MA Design for Communication

The first design group I will talk about are a brand named Village

Village are a Swedish brand that have recently launched at Maison & Objet and everything in its collection is being crafted in Northen Sweden. Their product range involves lines in wood, concrete leather, textile, limestone, cast iron glass and a few other materials. With products using all these kinds of various materials one could wonder how their ethics are portrayed or how socially responsible they are with the kind of craftsmanship they posses as a company.

From my own findings it is clear that they practice good ethics, 'the concern for the planet and its resources as well as the importance of natural, honest materials, heritage and local craftsmanship are at the heart of their manifesto, as it advocates the importance of taking the time to craft long-lasting, valuable items'. This demonstrates to me that they do care for the planet which I think is admirable, at times they may not be using 100% natural material or resources but do in fact take a great pride in the concern of the planet and the usage of it's resources in manufacturing their own items. Personally I think Village hold quite strong ethical values as a company, not only that but I found the products that they create to be quite interesting it feels like it has a IKEA type of finish to some of their products, then again Village is also in the same country.








The second group I will talk about are a company called Tala

Tala are a UK based lighting brand company, who are committed to accelerating low carbon economy with designs that are classic and refined yet sustainable. Their manifesto or mission is to create elegant products that have a positive impact on the world.

All of their components are eco-friendly as their LED lights mimic the old fashioned incandescent bulbs in both colour and look. One of the strong ethics they practice that I came across on their site was that Tala as a brand commit to planting 10 Native trees in the UK for every 200 lights sold. Giving back, what they have taken from the earths natural resources and I do quite strongly value that as a consumer. I personally think that is a great example of having and practicing high ethical values especially for the fact they are a lighting brand company. At the end of the day (literally) we all need light in order to see, we are dependent on such a thing in order to go about our ordinary living, but I'd imagine we'd never begin to think how much electricity and energy we use when we turn on an ordinary bulb. But with the usage of LED lights not only are they energy saving bulbs that last longer than your average light bulbs but quite importantly LEDs are completely recyclable.

'When you purchase a Tala light you're investing in our ethos. This is represented in every detail, from the packaging down to our tree planting programme. The Tala Ten Trees programme pledges that for every 200 units sold we plant 10 trees, making our product truly carbon-negative'