Category

Design

Oct 31
0

MAMA Knows Best

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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

Oct 24
0

A Digital Storefront for a Literary Vanguard

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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.

Read More

Oct 17
0

Ideas, Photos and Printing Matter, But Execution Doesn’t?

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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

Oct 10
0

Seeing Clearly

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This past Sunday evening I caught a glimpse of 60 Minutes on CBS between switching out loads of laundry and general domesticating. It was a short, expose segment on Luxottica, the Italian eyeglass-wear company that pretty much has a monopoly on the eyewear market in the U.S. Luxottica not only owns Pearle Vision, LensCrafters and other boutique eyewear shops, it also owns Sears and Target Optical, and Sunglass Hut. According to the report, they manufacture glasses for numerous brands, slapping a money-making Prada or Chanel logo on the side. And did I mention they also own Ray-Ban and Oakley brands? By owning the top eyewear retail outlets and producing the majority of the glasses themselves, Luxottica can set prices as high as they wish. I personally don’t wear glasses (yet), but it shouldn’t cost $300+ to see things clearly.

Enter Warby Parker. Funny name for a company that was started by four guys who gave a damn at Wharton Business School. Warby Parker (WP) is an alternative to the mall-store set, offering frames and prescription lenses for a reasonable $95. Total. That’s it. WP creates their own designs and sells them directly to the customer through their website and storefronts.

So where does design and social value come in?

  • First, the design thinking behind this venture plays a large part in WP’s success. They saw the need to change the way people typically purchase eyeglasses and an opportunity to offer pairs at a reasonable cost. Can’t make it to one of their twelve showrooms? No problem. WP will ship you (for free) five pairs of glasses to try out for five days and a postage-paid box to return them in. It’s UX gone 3D.
  • The combination of stylish product design and good website design sets the company apart from the competition. By the look and feel of their site, it’s probably accurate to say most of their customers are young and hip, but that doesn’t mean grandpa wouldn’t look sharp in snappy tortoiseshell frames.
  • Check out their 2011 annual report. A well-designed interactive infograph approach to their end of year report gained them major popularity points. “We thought some people would find it interesting, but it was retweeted 2,000 times and led to our three highest consecutive day of sales–even more so then when we were in CBS Sunday Morning or the New York Times,” co-founder Neil Blumenthal told Fast Company in this article.
  • And then, of course, is their blatant mission to do good. For every pair of glasses sold, WP provides a pair to someone in need. WP also partners with non-profits to train people in developing countries how to start their own glasses-selling business. Their solid commitment to sustainability as a business has garnered them a certified B Corp designation by B Lab.

A huge driving force for our entire founding team has been this concept of really being a force for good in the world,” says co-founder David Gilboa in this Fast Company article.

Turns out, design + entrepreneurship + doing good = a profitable success. Who’da thunk? (A book on this topic currently on my Nook wishlist is “Start Something That Matters” by Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS shoes.) I’d like to see more businesses that embrace this model come to life in the very near future. Backing sporadic philanthropic efforts here and there doesn’t have the same impact on consumers as it once did, and can come across as a mere PR stunt. Consumers now have access to company information that might not have been so transparent before. One doesn’t need glasses to make the right choices.

Oct 03
0

The Hidden Link

By | Design, Social Media | One Comment

(Photo by tcp909.)

Let’s talk about something near and dear to my heart. Hot dogs. Yep, you know you love ‘em. Whether it be a homemade weiner with kraut from Binkert’s or a dirty water dog sporting mustard and neon-green relish, hot dogs rank pretty high on my favorites list. So it really struck me when I heard Candy Chang talk about one of her many design for change projects, a Street Vendor Guide  for New York City’s ubiquitous food cart vendors. She spoke last Thursday as part of the Mixed Media Lecture series hosted by the Center for Art Education and the MICA Graphic Design department.

Chang describes herself as an artist who wants to make cities more emotional. She is a TED Senior Fellow, a Tulane Urban Innovation Fellow, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and was named a “Live Your Best Life” Local Hero by Oprah Magazine. By combining public art with civic engagement and personal well-being, she has been recognized for exploring new strategies for the design of our cities in order to live our best lives. More of her biography can be found here.

