The Change

The Change was founded by Jerry Stifelman, who had previously worked as a brand strategist, creative director and writer for leading brands, including MTV, Banana Republic, DKNY, Mountain Dew, Sprite, Chrysler, Jeep, Sun Microsystems, Puma and Reebok. After a decade in this traditional advertising biz, Jerry, took his talents and skills to the more sustainable and greener side of marketing and assembled a crack team of designers, activists, writers, book keepers and hippies in his quest to change the world. The Change works with a diverse range of brands and organizations including Mozilla, Burt's Bees, Larry's Beans, World Bicycle Relief, Co-op America, TS Designs, Self Help, Fair Trade Resource Network and Canaan Fair Trade.

When and why did your firm become interested in environmentally friendly graphic design? The Change has always been committed to only doing work that makes the world fairer, greener, and truer. From Fair Trade coffee roasters to solar energy installers, our clients put social and planetary well-being at the heart of their brands. The impetus for The Change came via our founder, Jerry, who had worked with major brands like Puma, JEEP and Bank of America. Jerry realized that his core skill was in conveying truths that resonate deeply with people - a skill much in demand by companies wanting to portray a feel of authenticity. But a feel of authenticity is just that, a feel (aka a lie). By working with companies and groups whose very reason for existing is to make the world better, we get to move beyond that feel and to communicate more deeply.

Are the thrust of your efforts internal — i.e., changing your own office practices and policies — or external — i.e., developing 'green' design solutions for client projects? Both. As a virtual company our impact is already much smaller. But we're still pretty geeky about reducing our own footprint - from eliminating commuting, to offsetting unavoidable travel, to car-pooling to meetings. But our real positive environmental impact lies in the services we offer our clients. From sourcing green printing and minimizing paper waste to advising on carbon offset initiatives or developing partnerships with non-profits, we like to take a holistic, whole-brand perspective. So while printing a catalogue sustainably is important, we'd much rather first ask the question of whether that catalogue is necessary in the first place.

Can you tell us in a little more detail about the internal or external changes? In particular, can you give us an example of a 'green' project you have done for a client? Most recently we designed Burt's Bees first ever Corporate Social Responsibility report — from the beginning it was obvious we needed the production of the report to be squeaky clean. So we worked with Cary Printing, a recognized environmental leader, to establish a layout that minimized paper waste, and to source the most sustainable paper and ink options possible. We worked with the company to make it as compelling and inspiring as possible, and we produced a wallet-sized information card that readers could take with them to compare the ingredients of personal care products claiming to be natural — thus creating pressure on other brands to follow Burt's Bees lead.

Can being 'green' help you in your marketing and sales to gain new projects or clients? Absolutely. People living in consumer cultures are increasingly experiencing a crisis of meaning — they want something more than just more stuff. If you have a reason for existing beyond making money, you are not only more likeable, but your product or service is more trustworthy and probably better quality too. Take Larry's Beans, the Fair Trade Organic Coffee Roaster we work with — Fair Trade doesn't just help them help farmers — it also makes their coffee better because they get to know the farmer intimately and work with them year in and year out to improve their harvest. The same goes for our brand creation and design work — because we know, understand and care about the issues our clients face, we can get to the core truths that underly their good-for-the-world activities. We also have a better time doing it.

As a practical matter, does the economic slowdown effect make it harder to be 'green.'? Absolutely not. For companies whose very existence is based on sustainability, there's not a question of changing course — green is simply who we are and what we do. And while certain aspects of going green, namely flashy solar panels and expensive hybrids, can be harder to justify when budgets are tight, sustainable business is really the only way to get us out of the mess we are in — a mess that was largely created through wastefulness and thoughtless reliance on fossil fuels.

TS Designs, one of our clients, is a classic example. TS Designs was a successful North Carolina t-shirt printing company with contracts for GAP, Nike and many others. Then NAFTA came along and wiped out 90% of their business overnight. Instead of throwing in the towel, TS Designs decided to try something different. They moved to 100% organic cotton, made-in-America t-shirts; they developed an environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional PVC screen prints; and they even installed solar panels and started growing food for their employees. Now they are growing steadily and are the t-shirt printer of choice for most prominent green businesses. And with energy costs putting increasing pressure on the global economy, many of their decisions are now looking pretty darned smart.