Harry Pearce and Nat Hunter turn up the sustainability for D&AD annual

The pair were approached by D&AD president Simon Sankarayya and asked to take a ‘radical approach to the annual’, according to Pearce who with Hunter sought to address ‘the weight and make-up of content’ of the book.

Hunter says ‘Sanky wanted the most sustainable annual ever.’

The book has been produced in a way that has reduced its carbon emissions by 82 per cent, ‘looking at every stage in its lifecycle,’ says Hunter.

Hunter says the print formatt was chosen over a digital version ‘because of the way people use it. They refer to it for decades and it’s been going for 49 years.’ She adds, ‘Digital still lives on massive servers – print isn’t dead.’

Hunter worked with publisher Taschen on printing and sourcing materials.

Avoiding any ‘indulgent design,’ dividers were scrapped, the pages reduced and materials and cover stock sourced with less environmental impact says Pearce.

‘A restrained look’ is applied throughout so ‘graphics take a back seat’, says Pearce, who has developed a cover image by creating a 3D cast of the original D&AD logotype, designed by Alan Fletcher.

Photographer Richard Forster captured a shadow cast by the model, ‘which shows the elevating beauty of the letter-form,’ Pearce says.

The D&AD annual 2011 will be unveiled on 2 November.