We choose what consumes our hearts. The world becomes more rewarding when you look beyond what you’re searching for. —Candy Chang

Chang worked with Rosten Woo and John Mangin of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) and Sean Basinski of The Street Vendor Project to make the Street Vendor Guide an accessible and understandable presentation of important regulations. They found that many vendors were receiving fines of up to $1,000 for small violations that could easily be avoided. Taking a look at the old regulation documents, however, one could easily see how the information was getting lost in translation, often quite literally. Chang designed a new vendor guide that depicts the safety rules and street regulations in easy-to-understand illustrations accompanied by text in Bengali, Arabic, Chinese, English and Spanish. It also includes policy reform recommendations and personal vendor stories. Guides were distributed for free to thousands of street vendors and are available as a download from the CUP’s Making Policy Public site.

This is just one example of how Chang’s work has shifted a microcosm. Her other work is equally inspiring, crossing the intersections of public art and urban planning, design and communication. One of her more recent projects is Neighborland, an online tool about real places that stemmed from her I Wish This Was public art installations. It promotes community discussion about ways to improve common spaces and connects like-minded citizens with an emphasis on pooling resources. The website encourages residents to speak up about what they want to see change in their city. Prominent street signage encouraged people to also text their ideas to the site, allowing conversations and grass-roots efforts to oscillate between the screen and real world. This unique project is an example of how the gap between the online world and reality can be bridged. I think future efforts to further explore the possibilities of this connection between technology and community will become cutting edge innovations in social change.

Sep 26
0

525,600 Minutes of Fire

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Sometimes things we intend to do (no matter how earnestly) somehow get pushed off the to-do list and fall into a dusty corner. That’s usually where design for good ends up—a smoldering ash in a fire fueled by deadlines, paying clients, administrative duties and, well, work. We set out with the best of intentions and then shiftily look at our feet when asked about our progress on outside projects or what we’re doing to make a difference.

That’s why it’s impressive to me that a design and branding agency makes the case for spending an entire year with a pro bono client. That’s enough time not only to ensure that the creative work gets accomplished amidst other surprise deadlines that inevitably pop up, but also time enough to establish a strong rapport and fully understand the client’s needs. Cayenne Creative, out of Birmingham, AL, selects one lucky non-profit annually and goes all out. Furthermore, they partner with select vendors to offer discounted services to the organization. They begin with a laundry list of all the sorely-needed communications projects and tackle them starting with the most important. This is part of their F.I.T.B. Initiative, aptly named because of the passion behind the flame, the “fire in the belly” that sparks Cayenne’s creative thinking and their mantra for why they do the work they do.

Think about how much more effective you can be when you focus all of your energy in one direction, versus trying to spread it out. — Cayenne Creative

In 2010, Cayenne selected Birmingham Education Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to improving Birmingham’s schools, for their F.I.T.B. Initiative. The work won them several local, regional and national Addys, as well as recognition in the latest September/October 2012 Communication Arts design annual. It’s eye-catching and vibrant—a fresh approach for a conventional cause.

Our goal was to humanize the foundation by calling it “Ed,” and to inspire people to engage, to raise their hands, to say, “I have the answer. I am part of the solution. I am Ed.” The red desk became an icon, a guerrilla tactic, and a way of creating a cognitive link to the campaign.

I see this year-long collaborative process as a win-win for both non-profit and design studio. The pros are many. The agency doesn’t have to spend all the precious billable hours on pro-bono work crammed into 3 months, rather, the work can be spread out over a longer period of time. Which in turn, allows for a more extensive, polished final product. And let’s face it, a lot of firms do social value work on the side because it’s an opportunity for creative freedom and a chance to win a prestigious industry award. Better work is bound to come out of a longer courtship.

There are great design firms out there currently doing work 24/7 for the greater good. And while very admirable, it’s not realistic for everyone. So what is the best business model for incorporating work with social value with the bread-and-butter clients? Should it be a separate entity that thrives alongside everyday projects? Can it be incorporated seamlessly into everyday workflow as second nature? Or is it about giving ourselves a pat on the back and a trophy in the conference room?

A year long commitment to a project that might not pay the bills is a stretch for any agency. But it’s one worth taking. It might just be the fuel that your belly needs.

