Rebrand Reuse: Designing the Future, One Symbol at a Time

April 16, 2025

Cybelle Jones

At SEGD, we believe design is about enhancing the human condition—through systems, environments, and experiences that shape how we live. We also believe that with the mounting urgency of our climate crisis, design must move beyond “one-and-done.” Reuse is essential to creating a more sustainable world.

A Global Call to Action

I’m honored to serve as a juror for Rebrand Reuse, a new global design initiative led by PR3—the Global Alliance to Advance Reuse. This initiative seeks to identify a universal symbol for reuse that can become part of a global labeling standard and inspire a cultural shift away from single-use materials.

This is not a competition. It is a call to action—a collaborative movement bringing together designers, sustainability leaders, and institutions around the world to establish an icon for the next generation. A symbol that will appear on reusable cups, food containers, stadium walls, consumer goods, wash facilities, even vehicles—helping people quickly identify what is reusable and how to keep it in circulation.

SEGD’s Role in the Movement

At SEGD, we’ve long championed the role of symbols in changing behavior. Our organization led the development of 56 universal healthcare symbols, in collaboration with Hablamos Juntos, to make hospital navigation more equitable and understandable for patients with limited English proficiency. That work was rooted in research, user testing, and impact—just like this initiative.

We’re also deepening our own commitment to climate-conscious design through the work of the SEGD Sustainability Committee, who are building new resources and tools for the design community. This year, SEGD Voices will feature conversations with design leaders innovating in reuse, resilience, and regenerative systems. And in 2025, we are launching a new sustainability recognition category within the SEGD Global Design Awards to spotlight projects that model environmental responsibility in built environments.

Personally, this initiative also resonates with me as a parent. When my daughter was touring colleges, she chose the University of Oregon in large part because of its visible, tangible commitment to sustainability. It was in the architecture, the materials, the signage—the lived culture of the campus. That’s the power of design. When sustainability is embedded into our built environment and everyday choices, it shapes mindsets and decisions.

Shaping Culture Through Collaboration

I’m joining a 15-person panel alongside leaders from design, fashion, sustainability, and culture, including:

• Karen Short, Global Executive Creative Director, Accenture Song/Droga5
• Cameron Russell, supermodel and activist
• Denica Flesch, Indonesian fashion entrepreneur and economist
• Cressida Bowyer, Revolution Plastics Institute
• Marco Cimatti, PepsiCo
• Dylan Siegler, Universal Music Group
• Leyla Acaroglu, The Unschool of Disruptive Design
• Marianne Mensah Soulez Lariviere, BESIGN/CIEL
• Roger McClendon, Green Sports Alliance

Together, we’ll be reviewing proposed concepts and helping select a symbol that will be integrated into PR3’s Reuse Labeling Standards—an open-source system designed to support a circular economy at scale.

Reuse can eliminate up to 90% of packaging production and 80% of emissions compared to single-use alternatives. That’s a massive shift—and one that requires more than new systems. It requires shared meaning. It requires design.

Join the Initiative

Submissions are open now through May 31, 2025. I encourage designers, students, and changemakers in our SEGD community to explore this initiative and help shape a symbol that will serve generations to come.

At SEGD, we’re proud to support this global initiative and will continue to champion sustainability, not as an add-on, but as a core design principle.

Let’s make reuse visible. Let’s make it second nature.

The OneClub For Creativity, a non-profit designed to support and celebrate the creative community, is hosting the submission portal and website.