TEDxStLouis Rewind: Sarah Aman on Designing for Impact

Growing up on 22 acres of fields and forests in western Michigan, graphic and exhibit designer Sarah Aman found her inspiration in nature and art. Her fascination towards animals and their environments fueled her desire to preserve, protect and share it with everyone.

Our family depends on your family

It was not nature that is in trouble, but it is us. Nature has been there long before us and will be there after us, even with changes. Humans are social species; we are looking for each other and looking for behavioural cues to follow.

Design is a powerful tool for impact

Sarah used art as a way to give voices to what she cared. She explored the possibilities of using her skills to the cause she loves as a graphic design student in college and then later a career in design.

Collective change starts with individual action

No matter what field you are in, no matter what opportunities you have, start the change within yourself then expand to family, classmates, your community. Start with one thing, then do one more, and soon it will extend. It’s about the reusable bag you bring to the store, and the person behind you notice and pick on the behavioral cue.

Company’s first ‘green team’!

Sarah gets to work with clients such as zoos, aquariums and science centres who share the same passion to create change. She is happy that she can contribute to something that can trigger thousands of people to make little change in protecting the nature and its wildlife. But it is not only faceless people she wants to use for change, she wants to suck co-employees in too and went ahead to form the first green team in PGAV.

Three times as heavy as a Tyrannosaurus Rex!

If we were to divert one pound of trash, per employee, per day, we have the potential impact of diverting to divert 19 tons of waste from landfills. Three times as heavy as a Tyrannosaurus Rex! It’s all about the hundreds of actions that follow.

You can be the stone that starts the ripple

“It’s about future generations who deserve a chance to fall in love with nature like I did,” says Sarah. According to her, actions ripple outwards, and they intermix and amplify until those ripples turns into waves of change. “You don’t have to be responsible for the entire wave. You can be the stone that starts the ripple”.