend installations. At the same time, the print format artist’s book contributes to an ecosystem of climate-centric communication design by integrating the print of the book with the physical gallery and pop-up installations on the case of sustainable fashion consumption.98 Figure 10. Select Images of artist’s book titled On the Mend: A Designer’s Experience of Sustainable Fashion Practices. Note: Front cover design includes a digital photograph and typography that are laser-etched on Sustana Enviro (100% postconsumer recycled paper) for the purpose of creating texture without ink. The inner pages and fold-outs are Cougar Digital (10% post-consumer recycled paper) and Clearprint vellum paper. 97 Gwen Allen, Artists’ Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2011), 1-25. 98 Cath Caldwell & Yolanda Zappaterra, Editorial Design: Digital and Print (London: Laurence King Publishing Limited, 2014), 1-240; Alessandro Ludovico, Tactical Publishing: Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century, (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2024), 211-225. 27 I expanded on the installation in the artist’s book by sharing observations, curiosities and questions about thrifting, clothing swaps, and signs of sustainable practices in retail clothing stores. Further, I share lessons learned and reflections on the frustrating aspects of repair, reuse, and repurposing. However, I also share the exciting and meditative qualities of engaging in these fashion micro-practices, to inspire climate action. 2.7.1 Process of On the Mend Artist’s Book The making of the artist’s book consisted of: Six iterations of the editorial design layout; three rounds of content edits; nine prototypes/tests of binding and printing; and, fourteen laser etching tests for the cover (see Appendix C, Figure C1).99 During the process I focused on design through texture, paper choices, and typography (see Table 2). Table 2. On the Mend artist’s book: Design through texture, paper choices, and typography 99 The first run of the artist’s book was produced as part of an audited course on publication design over July and August 2024. There were minor tweaks implemented after this main design process up to January 2024. 28 In the reflective experiment logs, the process appears to be linear, however the phases of the process and iterations often overlapped or were revisited. In versions 1 to 3 of the editorial design, I dealt with ambiguity in the format of printing and binding.100 This means I simultaneously made binding prototypes 1-5. Once versions 4 and 5 of the layout were resolved, I moved on to versions 6 where I test-printed collated double-sided 8-up spreads101 (see Appendix C, Figure C2-C3). For the laser etching phase, the first six tests included opportunities to adjust image placement, tweak digital image formats for best output102, and observe how laser etch settings of power, velocity, opacity, dots per inch (DPI), halftone, and material typesetting affect the laser outcome (see Appendix C, Figure C4).103 I chose a square-back wire-o type of binding because it allows pages to lie flat, there is a spine, and the wire coils add texture to the monochromatic cover. After using an electric stack cutter to cut all the pages and organize the pages in the correct order, I used the Akiles wire-o binding machine104 to hole punch the pages, foldouts105, and cover. Then I bound the each book together with a 3/8 inch wire coil (see Appendix C, Figure C5-C6). 2.7.2 Sharing My Artist’s Book at the Vancouver Art Book Fair: Engaging With Community I shared my artist’s book at the Vancouver Art Book Fair (VABF) in July 2024 (see Figure 11).106 I participated in the art book fair as part of the Wednesday Afternoon Press, an imprint of a publication design course that I audited during the Summer of 2024. The course was taught by Jonathan Middleton, who is a co-organizer of the VABF. I engaged in conversations with the community in Metro Vancouver, the international exhibitors, and attendees. My artist’s book served as an entry point to conversation into people’s own experiences of sustainable fashion consumption and their interest in communication design.107 100 I created all prototypes using risograph printing scrap paper from the Communication Design Studio at ECU. 101 I strategized a 8-up spread on tabloid size paper because it allows for 4 spreads or 8 pages per page to be printed and cut with no paper waste. The collation was corrected to be pages 1, 5, 3, 7 (side 1) and pages 6, 2, 8, 4 (side 2) and so on. Margins were adjusted to 0.5 inches and embraced in the design to produce no paper waste when cutting. 102 Vectorize drawing on the back cover to minimize grey areas in the etching caused by pixelation, whereas I used a rasterized photographic image on the front cover to draw out level of depth in the laser etching. 103 To produce a clear and dark laser-etched image on Sustana Enviro 80# cover weight paper (100% post-consumer recycled), I used the following laser etching settings on a Trotec Laser machine: Power=35; Velocity=80; Opacity: 90%; DPI=333; Halftone=Stucki; Material Type Setting: Paper 90lb Stonehenge. 104 Wire-o binding settings at: 1.1” and 3/8” wire ring size. 105 Fold-out receipt and drawings of some of my thrifted clothing. 106 I brought my first run of 4 copies of On the Mend and some copies of Gently Used zine to share and sell. 107 I created a sign-up sheet for people to who wanted to be put on an emailing list to get updates about the On the Mend series, my practice and thesis research. 22 people provided their name and emails for updates. 29 30 Figure 11. My exhibitor table at Vancouver Art Book Fair for On the Mend artist’s book: Interaction with community (at Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre) 2.8 Findings: From Individual Reflexivity & Design to Community The works in the On the Mend series serve as examples of climate-centric communication design through different mediums. Reflecting on principles of Actor-Network Theory, I observed that my fashion items, gallery and pop-up installations, and artist’s book contribute to a wider network of relationships by facilitating on-going interactions with people and these design artifacts.108 Implementing the mediums of installation and self-publishing as tools that shape how people perceive, interact with, and interpret information, illuminated how the message is impacted by the medium (e.g. material choices, scale, location, sensory experience, and interactivity).109 My climatecentric communication design practice is process-oriented and considers 108 Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Jan-Henning Raff, “Theories to Understand Graphic Design in Use: The Example of Posters,” in Graphic Design Reader, e.d. Teal Triggs and Leslie Atzmon (London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019), 449–456. 109 Latour, 2005; Cath Caldwell and Yolanda Zappaterra, Editorial Design: Digital and Print (London: Laurence King Publishing Limited, 2014), 1-240; Alessandro Ludovico, “How We Should Publish in the Twenty-First Century,” in Tactical Publishing: Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century, (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2024), 211-225; Eric Benson and Yvette Perullo, Design to Renourish: Sustainable Graphic Design in Practice (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2017), 115-118. how the medium will affect the message. I observed that informed creativity and expression of messaging unfolds through the act of making. This aligns with Tim Ingold’s ontology (way of being as a creative) of prioritizing making processes instead of the final product characterized by the phrase “reading creativity forwards”.110 The final medium emerges through engagement with contextual anchors (information), materials, process, reflection, and social engagement.111 Designing the On the Mend series furthered my reflexivity and was important to set the stage for the zine-making workshops (discussed in Chapter 3). In this way, I was able to further situate myself in the research and not impose my experience on the participants as I prepared for the zine-making workshops. 110 Tim Ingold, “The Textility of Making,” Cambridge Journal of Economics 34, no. 1 (2010), 97. 111 Zoë Sadokierski, “Developing Critical Documentation Practices for Design Researchers,” Design Studies 69, no. 1 (2020): 1-33. 31 32 Chapter 3 Zine-Making Workshops & Footnotes* Installation The zine-making workshops serve as a space for student designers to make individual zines as a medium for sharing their perspectives in a group on sustainable fashion consumption, maintenance and messaging. The audio-recordings of their perspectives in conversation with each other were analyzed and encompassed by the overarching theme of ‘footnotes on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability.’ The unique patterns of each individual student designer is represented in an installation titled Footnotes* on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability (see Figure 12) with a take-away installation guide (see Figure 13). From this point forward I will refer to the installation as Footnotes*. 33 Figure 12. Footnotes* on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability, 2025, 10 x 40 feet, typography inkjet-printed on 384 sheets of 100% recycled paper wheat pasted onto a wall, Knee Gallery at ECU 34 Figure 13. Take-away installation guide for Footnotes* installation, risograph printed on 30% recycled and 100% recycled paper 3.1 Aim The aim was to explore how student designers perceive sustainable fashion in relation to consumption, maintenance, and messaging (design) through zine-making workshops to inform an installation. 3.2 Research Design I conducted a descriptive qualitative study using semi-structured prompts for the zine-making workshops which included a debrief discussion. I used qualitative summative content analysis to analyze the audio-recordings during the zine-making workshops.112 The creative challenge for me, as a researcher and designer, was how I could experiment with design, making, and dialogue in a zine-making workshop as a collective and generative format to uncover participants’ insights into what climate-centric communication design could be within the case of sustainable fashion consumption.113 As shown in Figure 14, a space for reflexivity occurs within the back-and-forth movement between individual making and community interaction. This is facilitated through individual zine-making followed by reflection and sharing within a group in the workshops accompanied by the Footnotes* gallery installation to engage community. 3.3 Study Setting The study was conducted in Vancouver, Canada at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU). 3.4 Recruitment and Participants The study was open to university students studying design, or related fields, who were currently or had recently (within the past two years) been living and/or studying in Metro Vancouver (see Figure 15 for recruitment 112 Ji Young Cho and Eun-Hee Lee, “Reducing Confusion About Grounded Theory and Qualitative Content Analysis: Similarities and Differences,” The Qualitative Report, 19 no. 32 (2014): 1-20. 113 Jan Brueggemeier and Neal Haslem, “These Three Words; Community Activation, Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration Through Letterpress Printing,” Journal of Public Pedagogies 7, no.1 (2023): 1-22. 35 poster). The inclusion criteria aimed to ensure participants’ knowledge and experience. Participants were either undergraduate, graduate, or continuing education students at ECU. Three participants were studying communication design; and the other four were studying industrial design, user experience (UX) design, interdisciplinary design, and visual art. All seven participants have an interest in the case of sustainable fashion consumption. I obtained participant information and consent through an online Microsoft form which was accessed by participants through the QR code on the recruitment poster (see Appendix F, Figure F1 for information/consent form). Eleven designers/artists registered for the study. Seven participated in the study and none withdrew during the research process. Figure 14. Diagram of zine-making workshops and installation: From individual to community reflexivity among student designers 36 37 Figure 15. Recruitment poster for zine-making workshops 3.5 Research Ethics Consideration This study was approved by the ECU Research Ethics Board (REB) on September 12, 2024 (see Appendix F, Figure F2). Participants were provided with detailed information on the study’s objectives, research methods, and use of data collected. Participants were informed that their participation is voluntary and that they can withdraw at anytime. The information/consent form was designed to allow participants to choose their preferred level of anonymity, including the choice between using their real name or codified name when consenting to the use of images of their zines and quotes in publication and design outcome. Participants’ informed consent was obtained through the information/consent online form prior to the workshop. 3.6 Data Collection I conducted the data collection and transcription of the audio recordings of participants in the zine-making workshops. The three zine-making prompts and corresponding three debrief discussion prompts were developed based on the purpose of the study and by reviewing previous research and relevant literature.114 The themes in the prompts included how participants consume and maintain fashion; and their perspective on messaging around fashion sustainability. Recalling Troy R. Lovata’s notion of zines as a tool for connecting individuals to communities, the zines served as a visual medium for participants’ thoughts and feelings.115 In my zine-making workshops, some participants collaged with images and text from magazines, while other combined collaging with drawing or writing to remix and reframe commercial messaging and imagery to reflect their own perspectives in their zines about sustainable fashion consumption. The data was collected in-person during two zine-making workshops on October 16th and 17th, 2024. The first workshop included 4 participants, and the second workshop included 3 participants (see Figure 16). Before starting the workshop, participants were welcome to look at and flip through zines that I curated from the ECU Library’s zine reserve collection including one of my own zines, Gently Used. This aimed to familiarize all participants with the democratic and varied form of zines. This was followed by a selfintroduction with a reiteration of information on the information/consent form such as research overview and usage of data collection and analysis. To foster community prior to the zine-making phase, there was a fun icebreaker activity related to ideas of branding, where participants shared what brand slogan or made-up slogan represents their personality (see Appendix F, Figure F3 for zine-making workshop slides). As with Jan Brueggemeier and Neal Haslem, along with the longer workshops by Katherine Gillieson and Neal Haslem, the intention was to create an activity that could be both an individual and collective experience, and allow for enough time (90-120 minutes) for focused activity without becoming overwhelming or a burden 114 Ash Watson, “Zine Making as a Method,” Breaking Methods Webinar Series, July 16, 2020, video, 20:52; Waston & Bennet, 2021; Stephen Duncombe, “Consumption,” in Notes From Underground: Zines And The Politics Of Alternative Culture, eds. Brittany Willis and Joe Biel (Bloomington: Microcosm, 1997), 111-136; Hanka van der Voet and Femke de Vries, “A Magazine Reader,” Warehouse, February 2018-October 2023, participatory workshop and zine creation, issues 1-7. 115 Troy R. Lovata, “Zines: Individual to Community,” in Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspective, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues, ed. J. Gary Knowles and Ardra L. Cole (Toronto: Sage Publications, 2008), 323, 329-331. 38 39 Location: C1260, ECU Participants: 3 Type of Designers: Undergraduate Industrial Design Communication Design Graduate Interdisciplinary Design Notes: Participants asked questions before starting the zine-making such as “Should I be answering all the prompts in the zine?” Also, it was quiet throughout the majority of the zine-making process as participants were focused on making their zines while listening to lo-fi music. Participants periodically looked at the prompts. Participants engaged in group discussion aspect of the debrief naturally and shared perspectives in an engaging backand-forth conversation. Location: C1260, ECU Participants: 4 Type of Designers: Undergraduate Communication Design x2 Visual Arts Continuing Studies Interaction Design (UX/UI) Notes: I was pleasantly surprised when one participant, Participant F, initiated a zine trade with me, in which I gave him a copy of my Gently Used zine in exchange for his zine Dog Jokes Vol. 2. Participants looked over the zine example table, talked about zines, and introduced themselves prior to the workshop starting. During, the zine-making process everyone was quiet and focused while listening to lo-fi music. Figure 16. Participants making zines in workshop #1 and workshop #2 Participant F (Jonathan), Dog Jokes Vol. 2 within a process that generates interest and discussion.116 Each zine-making session was 50-70 minutes; and, both group debrief discussions were audio-recorded, lasting 40-60 minutes. The debrief discussions started with each participant describing their zine, facilitated by the prompts; and then engaging in a group discussion. No participants withdrew their participation during the research process. 