Tracy (me) standing in front of a gorgeous living wall at Portsmouth Port. The Port is implementing a range of ambitious sustainability measures aimed at becoming the UK's first zero-emission port by 2050 and achieving carbon net-neutrality by 2030.

I hope you are enjoying your Bank Holiday weekend. I’m writing to you from a hot Hampshire, UK, although I am sitting in the coolest room of my home with Newton (one of many rescue guinea pigs I've adopted over the years), as the garden swelters in 29 degrees. This time last week it was almost winter.

As ASP members, I’m sure we’re all aware that climate change leaves us open to extremes in weather patterns, and the UK has gone from unseasonably cold to unseasonably hot in a couple of days. I’ve been a member of ASP for (almost) a couple of years, after meeting Elder Gwyn Jones and fellow member Nick Whitnell at the launch of People, Planet, Pint in Poole, Dorset.

Condensing down my purpose for being here, I’m not a scientist, or a consultant (in sustainability anyway), but a graphic designer with both feet firmly planted in the natural world. As a child, I loved nature, plants and animals (hedgehogs and dormice weren’t as rare as they are now). I also loved watching David Attenborough with my late nan, when we weren’t rescuing spiders from my mum. As a teenager, I had the most inspirational Geography and Environmental Science teachers. I campaigned locally, took part in the Greenpeace Walk for Whales, and had the difficult decision to choose a career path that mattered.

A degree in Graphic Information Design took me to the stunning coast of Cornwall and showed me that I could use my skills to make a difference; design isn’t just about selling stuff people neither want nor need. Information Design can help to instruct and advise when so many are overwhelmed and need an accessible approach, especially when translating complex environmental issues.

After eight years working in agencies where I had no control over who I worked for, I created my solo business, Purplelily Design, which is now 20 years old! A love of colour and nature inspired me to choose my own path and my own values: integrity, accountability, transparency, sustainability and creativity among them.

As my LinkedIn profile states, I create graphic design and marketing strategies for ethical and environmentally sustainable businesses, charities, and educators. I love working with purpose-led organisations of any size, anywhere in the world, that care about how they operate. They value their people, their supply chain and impact. I get to learn amazing stuff in the process.

I’ve supported charities working in homelessness, health, wellbeing, additional needs, animal rescue, education, nature and environmental issues. I’m especially drawn to animal and nature-based charities and love helping them communicate their work with clarity and heart. I’ve also volunteered at an education centre, sharing with visitors about animal welfare when travelling abroad, as well as the practicality of exotic pets (e.g. research on where snakes and reptiles originate, the TLC they need and that they can live for a long time). This is also where I was educated that people matter when working to make a positive impact; a four legs good, two legs bad approach doesn’t work!

In many ways, we are all educators. Learning is a lifelong process, and I have spent most of my design career creating for educators, having also worked within a university. With nearly 30 years of experience, I educate my clients and save them time and money whilst ensuring that projects move smoothly and efficiently to create long-lasting solutions.

As well as being a member of ASP, I’m also an active member of ORB (currently taking part in their Environmental, Social, and Governance course), Creative Space (currently taking a ride on the Heroes' Journey), and business and creative networks locally and internationally. I’m inspired by the business stories of ASP founder Anita Roddick’s The Body Shop, Ray Anderson (Interface), Dorothy McKenzie (author, educator and former agency director) and all those working in business while making a positive impact.

I am always looking to help new clients and causes, so if you know a purpose-led business, charity or educator who would benefit from thoughtful, ethical, accessible design, I’d love to have a chat.