“Every design is, in essence, a critique of the context in which it has been produced. Every day I struggle with this thought: do we really need more? Because I am an optimist, the answer is yes. What we need is beauty, original thought, creativity, and awareness.”

I wrote this almost 5 years ago for my 'design philosophy' statement that was mounted beside my grad project on display in Carleton University's Art Gallery. For whatever reason today I am reminded of this statement, while also feeling quite weighed down by my 'latest news headlines' RSS feed, and compounded by the noise of traffic in the rain. What is it that makes something beautiful? As the cliché goes ~ beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Considering how many eyes there are out there - about 13 billion and counting... that's a lot of potential for beauty. Of course beauty has many different definitions and dimensions. It's appropriation by it's own commercialization and fantasization in the media is not so desirable. But beauty is also one of those mindset shifters. A very powerful thing to experience, especially when shared.

We have come so far in the last 5 years in terms of sustainable design, development and communication. And this is still the beginning of a (hopefully) long road.  Sustainable Minds is a relatively new company who recently bought the rights to Okala Ecological Design Curriculum which was written in part by my thesis supervisor Louise St. Pierre. This course was my starting point into the world of sustainable design and is now available to designers everywhere, not just in schools.  Whether you choose to dive into Sustainable Minds, or simply go outside and witness the slow transition of summer to fall, turn on your beauty filter and things may start feel a bit lighter and brighter, even in the rain.