3.7 Data Analysis I collected the participants’ zines and transcribed the audio recordings of each student designer describing their zine including the group discussion that followed. These were used in the analysis to verbally reinforce each participant’s personal interpretation of their zine and ensure an accurate understanding of the participants’ zines. Using qualitative summative content analysis, themes within participant zines were identified. Zines assist in tapping the subjective, tacit and creative mode of designers and artists.117 I reviewed the audio immediately and a few times thereafter, to ensure correct transcription. The debrief conversations were transcribed one week after the zine-making workshops were held. 3.8 Strategies and Skills for Facilitating Zine-Making Workshops My experience with making zines and facilitating workshops had a positive impact on eliciting participants’ rich descriptions of their zines (see Appendix F, Figure F4 for my Instructional Skills Workshop Certification). To support the credibility of the findings, I asked participants open questions to elaborate on their responses such as “Tell me more about that…” Also, emerging sub-categories, categories, and an overarching theme were identified with participant data consistently. The research process has been documented and shared for transparency. In addition to the general public, I invited the participants to attend my Open Studio in November 2024.118 I created an 116 Jan Brueggemeier and Neal Haslem, “These Three Words; Community Activation, Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration Through Letterpress Printing,” Journal of Public Pedagogies 7, no.1 (2023): 1-22; Katherine Gillieson and Neal Haslem, “Collective Counterfactual: Micro-Publishing as a Discursive Practice,” (paper presented at Design Research Society Conference, Boston, MA, June 2024), 1-5. 117 Troy R. Lovata, “Zines: Individual to Community,” in Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspective, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues, ed. J. Gary Knowles and Ardra L. Cole (Toronto: Sage Publications, 2008), 323-335. 118 3 of the 7 participants visited my Open Studio and they enjoyed seeing their contri- 40 ‘Emerging Narratives’ participatory activity where attendees were invited to put a dot sticker beside any participants’ quotes that resonated with their experience by writing it on a sticky note (see Figure 17).119 This activity was conducted in the early phases of the content analysis of the transcripts and served as a tool to gauge how well the participants’ experiences and perspectives resonated with the general public at my Open Studio. The mimicking of the flow and rhythm of talking amongst student designers was carried through to the Footnotes* installation. The zine-making workshops were impactful because at the Open Studio, I observed that the same themes emerged but with different experiences such as repairing a favourite bag or shoes. In December 2024, I shared individual findings with each participant through email, to check that the analysis is consistent with their intent and experiences. Figure 17. Participatory Activity Emerging Narratives During Open Studio bution and others displayed. Participant A (anonymous) indicated that the zine-making workshop inspired their intention to change their major to Communication Design. Participant Anne sent me an email after the Open Studio indicating that the zine-making workshop prompted her to consider an ecological perspectives minor in her communication design degree. 119 The format of Emerging Narratives is similar to Jan Brueggemeier & Neal Haslem’s (2023) roundtable event where people were invited to discuss the printed outcomes of their workshop titled these three words. 41 3.9 Findings: Footnotes on Consuming Between the Blurry Lines of Fashion Sustainability Seven student designers and visual artists made zines and engaged in a group discussion. Using qualitative summative content analysis, I identified one overarching theme; three categories, and 32 sub-categories each supported by direct quotations from the participants (see Table 3). The overarching theme across all participants is captured by the idea of ‘footnotes on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability’ which describes how student designers’ balance their successes within sustainability along with the exceptions to engaging in sustainable fashion. Various perspectives across a spectrum emerged in maintaining and consuming fashion items as well as the messaging around fashion and climate crisis. Based on the content analysis, the idea of “footnotes” became my creative direction for the installation. Typically, a “footnote” is “a note of reference, explanation, or comment usually placed below the text on a printed page” when further information is needed.120 It is in this way that the idea of footnotes is well suited to conveying the pattern that I noticed during the data analysis in relation to how participants balance convenience and other factors that compete with their sustainable fashion practices in varying degrees. 3.9.1 Footnotes* Installation & Discussion of Findings Footnotes* on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability is a text-based121 installation, comprised of typography inkjet-printed on 384 sheets of 100% recycled paper wheat pasted and tiled onto a wall, measuring 10 x 40 feet (revisit Figure 12). In the installation, the format and concept of footnotes is employed to communicate the range of responses of each student designer. The typography serves as a visual manifestation of the student designers’ language that expresses their tone, 120 “Footnote,” Merriam Webster Dictionary, n.d. 121 Kim Dhillon, “Language To Be Looked At,” Fillip 11, no.1 (2010): 99. Text-based art and design describes work, of any medium, that uses text, language, and typography as materials. Text-based work explores the material qualities of language, meaning, or reference. Formal qualities of text-based art, such as typography, materials, and composition, and its substantive content are a focus. Text-based work emerged from the language in advertising and graphic design. Historically, text-based work by artists as well as designers seen in movements such as 1960s conceptual art and Pop movement in North America, and early 1900s in Futurist manifestos, and Dadaist collages in Europe. 42 43 Table 3. Overarching theme of footnotes with categories and sub-categories based on student designers’ perspectives on sustainable fashion consumption from content analysis of zine-making workshops energy, and thought process during the zine-making workshops. Student designers’ perspectives are conveyed in a non-linear way through the use of typography that mimic the flow and rhythm of talking. The talking is displayed visually to bring to life student designer descriptions of the individual zines. Each tagline is a direct quotation from each participant that captures the essence of their experience and is further described through its corresponding footnote. The structure of a footnote provides an entrance and exit from the one-way stream of discourse in the taglines such as “Am I doing this for myself, or am I actually doing it for the planet?”122 Aligned with Schön, I strove to communicate multiple perspectives by bringing forward nuances through “...artistry [that] is evident in [my] selective management of large amounts of information [using the structure of taglines and footnotes]...to hold several ways of looking at things without disrupting the flow of inquiry.”123 An aim of the Footnotes* installation is to make sense of the dense information landscape, physical and digital, that surrounds us everyday through the language of communication design in a collective reading experience or a “talking wall”124 to reframe current design and messaging practices that perpetuate mass-consumption and sustainability in varying degrees. Similar to Roland Barthes, I view text as a network of information that is comprised of “references, echoes, and language” which I express through the navigational feature of footnotes found in books.125 The footnote symbols that I chose for the installation are numbers, asterisks (*), and section marks (§). Similarly, Kim Dhillon suggests that using modes of design and writing that viewers recognize (e.g. footnotes and taglines) creates a “way in” to reading the work which can foster a “series of relations” or network of interaction.126 The Footnotes* installation creates a collective reading experience of multiple perspectives on sustainable fashion consumption by reflecting participants’ individual and collective meanings of ways of being and doing. This is intended to invite dialogue about perspectives that are not always visible in everyday life or through commercial communication channels.127 Below I will discuss the student designers’ perspectives in conjunction with the Footnotes* installation that occurred in the ECU Knee Gallery. 