Making room for circles
Sometimes the work that matters most starts with the simplest question: how do we show people what's possible?
I spent these past months designing publications for Circular Wallonia, which sounds straightforward until you realize you're translating policy documents and economic theory into something a person might actually want to read. The challenge wasn't just making things look good. It was making circular economy thinking feel less like an abstract concept and more like something happening right now, in kitchens and workshops and bicycle repair shops across the region.
The work became two digital publications showcasing local businesses doing the quiet, brave work of changing how they operate. There's a food truck using reusable containers instead of disposables. A bicycle repair program keeping bikes (and their riders) on the road longer. Soap makers working with local vegetable oils, closing loops we didn't even know were open.
What stayed with me wasn't just the variety of solutions, but how design became a kind of bridge. Each visual choice was a choice in service of making these stories feel tangible, specific, less like theory and more like Tuesday afternoon.
Beyond the deliverables themselves, this project reminded me of something I think we've lost track of in all our talk about sustainability: the quiet, daily practice of repair. Of reuse. Of reimagining what we already have.
I'm grateful to Möbius Business Redesign for trusting me with work that matters, and to the patient collaborators at IDEA Consult, ICEDD, and SPW Wallonie who kept me on track (and kindly tolerated my broken French).
