AIGA Detroit Ann Arbor Urban Forest Project
On June 5, 2008, the AIGA Detroit Chapter hosted a reception and silent auction in the lobby gallery of the School of Art and Architecture at the University of Michigan. This event was the culmination of The Urban Forest Project which the chapter initiated earlier in the year.
During the month of May, thirty five banners designed by various visual communication specialists addressing issues of sustainability, ecology and urban living hung along Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor. At the reception, these banners were displayed throughout the gallery, giving the capacity crowd one last opportunity to see the complete collection before the silent auction. All but one of the posters sold, the highest bid being almost $150. In keeping with the spirit of ecological awareness, the crowd of over a hundred guests grazed on a buffet of light hor d'oeuvres, provided by Zingerman's, one of Ann Arbor's foremost champions of artisinal, local food products. Guests also enjoyed a gallery talk by the Ecology Center.
AIGA Detroit intends to parlay this very successful endeavor into a statewide traveling show with Detroit and Grand Rapids as possible future venues. In addition, we are currently pursuing vendors to turn the banners into flashy courier bags that nonetheless fulfill the project's objectives of environmentally-sound design that lives as it educates.
Posted by sustainability in Advocacy, Community | July 15, 2008
Post a CommentComments (1)
Great idea and excellent that the banners had another life after the month of May.
Could someone from the Urban Forest Project inform the design community at large what substrate these banners were printed on?
I have been searching far and wide for a sustainable (either cradle-to-cradle or biodegradable) substrate for banners. I have heard about digital printing on cotton, but not available locally (Seattle).
Please inform if possible.
Barb Rowan
Posted by: Barb Rowan on December 10, 2008