122 Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, and Students (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010), 68. 123 Donald A. Schön, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (New York: Basic Books, 1983), 130. 124 Dr. Maite García Sanchis (Adjunct Professor, Politecnico di Milano) described the Footnotes* installation as a “talking wall” while visiting ECU on February 21, 2025. 125 Roland Barthes, “From Work to Text,” in Image/Music/Text (New York: Hill and Wang, 1977), 155-64. 126 Kim Dhillon, “Language To Be Looked At,” Fillip 11, no.1 (2010): 99; Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). 127 Troy R. Lovata, “Zines: Individual to Community,” in Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspective, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues, ed. J. Gary Knowles and Ardra L. Cole (Toronto: Sage Publications, 2008), 323-335. 44 Large-scale graphic design installations have a long-standing presence through works by artists such as Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Allison Knowles, and Raymond Boisjoly. In creating this large-scale Footnotes* installation the following typography considerations were implemented to create fluidity between each student designer’s experience. The alternating between typefaces of Helvetica Neue and Playfair Display was used to bring forward the strengths of each. My aim was to create a clean modern look for the taglines by using Helvetica Neue typeface which can be considered a ‘friendly’ sans serif and is familiar to people through everyday media. The intermingling of Playfair Display typeface at different sizes, weights, and styles was used to display participant quotes in a large-scale installation measuring 10 x 40 feet to create aesthetic qualities mimicking the Didone style typography associated with the fashion industry such as Vogue.128 Footnote 1: I am long wearing (Participant A) For Participant A (PA), consuming fashion includes a mix of second-hand and retail fashion with a focus on looking ‘sharp’ through buying clothing made of quality material that last. For PA’s zine (see Appendix G, Figure G1), PA describes optimizing the lifecycle of his clothing by re-wearing and repairing his clothes, which he characterizes as “The Long Wearing” (see Figure 18). PA still repairs his clothing when it becomes worn down, instead of buying new clothes. The footnote or exception to PA’s perspective of ‘Long Wearing’ is when PA’s consuming falls between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability in moments where PA feels that his clothing is boring and lacks ‘personality’ due to wearing the same thing every day (see Figure 19). PA describes cultural superstitions associated with buying second hand clothing, especially shoes, but he occasionally buys second hand clothing, but not shoes. Footnote 2: Am I doing this for myself, or am I actually doing it for the planet? (Participant B) As shown through Participant B (Emilia’s) zine (see Appendix G, Figure G2) she navigates individual and systemic responsibility through her reflective questions about personal and broader system practices such as production and waste. She elaborated that sustainability messaging is overwhelming and is difficult to apply to everyone. As an industrial designer, Emilia highlights her experience of maintaining fashion items by giving examples of how she repurposes and repairs her clothing based on her knowledge and skills. Further, she expresses how she enjoys consuming fashion through digital media such as YouTube and Instagram as research on how fashion is designed and made, rather than buying or acquiring clothing. 128 Dori Griffin, Type Specimens: A Visual History of Typesetting and Printing, (London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2022); Stephen Coles, The Anatomy of type: A Graphic Guide to 100 Typefaces, (New York: Harper, 2012); Tony Seddon, Essential Type: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding and Using Fonts, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016). 45 46 Figure 18. Excerpt from PA’s zine about The Long Wearing Figure 19. Footnote 1 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: I am Long Wearing 47 Figure 20. Excerpt from Emilia’s zine about the joy of thrifting Figure 21. Footnote 2 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: Am I doing this for myself? Or am I actually doing this for the planet? Emilia takes a ‘less is more’ approach to consuming fashion through second-hand thrifting, hand-me-down, borrowing, and efforts to reduce fashion consumption. She pays attention to quality of the material, fit, and if the item is needed. She finds joy in thrifting clothing which stems from her experiences of finding local random thrift stores on her “neighbourhood walks” or “making a day out of it” with friends (see Figure 20). Emilia describes being overwhelmed by retail such as going into Pacific Centre mall. The footnote or exception to Emilia’s joy of second-hand consumption is between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability because sometimes it is more convenient for her to buy retail instead of second-hand due to time, style preference, sizing, and quality (see Figure 21). Footnote 3: Do we make the clothes? Or do the clothes make us? (Participant C) Participant C (Jefferson) describes his consuming as holistic and intentional through buying second-hand in local thrift stores (e.g. F as in Frank) and retail fashion. As an interdisciplinary designer, Jefferson approached his zine as a podcast and created a persona to navigate his fashion consumption (see Appendix G, Figure G3). Similar to PA and Emilia, he focuses on buying clothing that are long-lasting and made of quality material; while, trying to be intentional of only getting clothes that he needs. At the same time, consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability is illuminated in his poem “Fashion over fiction, the friction of telling your truth. Do we make the clothes? Or do the clothes make us?” (see Figure 22). Jefferson expresses how he carefully washes his clothes as a form of maintenance; and, sometimes repairs his favourite fashion items through a tailor/cobbler service. The footnote or exception to Jefferson’s perspective is that he feels that repairing clothing himself is intimidating and time-consuming (see Figure 23). Footnote 4: Do the right thing, give it your all and to start now…No, I know the right thing, but I don’t feel inclined (Participant D) Through Participant D’s (PD) zine, she describes her feeling of guilt about not engaging in sustainable fashion maintenance and consumption (see Appendix G, Figure G4). As a communication designer, PD indicated that the messaging around sustainability is to engage in eco-friendly consumption. The sustainability message is to “do the right thing, give it your all and to start now”. PD’s reaction to this is “No, I know the right thing, but I do not feel inclined.” (see Figure 24). The footnote or exception that emerges within PD’s acknowledgment of her limited participation in sustainability by only turning off the lights when not in use. This is contrasted by her knowledge and recognition of issues associated with carbon footprint resource extraction and fashion trends as a collective responsibility facilitated through legislation and that goes beyond individual change. In this context, she still uses the convenience of retail instead of thrifting and feels guilty about being in a cycle of consumption based on changing fashion trends (see Figure 25). 