(Editor’s note: our brilliant design columnist has been struck down with some awful form of plague, and has been sent to bed with a mustard plaster and a vat of chicken soup. So in the style of old summer re-runs, we present “Classic Dodson,” casting into the dark backward and abysm of time for a post that’s rather timely, given that our friend Read More
This time of year many of us are thinking about those around us. We gift and bake, mail and deliver. We might volunteer at a soup kitchen or give a donation to a cause we care about. But for the remainder of the year, those holiday contributions and volunteer hours so graciously accepted by non-profits tend to dry up.
One thing that generally annoys me about the media is how just-breaking stories balloon into an all-encompassing sensational cloud, as the most important news story EVER in the history of time, and how when, three weeks later, you hear nothing about it, as if it never occurred. Nada. I was reminded of this phenomenon when the charges were filed last month against BP for the horrific 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oh yeah, that. Read More
As a designer, you often notice visual patterns that begin to saunter across the pop culture and DIY-craft landscape. Before long, some of these motifs start to book it full speed into every corner of Etsy and then inevitably Brooklyn, somehow ending up at Urban Outfitters on a bed pillow. Sometimes it’s a certain style that starts populating (woodcuts, archival-like line drawings, whimsical food illustrations) and sometimes it’s animal, vegetable or mineral.
By the looks of the suburban shopping center parking lot on Saturday, the holiday season has (un)officially begun. This week many of us will celebrate our country’s traditions and give thanks by feasting with friends and family. When you take that plate of gingerbread into work for the holiday party or bake brownies for your neighbor, why not deliver it on a special plate that encourages lucky recipients to “pay it forward”?
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These days, a lot of things are born from (sometimes not so) humble beginnings in the cyberspace realm. The influence of social media on our culture is impossible to ignore. Beyond Read More
Photo by Dodo-Bird.
This week I was tempted to review how the Hoefler and Frere-Jones slab-serif font addition to Gotham fared in Obama’s 2012 campaign design. Or if the Aquafresh-tinged logo of Romney’s brand made an impact on voters going to the polls, but last minute I decided to highlight a lesser-known important debate on the docket. Read More
A dear friend and recent new mother came to visit a couple weeks ago from her adopted new home of the Netherlands, placed there by her Dutch husband’s astronomy career. Two and a half years ago, they were living in Cape Town, South Africa, a stark contrast to the Netherlands in many ways, especially in her experience as an expecting mother in both countries. To her surprise, after her hospital birth in Holland, a personal nurse came to her house for a week after the delivery to help with childcare, motherhood and the many household adjustments that surround starting a family. A boon for any new mom!
Of course, this generous maternal nurturing is a far cry from the norm, even in this country. Worldwide maternal and childbirth related deaths are on the decline, but nearly half of under-five child deaths are newborns. Not surprisingly, 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries. But startlingly, most of these deaths could be prevented. Mothers in poor countries may not have adequate resources or access to health related information about pregnancy and childbirth. Read More
If you’re a fan of witty and intelligent writing, you probably have browsed through a copy of the McSweeney’s literary journal at your local bookstore. Upon further exploration you might have caught wind of the other titles available from the empire that is Dave Eggers—The Believer, Lucky Peach, Wholphin and his own popular works of fiction and non-fiction Zeitoun and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, to name a few.
Photo from 2011 Grant Recipient MICA’s Center for Design Practice work for Real Food Farm.
For over 10 years Sappi Fine Paper North America has sponsored a call for entries for their Ideas that Matter grant program. According to the website, “Ideas that Matter has funded over 500 nonprofit projects, contributing $12 million worldwide to causes that enhance our lives, our communities and our planet. Sappi believes that the creative ideas of designers can have an impact beyond the aesthetic and that those ideas can be a powerful force for social good.”
Image from Scott Santoro’s project for the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault won an Ideas that Matter grant in 2007.
A few general rules outline the guidelines for entry. Grant funds must be used within six months of receipt of award. Any designer, design student, design instructor or design group can apply for the grants, and at least a portion of the communications project has to be printed in some way. These guidelines are easy to adhere to and are relatively generous, however, one caveat caught my attention. The awarded funds (a generous $5,000 to $50,000 per project) can be used to pay for printing, mailing, photography, illustration and other out-of-pocket costs, but cannot be used to compensate the designer for his or her time, computer hardware or overhead.
Now this isn’t unusual as far as “charity” design initiatives go—designers volunteer their time and efforts to help those in need every day. But in this case why should a photographer or printer get paid for their work and a designer not? Is the act itself of doing good, enough? The prospect of having a snazzy, thought-provoking portfolio piece as a form of payment for time spent preparing the proposal, gathering all the information, managing the project and doing the actual design work doesn’t seem quite fair. Any RFP in the design business includes compensation for work accomplished (whether adequate to cover actual costs or not) as part of the mix. I have to wonder if there are some type of labor or tax laws preventing this coverage in Sappi’s case. Maybe a stipulation could define a certain percentage of the grant to be used for a designer’s compensation or overhead costs. The rising cost of computer hardware and software alone are real factors in a designer’s operating budget.
Regardless, Sappi’s Ideas that Matter is a pivotal program and a well-recognized act of corporate social responsibility. Congratulations to the 2012 grant recipients:
Maria Moon
Designmatters at Art Center College of Design
The Los Angeles School District
Michael Osborne & Katy McCauley
Joey’s Corner
Wellspring
Celia Poirier
University of Connecticut
Windham Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc
Tim Ferguson Sauder
Return Design
Kestrel Educational Adventures
Marc Moscato
The Dill Pickle Club
The Dill Pickle Club
Robert Sedlack & Andrea Pellegrino
Sedlack Design Associates & Pellegrino Collaborative
University of Notre Dame, Kgosi Neighborhood Foundation and Pellegrino Collaborative
Douglas Barrett & Matt Leavell
University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabama Innovation Engine
Cahaba River Society
Tony Ong
Fantagraphics Books
826Seattle
David Rager
David Rager Studio
The Ecology Center
Anna Rubbo, Megan Bullock, and Matthias Neumann
Global Studio, Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Columbia University
Global Studio
The IDEO.org team
IDEO.org
IDEO.org
Kenneth Botts
Visual Marketing Associates, Inc.
The Wright Family Foundation of The Dayton Foundation
Esther Chak & Mary-Jo Valentino
Imaginary Office
New Urban Arts