Post Growth - Tagoro
Brief & What is Post Growth?
For this unit, I worked with Amy Gupta, Gianna Gonzalez-Watterson and Mollie Holyoake. We were tasked to envision a world without fossil fuels, and use our assigned object to imagine a society in a Post-Growth world.
The term Post-Growth focuses on the idea that our current path of economic growth is overtaking the planet’s ecological and natural limits.
To create a sustainable society, we need to reduce economic output and the use of resources, like energy, materials and emissions.
This means cutting back on some of production and consumption, either by choice or necessity. Post-Growth prioritises taking care of people’s well-being and the planet instead of just making the economy bigger.
Tagoro's Purpose & Context:
To inspire a lifestyle rooted in harmony with nature, where communities thrive by supporting all living beings and promoting sustainable practices that nurture both Tagoro and it's people.
Families are a powerful audience for Tagoro because they shape the habits and values of future generations, creating long-term impact.
Engaging both children and parents creates shared learning experiences, bonding, and a collective commitment to building a sustainable, harmonious lifestyle.
Post Growth Toolkit Game
Using the Post-Growth Toolkit to start off our ideas. We took a further deep into our object Wood/Forest. Provided with 3 Notion Cards, Global Artificiality, Ecosystem Services and Interspecies Commons.
We started to base some ideas off the notion cards, and discussing where they could fall under on the Ten Pillars of Capitalism.
Toolkit Game 2
Global Artificiality was put under Short Termism where we discussed using renewable power such as wind, water and solar.
Interspecies Commons was under Individualism, talking about how we could reduce roadkill and allow animals to “live” with people (homes built with habitats).
Wood/Forest Ideas Mind Map
Ecosystem Services under Regeneration, creating a ‘natural city’ living in harmony with wildlife, and where nature is also thriving.
Initial ideas:
For our ideation, we wanted to further develop our ideas for ‘Natural City’ from the Post-Growth Toolkit session. We discussed on what to mainly focus on and decided to have 3 ideas of potential ways to create an outcome for our object Wood/ Forest.
Global Artificiality - Electric Public Transport
Helps remove traffic and limiting CO2 emissions caused by build up of vehicles. Adding turbines along paths / tracks to produce energy from bike/ train wind.
Interspecies Commons - Shared Pathways
For humans and animals (coexist). Different levels - animals can move freely between habitats without disturbance. Humans can be in nature and still connect.
Ecosystem Services - Rooftop Gardens & Micro-Farms
Habitats for birds, bees and other animals. Building is self-sustaining, insulated windows means less energy wasted. Local grown veg, what isn’t grown can be sourced from micro-farms. Less waste and reduces mass farming.
Tagoro's Imaginary:
For our Imaginary, we wanted to create a Post-Growth World, where communities thrive in nature, prioritising sustainability and renewable energy to create healthier societies.
Creating the Cycle of Benefit, through Education to Workforce, to benefits of the environment and benefits to the population.
Empowering people to care for their environment, teaching the importance of environmental stewardship, as we improve the planet, we better our well-being.
Cities are reimagined as ecosystems, uniting urban and natural. ‘Redesigned’ to creating safe and livable spaces for all species, especially the ones at risk.
A dedicated workforce focuses on taking care of and protect these systems. Ensuring habitats are vibrant, pollution stays minimal and cities continue to coexist with nature. This interconnected, eco-friendly world acknowledging cohabitation between humans, animals, and plants, creates a sustainable living future for all.
Branding Ideation:
During our ideation session, we looked into brand naming, our values, adjectives, personality and our what, how & why.
As a group, we was looking forward to the branding side of things bringing our ideas to life.
Even though we thought we found our brand name Habitat, we later found out its already been used as a brand name (Habitat - Sofas, Furniture and Lighting).
This led to rethinking our brand name and further research resulting in Tagoro (Guanche for a ‘natural meeting place or circle’). Which resonates with our values and what we could vision as our Post-Growth Future.
Branding Experiments:
For research, I started off by creating a mood board that represents our ideas for Tagoro. I decided to use the Colour Palette Generator from Adobe Colour on my moodboard images to then pick out potential colour ways.
Here our some of my logo variations towards our brand Tagoro.
As our object is Wood/ Forest, using my moodboard and colour ways from my research, I wanted to incorporate that into my logos.
Presenting Tagoro as a brand for it’s eco-friendliness. Adding tree and leaf elements to show nature, growth and life.
Messing with type to create welcoming, organic designs which reflects the values of sustainability in Tagoro.
Reflection:
This part of the unit was moving onto creating a brand identity for our Post-Growth concept, Tagoro.
I found this phase exciting because it allowed me to focus on the design and ideation processes that I enjoy most, due to my interest in branding and identity. Exploring on how to communicate visually our story and values was a creative challenge. Being hands on with designs was enjoyable, and imagining how the brand could engage our audience and remaining true to the Post-Growth principles.
However, I wish I had created more mock ups and sketches to document my branding process. Having more visuals would have helped refine my ideas and made my branding stronger, making it easier to present my concepts clearly. One of the biggest challenges for me was presenting my work in front of an audience. Sharing my ideas during the presentations that was done in class and at Imagination in London was daunting, as I do struggle with public speaking. Additionally, the project gave me an opportunity to improve, and I was proud to share my ideas in a setting I wasn’t comfortable in, improving my presenting skills and confidence.
Overall, I found this project very engaging, especially having the chance to ‘work’ with Imagination and working on visual and conceptual elements. This experience taught me the importance of preparation and being thorough in the documentation of my design process, as they contribute to the final outcomes. While presenting remains a challenge, this project was a start that helped me see it as an opportunity for growth.
This assignment allowed me to showcase my creativity, while encouraging to develop areas where I feel less confident and creating a more detailed design process of my final outcomes. I enjoyed working in collaboration with my group, especially during the visual branding of Tagoro, it was a fulfilling experience that built up both my design skills and my ability to communicate ideas.