48 49 Figure 22. Excerpt from Jefferson’s zine with poem about fashion consumption Figure 23. Footnote 3 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: Do we make the clothes or do the clothes make us? 50 Figure 24. Excerpt from PD’s zine about “No. I know the right thing, but I don’t feel inclined.” Figure 25. Footnote 4 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: Do the right thing, give it your all and to start now…No, I know the right thing, but I don’t feel inclined Footnote 5: People consume fashion like they consume groceries (Participant E) Participant E (PE) is trying to change her fashion consumption practices based on information about the climate crisis and labour issues globally that are associated with fast fashion. Similar to Emilia, Jefferson, and Jonathan, PE navigates her fashion consumption in her zine through reflective questions such as “Why are we consuming fashion?...Status?...Trend?... Admiration [of celebrities]?” (see Appendix G, Figure G5). This includes questions about her own practices ranging from whether to thrift or collect hand-me-downs from her family and friends (see Figure 26). The footnote or exception to PE’s shift in consumption habits due to an increased awareness falls between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability because although she was able to change, she believes awareness may not be enough to change how other people consume fashion (see Figure 27). This situation is further impacted by the other factors she mentioned such as influence of trends and celebrities on people to possess high fashion items. As a visual artist, she indicated that messaging is needed to address how brands are working toward producing fashion sustainably. In her experience, some brands say they are doing ‘conscious’ fashion without specifying what that means [greenwashing]. Footnote 6: I think I gave up a little bit on trying to be sustainable (Participant F) For Participant F (Jonathan), consuming begins with self-care, as expressed in his zine through a story of his favourite thrifted cardigan (Appendix G, Figure G6). He describes what fashion has meant to him and navigates changes in his fashion consumption from thrifting second-hand fashion to buying retail. He describes his favourite cardigan as a “symbol of the joy of thrifting” and indicates, “I found it while thrifting, almost ten years ago. It’s full of joy and colour. I become a happy creature each time I put it on” (see Figure 28). During the lifecycle of his cardigan, he indicates that it begins to fray with loose threads, which he thinks of his cardigan fraying as a metaphor for his own self-care and the natural environment. Similar to PA and Jefferson, he works on maintaining the cardigan because it is his favourite. The footnote or exception to Jonathan’s enjoyment of thrifting is between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability because he shared that thrifting is not an option for him anymore due to rising costs of second-hand fashion; limited sizing options; and, being too busy with other aspects of his life (see Figure 29). These factors have made thrifting less accessible for him. PA, Emilia, and Jefferson, share their own obstacles to buying second-hand fashion in varying degrees. However, Emilia is sometimes able to overcome the obstacle of sizing options of second-hand clothing by altering her own clothes to fit comfortably. As a user experience (UX) designer, Jonathan shares that messaging needs to be more than personal and extended to the societal level as part of a greater conversation for change. He thinks 51 52 Figure 26. Excerpt from PE’s zine about hand-me-downs from family and friends, and thrifting Figure 27. Footnote 5 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: People consume fashion like they consume groceries that current messaging is not bad because he indicates that nobody is ever going to be perfect and ethical in every way under capitalism. At the same time, he feels that personal messaging is overwhelming because it places responsibility mostly on the individual consumer, instead of companies and industries that are contributing to the climate crisis. Similar to Emilia, Jefferson, and PE, Jonathan navigates fashion production and consumption through reflective questions to address root issues such as: “What are the engines that drive these things? Why do we feel the need for so much waste in so many ways?...How do we help people get what they need?” These questions are part of the blurry lines of fashion sustainability between individual and systemic responsibility such as economics, capitalism, resources, environment, and waste. Figure 28. Excerpt from Jonathan’s zine about his favourite thrifted cardigan 53 54 Figure 29. Footnote 6 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: I think I gave up a little bit on trying to be sustainable Footnote 7: There’s a problem inside (Participant G) As expressed in Participant G (Anne’s) zine (see Appendix G, Figure G7) she contributes to sustainability by trying to repair her favourite clothes, similar to PA, to keep them in “good condition for a long time” or repurpose clothing into new clothes. Similar to PE, Anne indicates that since she acknowledged the climate crisis, she tries to avoid throwing away her clothing. The footnote or exception to Anne’s view of sustainability in the fashion industry being a work-in-progress is that “...there’s a problem inside...” the fashion industry (see Figure 30). Similar to PD and PE, Anne elaborates that she thinks that the fashion industry places their focus on producing only, rather than focusing on providing information about material usage and recycling of materials used (see Figure 31). Anne describes that only a ‘positive’ side is communicated to consumers which distracts from sufficiently communicating crucial factors of material usage and recycling protocols. She describes “I think as a communication designer…there’s a better way to communicate with visuals… not to trick people…” Anne navigates the blurry lines of sustainable fashion consumption messaging by thinking about how to reframe current design practices by using visuals to ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’ what fashion brands are doing (e.g. material usage, recycling information). Figure 30. Excerpt from Anne’s zine about work in progress 55 56 Figure 31. Footnote 7 excerpt from Footnotes* installation: There’s a problem inside 3.10 Climate-Centric Communication Design Process of Footnotes* Installation Some important dimensions of climate-centric communication design within the installation of Footnotes* consisted of the gallery setting with natural lighting and windows with views of nature intermingled with the urban environment. Further, I used recycled materials for the installation in varying degrees. For example, the installation was made of 384 sheets of 100% recycled paper wheatpasted onto the Knee Gallery wall (revisit Figure 12). The take-away installation guides were printed on 30% recycled flax-coloured paper and another batch printed on 100% recycled white paper (revisit Figure 13). In preparation for the large-scale installation, I created a small-scale iteration 1 that was a series of three fold-out publications in relation to each statement of ‘I consume’, ‘I maintain’, and ‘I design’ (see Figure 32) which consisted of seven footnotes ‘ABCDEFG’ to draw attention to the nuances of each of the seven student designers’ personal experiences. Each of these three statements are categories that emerged during the content analysis of audio recorded participant descriptions of their zines in the zine-making workshops. This iteration served as an experiment for organizing content, flow, and logic of the footnotes that I was able to build on in the installation. For the installation, the design was created using InDesign and then prepared for ‘tiled printing’ by overlaying an exported PDF of the InDesign file into an Illustrator file with collated art boards that form the size of the walls when printed (see Figure 33).129 For each wall, the art boards were exported as a PDF in collated order by column, inkjet-printed130 and trimmed. The method of wheat pasting was well suited to this project conceptually and practically because of its historical uses in commercial advertising and street art, as well as its natural ingredients (flour and water) which allow for the reuse or recycling of the work beyond its installation.131 I decided to use 70lb text weight paper instead of copy weight paper because I found that it was easier to move the paper around on the wall, while wet, to align the type between sheets without tearing. The set-up of the installation took 24 hours over two days (see Figure 34). 129 One Illustrator file was made per wall (Wall A and Wall B). The dimension of each art board was 10 x 16 inch with no bleed to reflect the finish size. 130 All elements of the installation were printed on 11 x 17 inch tabloid size paper with trim marks and trimmed to 10 x 16 inch to ensure a seamless look once installed. All paper trimmings were recycled. 131 Jake Yates, “The Complete History of Wheatpasting,” OOH, November 25, 2024. 57 58 Figure 32. Footnotes* installation: Small-scale iteration #1 Figure 33. InDesign file (top) with wall A and wall B set-up. Note: Set-up as facing pages at 5x reduced scale of actual installation; Wall A Illustrator file (bottom) with 276 art boards that represent sheets; and Wall B Illustrator file with 108 art boards that represent sheets The interplay between individual making and reaching out to the community for dialogue was encompassed through the exploration of student designers’ perceptions and experiences of sustainable fashion consumption, maintenance, and messaging. A back-and-forth movement between individual making and community occurred through individual zine-making followed by sharing within the group in the workshops accompanied by the Footnotes* gallery installation. This is discussed as part of the next section on Key Reflections and Understandings. Figure 34. Installation set-up of wheat pasting 384 sheets of paper onto the Knee Gallery wall over 24 hours (2 days) 59 60 Chapter 4 Discussion: Key Reflections and Understandings My key reflections and understandings throughout my work on the On the Mend series, zine-making workshops, and Footnotes* installation are based on my reflexivity within the back-and-forth movement between individual and community design practices. This encompasses the interplay between individual making and reaching out to the community for dialogue. This backand-forth cycle was repeated with each phase of this research (see Figure 35). The reflections that emerged from my gallery and pop-up installations, publication displayed at the Vancouver Art Book Fair, and zine-making workshops brought to the forefront the avenues available to climate-centric communication designers. Specifically, how designers can use familiar visual language of advertising to recontextualize messaging in the case of sustainable fashion practices. 