“The betacup challenge was founded in May 2009 to reduce the number of non-recyclable cups that are thrown away every year by creating a more convenient alternative to the reusable coffee cup. ”

Facts:
The amount of solid waste created and valuable resources consumed throughout the process of manufacturing and drinking coffee is an escalating problem:

* 58 billion paper cups are thrown away (not recycled) every year
* 20 million trees are cut down in the process of manufacturing paper cups
* Amount of water used in the process is approximately 12 billion gallons

From the betacup website

Tangram and Earthcycle Packaging have worked together on numerous sustainable packaging projects and felt that the Betacup challenge would be a great way to share our knowledge of sustainable packaging and materials with other designers.

View our complete entry and many others here:

Earthcycle Home Compostable Coffee Cup

The Solution
Read the rest of this entry »

We are officially viral. -No… not that way.

Last summer Tangram Design worked with DDBCanada and the BC Dairy Foundation developing a series of products for the WeakShop. Well… The commercial for the FoodLift has now hit 175,000 views on YouTube!

Haven’t seen it yet? Check out the hilarity below…

Tangram Design founder and industrial designer Robert Johnston will appear as a guest on Fanny Kiefer’s talk-show Studio 4 on Monday September 22.
Robert will appear with the two other recipients of the 2009 BC Creative Achievement Award Furniture Designer Judson Beaumont and Ceramic Artist Lilach Lotan. Read the rest of this entry »

Tangram Design founder and industrial designer Robert Johnston has received a 2009 BC Creative Achievement Award. Read the rest of this entry »

Tangram Design’s work with Angstrom Power is featured as a case study highlighting strategic design as a valuable business tool in the 11th Premiers Technology Council Report.

“The Industrial Design Advantage” is a supplement to the report and demonstrates the value of industrial design to businesses through case studies and data collected through various international design organizations. Tangram principal; designer Robert Johnston assisted the PTC in gathering information for the report through his work with the British Columbia Industrial Design Association.
The PTC report and supplement outlines the Provincial Government’s commitment to develop a plan for the promotion of Industrial Design as a key component of B.C.’s innovation economy.

Download the 11th Premiers Technology Report (PDF)

Download the Supplement “The Industrial Design Advantage” (1.61Mb PDF)

About the Premiers Technology Council
The Premier’s Technology Council was established in August 2001 to advise the government on issues related to the advancement and application of technology in British Columbia. More information about the council and copies of its reports and recommendations are available on the Premier’s website at http://www.gov.bc.ca/premier/ – follow the links to Premier’s Technology Council.

Tangram Design has formalized it’s continued commitment to developing  products with a reduced environmental impact by signing and adopting the practices put forth by  the Designers Accord.
www.designersaccord.org
The Designers Accord is a coalition of designers, educators, researchers, engineers, business consultants, and corporations, who are working together to create positive environmental and social impact.

Vision
The Designers Accord envisions a creative community where the principles of sustainable design are seamlessly integrated into all practice and production.

Mission
Our mission is to catalyze innovation throughout the creative community by collectively building our environmental intelligence. For this cause, we advocate inverting the traditional model of competition, and encourage pooling knowledge so that all may benefit and build on marketable and sustainable solutions. We believe this will lead to greater innovation.