'snot just about the hanky

I had this sudden thought last week... actually maybe it wasn't that sudden... but I had a realisation that being a graphic designer isn't really doing much to help the world out. (Or at least not in the ways I would like.)

I have a friend who recently left to be a doctor in Cambodia for year (that's you Chris) and another who has just spent a couple of months in Sri Lanka planning ways to build communities (and you, Jacqui)... In the last couple of weeks I've done two logos, a style guide and thrown in a couple of brochures and a newsletter for good measure. Sure it's made someone happy to have a good looking business card but it's just not the same thing.

One of the things that concerns me most at the moment about the environment is excessive packaging and the way we are so dependent on consumable items. Check out The Story of Stuff below if you want to know a bit more about the life cycle of products (scary stuff!).



So, I thought I'd start small and give myself a little project...

The humble tissue. There's millions of the buggers out there that get one use and then tossed. (Not to mention the shear annoyance when one manages to turn a load of washing into a snow storm). So I thought I would design a set of hankies, complete with days of the week, to combat (or help a little) with this problem.

I wanted to keep them pretty graphic and simple, using typefaces that relate to how one might feel on a particular day of the week. Below are the typefaces I have chosen so far.







My eventual plan is to screen print these on to hankies that I would sew up. Potentially on an organic cotton... I was thinking maybe some subtle colours as well.

I'd love to hear if you think the days suit their typeface or if there's something else you might suggest. (I'm trying to avoid Comic Sans so don't even go there :)