61 Figure 35. The back-and-forth movement between individual and community design practices through On the Mend series and zine-making workshops with the Footnotes* installation within the case of sustainable fashion consumption Individual Design Practice of On the Mend Series: Key Understandings and Recommendation Employing the mediums of installation and self-publishing in the On the Mend series furthered my reflexivity on how people perceive, interact with, and interpret information through different mediums. This illuminated how the message is impacted by the medium and space, including material choices, scale, site-specificity, sensory experience, and interactivity.132 Although the reflective experiment logs make the process appear linear, the logs are an effective way to document the nuances of the design process that include iterations that often overlap or are revisited. The meaning of the On the Mend installation was strengthened and recontextualized through the site-specificity133 of the pop-up in the ECU cafeteria which highlights the relationships between environmental, economic, and social sustainability that communication designers constantly face.134 The combination of in-person and digital forms of participation were effective in the design of the installation.135 One recommendation is to carefully consider the impact of material choices, scale, site-specificity, sensory experience, and interactivity on the communication design of the message through mediums such as installation, artist’s book, and zines; and space such as galleries, cafeteria, and an art book fair. Each afford varying degrees of participation and conversation of individual reflection (inner dialogue) and within the community. Zine-Making Workshops & Communication Design: Key Understandings and Recommendation The fashion activism movement Fashion Revolution (FR), founded by Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro, creates a variety of design materials from open-source campaign assets to digital zines. FR creates digital zines to advocate and inform people about environmental sustainability within the fashion industry. De Castro expresses how zines are ideal for a creative campaign because complicated messages can be expressed and designed in a visual way, without taking anything away from the 132 Bruno Latour, Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Eric Benson and Yvette Perullo, Design to Renourish: Sustainable Graphic Design in Practice (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2017), 115-118; Cath Caldwell & Yolanda Zappaterra, Editorial Design: Digital and Print (London: Laurence King Publishing Limited, 2014), 1-240; Alessandro Ludovico, Tactical Publishing: Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century, (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2023), 211-225; Michael Shank, “12 Principles for Climate-Centric Behavior Change Communications,” Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, last modified August 26, 2019. 133 “Art Term: Site-specific,” Tate, (n.d.). 134 Ben Purvis, Yong Mao and Darren Robinson, “Three Pillars of Sustainability: In Search of Conceptual Origins,” Sustainability Science 14, no. 3 (2018): 681–695; Latour, 2005. 135 Cath Caldwell and Yolanda Zappaterra, 1-240. Note: Pop-up installation viewers did not use digital Padlet board but gallery viewers did. 62 rigour of the conversation.136 Through zine-making, designers are able to explore informal and subjective viewpoints and issues toward ways of being and doing that are not visible in everyday life or through commercial communication channels. Zine-making, as a design practice, provides ways for designers to access their perspectives on sustainable fashion consumption based on interpretations of their actions and interactions with others and themselves (their inner dialogue). This is consistent with Corbett’s view of individuals as social actors and not consumers.137 Through zinemaking workshops, I move away from the common definition of a consumer as a person or thing that uses, purchases, or eats.138 Instead, participants are viewed as social actors that construct their own meanings within a network of interactive relationships, social interactions with others and their interpretations, and hands-on practice by reflexively moving back-and-forth between individual and community perspectives (revisit Figure 35). Within the zine-making process, designers create their own and collective meanings of what climate-centric communication design is or could be. A second recommendation for climate-centric communication designers is to use design aesthetics that come from familiar commercial advertising such as receipts and pamphlets, in conjunction with the DIY aesthetics of alternative media such as zines. This is informed by the back-and-forth movement between individual making and reaching out to the community. Participant Self-Reflective Questions During Zine-Making Workshops: Key Understandings and Recommendation The student designers’ perspectives from the workshops bring to mind Barbara Kruger’s statement, “What we ask […] and questions that we don’t ask but should ask.”139 Student designers often expressed their perspective through a questioning stance which included micro (individual) self-reflective questions and macro (community and systems) questions about fashion sustainability. The questions range in topics from their own consumption to motivations for engaging in sustainable practices in fashion. This includes reflections through questions on post-consumer waste, lifestyles projected by brands, motives, and mass-production, along with financial, social, and environmental circumstances for consuming sustainably (see Table 4). A third recommendation is that questions can be used as a strategy in climate-centric communication design to demystify language (increase accessibility of information), draw attention, and spark dialogue.140 136 Fashion Revolution, “Fanzine Library,” last modified 2023. 137 Julia B. Corbett, “Individuals as Social Actors, Not Consumers,” in Communicating the Climate Crisis: New Directions for Facing What Lies Ahead, ed. C. Vail Fletcher (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021), 53-78. 138 “Consumer (n.),” Oxford English Dictionary, September 2024. 139 Barbra Kruger [Interview by Ian Forster], “Part of the Discourse Barbara Kruger,” Art 21: Extended Play, online video, January 24, 2018. 140 Kruger, 2018; Michael Shank, “12 Principles for Climate-Centric Behavior Change Communications,” Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, last modified August 26, 2019. 63 64 Table 4. Examples of participants’ questions from zine-making workshops Footnotes* Installation: Take-Aways Based on qualitative summative content analysis of my zine-making workshops with seven student designers and visual artists, I use the finding of “footnotes on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability” as a creative direction to express their diverse lived experiences through my Footnotes* text-based installation. In this installation, I use a large-scale structure of footnotes to communicate the participant’s diverse experiences of successes and exceptions to engaging in sustainable fashion consumption which is at the centre of the timely contemporary conversation about how can we live without harming the planet. Alternating between consumption choices: repair, reuse, repurpose by self or others, and systemic change beyond individual change are some take-aways within the three categories of consumption, maintenance, and messaging around sustainable fashion for climatecentric communication designers, and led to the overarching creative direction of “footnotes” (see Table 5). Although a footnote is usually considered as extra and not part of the main conversation, in my research, the idea of a “footnote” is repurposed to be part of the main conversation. My creative direction of “footnotes” is a way to modify, refine, and repurpose practices within