The current presidential campaign is a case in point that decisions about how to communicate an important message often matter nearly as much as the message itself. Advocates of sustainability, as exhibited by the editors at Gestalten, are figuring that out, and what we have in response are new options for bicycle and car-sharing transport systems, home gardening kits like the one sold by ALLOTINABOX, and denim brands that make their products with reduced water amounts. One hopes that the message is resonating.

If the opinion polls and surveys are ever going to reflect a renewed concern for the environment, activists would do well to follow the advice of Klaus Töpfer, formerly the director of the UN’s Environment Programme: “Traditional messages from governments and green groups urging the public to adopt the environment into their day-to-day decisions need to be overhauled,” he wrote back in 2005. “One needs to consider not only what to communicate, but how to communicate it.”

Properly conveying a vision for the future is a key aspect to rallying members of the public in the pursuit of it. The visual messages seen in Cause and Effect often exemplify some of the best methods for one day realizing that vision.