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Designing and building low-carbon websites independently
Summary
What are low-carbon websites and what do they look like in practice? In this conversation, we will talk about creativity within the constraints, how to navigate client conversations when they want resource-heavy designs and how to think about your project’s carbon budget. As a bonus, we’ll get sneak peeks on what happens behind the scenes of a curation site of over 270 low carbon sites and why some of them get removed over time.
Key Insights
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Nick Lewis entered digital sustainability motivated by personal outdoor experiences highlighting climate impact.
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Around 2017, digital sustainability resources were limited, sparking Nick’s self-driven research and experimentation.
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Working in traditional creative agencies, Nick found tension between flashy, heavy designs and sustainable/performance goals.
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Transitioning to agencies with sustainability core values and then freelancing allowed Nick to work with more aligned clients.
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Low carbon web design involves optimizing everything from typography and color choices to reducing unnecessary animations and videos.
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Creative constraints in sustainable design often inspire innovative solutions rather than limiting creativity.
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The Low Carbon Showcase website enforces a strict review process but has removed about 70 previously included sites as their sustainability regressed.
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Most performance and sustainability issues on websites come from heavy videos, large images, excessive JavaScript, and multiple font files.
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Nick is critical of generative AI in creative fields, viewing it as uncreative and energy-wasteful, but sees other AI applications as valuable.
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Nick developed a Figma plugin prototype to help designers identify sustainability issues early in the design process without disrupting workflow.
Notable Quotes
"When I started out, I knew nothing about digital sustainability."
"Designing sustainable doesn’t mean removing everything fun from the web."
"Creative constraints can actually bring out the most creative solutions."
"Clients often want flashy autoplay video even though it negatively impacts performance and sustainability."
"About 70 sites have been removed from the Low Carbon Showcase after regressing in sustainability."
"Most heavy website performance issues come from videos, images, JavaScript, and fonts."
"Generative AI is not creative; it’s just pattern finding and recycling what’s been done before."
"Using generative AI for design risks losing the human creativity that makes design special."
"Be curious, keep learning, and believe you can make a difference in sustainability."
"The Climate Dictionary was built in a couple hours over a weekend, focused on function over form."
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