current systems to allow a plurality or spectrum of viewpoints as part of the main messaging. This is consistent with Matthew Wizinsky’s view that “direct engagement with designing or redesigning…is an ‘experience’ to be designed by the…designer”.141 In the process of this designing and redesigning, the main finding and creative direction of “footnotes” creates a space for reframing broad messaging from systems by honouring diverse lived experiences of student designers and visual artists through their direct quotations communicated typographically as seven taglines and corresponding footnotes (revisit Table 5). In this way, the creative direction of “footnotes” is proposed as a tactic to help navigate and raise awareness around sustainable fashion consumption within the strategies of overarching systems, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, CNCA, and Metro Vancouver’s Repair Re-wear campaign (previously known as Think Thrice).142 This is in line with Michel de Certeau’s concept of “tactics” and “strategies”, in which people are viewed as actively repurposing daily life through their everyday practices (tactic) within the constraints of overarching current systems (strategy).143 In summary, my tactic of footnotes along with the three recommendations discussed focusing on materials/spaces, design aesthetics, and adopting a questioning stance provide avenues for further research which may enrich and shed further understanding of climate-centric communication design, using the case of sustainable fashion. This will be discussed in the next section on Future Directions and Conclusion. 141 Matthew Wizinsky, “Design After Capitalism, in Practice,” in Design After Capitalism: Transforming Design Today for an Equitable Tomorrow (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2022), 246. 142 United Nations, “Target 12.8 of Goal 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns,” last modified July 10, 2023; Michael Shank, “12 Principles for ClimateCentric Behavior Change Communications,” [PDF] Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, last modified August 26, 2019, 1-14; Metro Vancouver, “Repair Re-wear,” [previously known as Think Thrice campaign], accessed January 30, 2024. 143 Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life. Translated by Steven Rendall (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1984), 35-38. Note: de Certeau’s strategies are used by pre-existing systems to manage and organize space, while tactics are the ways individuals navigate and repurpose that space to reframe the strategies. 65 66 Table 5. Takeaways for climate-centric communication designers based on taglines and footnotes within the three categories of consumption, maintenance, and messaging in sustainable fashion 67 Future Directions and Conclusion The future directions for my research include the following. The development of an artist’s book or zine as an alternative space for the Footnotes* installation to be experienced and shared. In addition, I could launch a publication about climate centric communication design and art practices to uplift people that are engaging in climate-centric practices and creating a space for it to be shared. Further, to support continuing education and training for communication designers, I could develop a manual or illustrated guide based on my critical documentation. Another future direction is launching a climate-centric communication design studio whereby I work with students and community partners within an educational setting. Finally, this research provides insights into print, digital, and participatory elements that can inform communication design curriculum. In conclusion, through this research I developed a climate-centric communication design practice that focuses on the role of design in the case of sustainable fashion consumption. I elicited rich descriptions from participants that led to the identification of the overarching theme “footnotes on consuming between the blurry lines of fashion sustainability”. This theme describes how participants experience their successes with sustainability along with the exceptions to engaging in sustainable fashion consumption. My gallery and pop-up installations, artist’s book, and zine-making workshops contribute to a wider network of relationships by facilitating a constant back-and-forth movement between individual making and reaching out to the community for dialogue. Based on this, I was able to optimize each medium for its possibility to facilitate individual and community interactions including creating alternative spaces for installations and experiences to be shared beyond the ephemeral and temporal nature of these. This may be beneficial to other communication designers. Zinemaking as a research method can assist communication designers to uncover their own individual and community narratives (social capital) to create a visual language that facilitates conversation and practices. As part of the main messaging within the case of sustainable fashion consumption, my repurposing of the idea of “footnotes” paved the way for me to develop the tactic of using typography and site-specific space to create an experience for communicating diverse lived experiences of student designers and visual artists. The concept of “footnotes” could be a valuable tool for communication designers when trying to highlight perspectives and blurring within a topic and its multiple messages. In this way, the creative direction of “footnotes” as a tactic may help communication designers bring to the forefront diverse lived experiences of their audiences. In this post-digital era of the information age, where vast amounts of information, technology, and materials are available, the creative direction concepts of “on the mend” and “footnotes” together with the careful choices of messaging, medium, spaces, materials, and design aesthetics are key to the practice of climate-centric communication design. It is my hope that this research will facilitate continued dialogue and assist designers with the conceptual and practical elements of communication design needed to navigate environmental, economic, and social sustainability. 68 Bibliography 69 Allen, Gwen. Artists’ Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art. 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Preliminary sketches after measuring Elbow Gallery space 74 75 Figure A2 (continued) During Design Process: Reflective Experiment Log Note. Receipt Format: Switch from hand lettering on craft paper to toner printing on paper Note. Call-to-action digital Padlet board with trackable QR code Option 1: Clothing on hangers Option 2: Seamstress Mannequin Note. Testing garments on hooks and mannequin Figure A2 (continued) During Design Process: Reflective Experiment Log 76 Note. Brainstorm of suitable consumption actions, designing receipt with Adobe Illustrator, and testing font size for visibility Figure A2 (continued) During Design Process: Reflective Experiment Log 77 Note. Built a maquette to address scale, and decide on materials and resources needed for the installation. Figure A3 Iteration 1 of Gallery Installation Design Process: Reflective Experiment Log 78 Version 1 of 3: Receipt display (without and with blocks), mannequin with cardigan and tote bag along with the ottoman and sneakers, basket of tools and materials for sewing and historical inspirational reference excerpts on 3 hangers Version 2 of 3: Added take-away pamphlet to table with sewing materials Version 3 of 3: Added curved ramp to display sneakers by the ottoman and then by the mannequin 79 Figure A4 Feedback from Peer/Professor/Supervisor: On the Mend Installation (gallery) DOC = Digital Output Centre Note. Sketches, notes and table capturing informal critique from MDes peer, studio professor, and thesis supervisor Figure A5 Iteration 2 of Gallery Installation Design Process After Feedback: Reflective Experiment Log Note. The ‘action list’ from the critique was implemented in iteration 5 80 Appendix B Pop-Up at ECU Cafeteria: On the Mend Installation Figure B1 Iteration 3 of ECU Cafeteria Pop-Up Installation Design Process: Comparison Notes of Pop-Up Setting with Elbow Gallery Setting 81 Figure B2 Gently Used zine shared at the On the Mend Pop-Up in the ECU Cafeteria Natalie R. Chiovitti, Gently Used, 2023 5.5 x 8.5 in, 8 pages Risograph printed zine with hand-sewn binding 82 Appendix C On the Mend Artist’s Book: Critical Documentation Figure C1 Overview of Critical Documentation of On the Mend Artist’s Book 83 Figure C2 Artist’s Book: Versions of Editorial Design 84 Version 1 Note: I was hesitant to start designing the book without formalizing whether the book would be risograph printed or colour laser printed; and without formalizing what type of binding I am doing. Therefore, the aim of the first version was to layout roughly layout content and edit images. Version 2 Note: I started to expand the content but the art direction was still forming while I was considering the flow of information in the publication. Version 3 Note: In this version it was challenging to visualize the flow of the pages. For example, I was thinking of inserting blank coloured paper between the sections in the publication. Also, I added a section on ‘Lessons Learned & Reflection’ instead of interweaving it in other sections. Figure C2 (continued) Artist’s Book: Versions of Editorial Design 85 Version 4 Note: I decided to risograph print the whole publication in 1 colour (medium blue). Therefore, I started to convert all my pages into black and white to prepare for risograph printing. However the blue ink was unavailable. Version 5 Note: I tried to mimic the monotone blue look and started to prepare CMYK files for the colour laser printing. Version 6 Note: I changed the colours back to full-colour as it better suited to the content. I designed the fold-out pages and then I added in spaces in the book for the foldout pages. 