Introduction

I am sitting at my desk, scrolling through the seemingly infinite number articles on Google which have been written to address a newfound cure for the negative mental and physical side effects related to working indoors. There is a potted plant on my desk and a picture of a Californian forest on my computer’s desktop. I close my eyes tightly for a few moments and then open them again, hoping that the fuzziness in my vision will go away. Lately, I’ve been feeling a deep longing to be out in nature.

I’ve been sitting behind my computer for 13 hours today. I can’t work outside because I don’t have access to any power outlets or Wi-Fi connection and I can’t see my screen due to the glare of the sun. I made this quick Google search out of curiosity as to how I could curb this distracting thought that’s been on my mind.

It is reassuring to know that I am not alone in feeling remorseful of working so much indoors; this seems to be a predicament that has long plagued the workforce. For quite a while now, people have sought nature alternatives as society has continued to urbanize and wild places have become more difficult to access. Something innate within us seems to drive this search.

Increasing urbanization has resulted in new, parallel natures set indoors, which simulate ‘the real thing’—a hyper-real—in odd and uncanny-valley like ways. What fascinates me is that the most impressive of these likenesses seem to be located in the heavenly billion-dollar glamorous workplaces of thriving high-tech industries, which aim to attract skilled workers and keep them as happy, creative and productive as possible.

Where is nature to be found?

It survives by instinct. It is the anti-thesis of design. It is pure. It was our first home. I believe that designers must reach out to the wilderness as a tool to reinvent the profession. Graphic designers must learn to rewild themselves for the wellbeing of society and of the planet.