86 Figure C3 Artist’s Book: Tests of Binding & Printing Test #1: Staple saddle stitch binding with scrap test pages of text weight paper and vellum paper Test #5: Square-back wire-o binding (5/16” coil) with more accurate dimensions of book Test #2: Wire-o binding of scrap paper with hole-punched small book cover (orange) Test #3: Long vertical format square back wire-o binding (no interior pages) Test #4: Half-letter size square back wire-o binding with a 5/16” size coil and scrap paper for interior pages Test #6: Black and white (b/w) mockup of cover layout based on Test #5 and two iterations of a 2-up spread, double-sided using in-progress content Figure C3 (continued) Artist’s Book: Tests of Binding & Printing Test #7: Test book #3 with test laser etch cover (version day 2 #1) Test #8: Test book #4 using test cover (version day 1 #5) and first test of colour laser printing two concepts (full colour and monochrome blue) for the interior pages Test #9: Test book #5 & #6 using test covers (version day 1 #3 & day 1 #4) to finalize measurements before using the good copies of laser etched covers 87 Figure C4 Artist’s Book: Milestones of Laser Etching Tests Trotec laser-ecthing and cutting machine. Four test covers in the laser pan. 88 89 Figure C4 (continued) Artist’s Book: Milestones of Laser Etching Tests Final laser etching settings to produce a clear and dark laser-etched image on Sustana Enviro 80# cover weight paper (100% post-consumer recycled), I used the following laser etching settings on a Trotec Laser machine in the Digital Fabrication Lab: Power = 35 Velocity = 80 Opacity = 90% DPI = 333 Halftone = Stucki Material Type Setting = Paper 90lb Stonehenge Figure C5 Artist’s Book: Milestones of Final Printing and Binding Process Electric stack cutter to cut pages from spreads Organizing pages and fold-outs before binding in the Communication Design Studio 90 Using the manual creaser for fold-outs and book covers Figure C6 Artist’s Book–On the Mend: A designer’s experience of sustainable fashion practices 91 Figure C6 (continued) Artist’s Book–On the Mend: A designer’s experience of sustainable fashion practices 92 Figure C6 (continued) Artist’s Book–On the Mend: A designer’s experience of sustainable fashion practices 93 Appendix D Inspiration for On the Mend Series: Reuse, Repurpose & Repair Project Figure D1 May Morris, Panel, ca. 1890 (designed), ca. 1900 (Sold) 41.1 x 44.2 cm. Coloured silks and ink on cotton, worked in stem stitch and darning stitch. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 94 Appendix D (Continued) Inspiration for On the Mend Series: Reuse, Repurpose & Repair Project Figure D2 Su Richardson, Hot Flush Handbag with: Fan, Towel, Re-usable pad, HRT pills, Mask, 2021 20 x 30cm. Crochet. © Su Richardson, l’étrangère, London 95 Appendix D (Continued) Inspiration for On the Mend Series: Reuse, Repurpose & Repair Project Figure D3 Celia Pym, Elizabeth’s Cardigan, 2002-2016, 50 x 65 cm. Cardigan and wool darning. © Celia Pym 96 Appendix E Participation Elements for On the Mend Installation Figure E1 Participation Table at Elbow Gallery 97 Appendix E (Continued) Participation Elements for On the Mend Installation Figure E2 Participation Table at Pop-Up in the ECU Cafeteria Person using sewing tools, Padlet board screen and QR code displayed on a tablet on the participation table in the background. 98 Appendix E (Continued) Participation Elements for On the Mend Installation Figure E3 Call-to-Action Online Padlet Forum, Accessible with QR Code at Both the Elbow Gallery and at Pop-Up at ECU Cafeteria 99 Appendix E (Continued) 100 Participation Elements for On the Mend Installation Figure E4 Information Excerpts on Clothing Hangers at Elbow Gallery (left) and Pop-Up at the ECU Cafeteria (right) to Prompt Discussion with a Take-Away Pamphlet (bottom) That Includes a QR Code for Online Participation Note. Pamphlet design for a gateway fold pamphlet Appendix F Zine-Making Workshop Materials and Documentation Figure F1 Information/Consent Online Form for Zine-Making Workshop 101 Figure F1 (continued) Information/Consent Online Form for Zine-Making Workshop 102 Figure F1 (continued) Information/Consent Online Form for Zine-Making Workshop 103 Figure F1 (continued) Information/Consent Online Form for Zine-Making Workshop 104 Figure F1 (continued) Information/Consent Online Form for Zine-Making Workshop 105 Figure F1 (continued) Information/Consent Online Form for Zine-Making Workshop 106 107 Figure F2 ECU Research Ethics Board (REB) Letter of Approval Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board (ECU-REB) Research + Industry Office 520 East 1st Avenue Vancouver, BC V5T0H2 +1 604 844 3800 ext 2848 ethics@ecuad.ca CERTIFICATE OF RESEARCH ETHICS APPROVAL The Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board approves the following project: File # 100582 Title Exploring Designers' Perspectives on Sustainable Fashion Consumption Practices Through Zine-Making Principle Investigator: Katherine Gillieson Other Investigators Natalie Chiovitti The current approval dates are: Approval Date September 12, 2024 Expiration Date February 10, 2025 The nature of the approval is as follows: Type of Event New Approval Process Type of Review Delegated Review Approved Documents Application form with “revisions implemented” document; Recruitment Form Information (Sept 9 version); Recruitment Print Poster (Sept 9 version); Recruitment digital graphic (Sept 9 version); Workshop slides (Sept 9 version); Workshop feedback form (Sept 9 version) It is the researchers’ responsibility to meet all research ethics requirements in the jurisdictions in which the research takes place. The procedures and protocols described in this certification must be followed closely. Note the following conditions associated with this approval: • • For multi-site or partnered research, researchers are required to comply with all research ethics requirements that apply. Researchers are expected to share notice of this approval with partners, sites of research, or other research ethics review boards, as applicable. If changes to the approved application and documents are required by new partners, sites of research or other research ethics boards, researchers are required to inform the ECU-REB of these changes. Researchers are required to report anticipated changes, adverse incidents, and project completion for further research ethics review. All reporting is managed through the research portal on the Research Management System Process Pathways Romeo https://ecuad.researchservicesoffice.com/. Login and complete “event” reports for changes, adverse conditions, renewals, and the completion of this research ethics file. This research ethics approval is in compliance with Tri-Council guidelines (TCSP2 2022) and Emily Carr University policies and procedures. Dr. Alla Gadassik Chair, Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board Emily Carr University of Art + Design Figure F3 Zine-Making Workshop Slides 108 Figure F3 (continued) Zine-Making Workshop Slides 109 Figure F3 (continued) Zine-Making Workshop Slides 110 Figure F3 (continued) Zine-Making Workshop Slides 111 Figure F3 (continued) Zine-Making Workshop Slides 112 Figure F4 Instructional Skills Workshops Certification 113 Appendix G Participants’ Zines Figure G1 Participant A (Anonymous): Zine-Making Workshop 1 114 Figure G2 Participant B (Emilia): Zine-Making Workshop 1 115 Figure G3 Participant C (Jefferson): Zine-Making Workshop 1 116 Figure G4 Participant D (Anonymous): Zine-Making Workshop 2 117 Figure G5 Participant E (Anonymous): Zine-Making Workshop 2 118 Figure G6 Participant F (Jonathan): Zine-Making Workshop 2 119 Figure G6 (continued) Participant F (Jonathan): Zine-Making Workshop 2 Participant F (Jonathan) created a map to brainstorm the narrative of the zine 120 Figure G7 Participant G (Anne): Zine-Making Workshop 2 121