Sep 19
0

The Election Connection

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It was over twenty years ago when Madonna wrapped herself in an American flag in the first PSA (watch it here) for the Rock the Vote campaign. I’m not sure what I was doing in 1990, but I definitely don’t remember seeing that. I do recall, though, other celebrity and musician endorsements popping up on MTV while I licked nacho-cheese Dorito dust off my fingers. Hard to believe they have been at it for so long. If you can handle the optical assault (did the RTV web designer not get the memo that white type on a black background is not a good idea?), I recommend reading the Rock The Vote history timeline on the website. RTV made huge strides in youth electoral participation by introducing the register by telephone number option and later, online registration for young voters. Today, Rock the Vote is still rocking out, now partnered with data research organization Young Voter Strategies, and is actively road tripping to universities and colleges across the U.S., as well as launching initiatives like getting Virgin America to offer in-flight voter registration and teaming with XBOX to offer easy voter registration while gaming. Clearly, they are finding alternative ways to reach their audience by making voter registration a seamless integration with what teens are already doing.

Millennials are the fastest growing, most diverse generation in our nation’s history, accounting for nearly one quarter of the electorate nationwide, outnumbering seniors this November. By 2016 this group of young people is predicted to make up nearly 33% of all actual voters. —RTV website

Rock the Vote’s method for moving the masses is straightforward: We use music, popular culture, new technologies and grassroots organizing to motivate and mobilize young people in our country to participate in every election, with the goal of seizing the power of the youth vote to create political and social change. In the golden age of music videos, these campaigns were spot on. Are these methods still the most effective when it comes to engaging the most ADHD-riddled demographic of today?

A less popular national youth voting campaign (as of this writing, I VOTE has 262 followers on Twitter) is getting the word out via “viral videos/PSAs and interactive social media.” It’s called I VOTE, and you can view the video spot directed by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Jessica Sanders below.

It brings a lot of women’s issues to light but let’s admit, it’s a little creepy. According to their sponsor site, “I VOTE will establish this dialogue [among the younger generation] by tapping into an extensive nationwide network of A-List creatives to produce fresh, original content that resonates with younger voters. Filmmakers, actors, artists, photographers, and musicians will lend their talents to give voice to the issues facing us in 2012 and the youth will listen….and talk back.” I wonder if these additional endorsements will be in the same “scary issues” vein as the first video and what millennials will have to say about them.

Regionally, two MICA students have launched Don’t You Want To?, a youth voting campaign with the hopes of getting young people involved as citizens and participants in our democracy. “We hope to use design to go where grassroots organizing and volunteer based registration campaigns cannot,” they proclaim on their Facebook page. Not really sure how that works, but I like the sound of it! The orange and blue are fresh takes on the usual presidential color palette.

The video promises candidate cheat sheets, posters, buttons, online resources and t-shirts, the latter of which I found to be questionable in their messaging. Shirts have slogans such as “Let’s Get a Booth” and “Pull My Lever”, as well as, “Stuff My Box”, “Give Me An Election”, and “Take My Poll” (complete with silohuetted pole dancer). Say what?

I know, I sound like a grandma when I say times have changed. And they have. The web has made information on candidates and election-sensitive topics (biased or not) readily available to those who seek it. And youth-centric issues are hot buttons on the election agenda this year—student debt woes, unemployment and health insurance, even same-sex marriage debates. Once shielded viewpoints now fly freely across the transparent twittersphere. To stand out and engage millennials in this realm, register to vote campaigns do have to kick it up a notch. But that doesn’t mean we should cheapen the message and resort to low-brow, off-color humor. The right to vote is a gift and should be taken seriously. I have to agree with ‏@janekleeb:

Cross the Party Line, cute http://dontuwant2.onlineshirtstores.com/  The rest of the shirts are ridiculous. Stuff my box?! Young voters better than this.

Sep 12
0

A Trio of Powerhouse Design Conferences

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Fall is here and it’s time to get your learn on. As a lifelong learner and information sponge, I wish I could clone myself to take advantage of all the goodness out there. Opportunities flourish in the classroom and out, and sometimes a short conference is all you need to get inspired to put good ideas into action. Students especially have many opportunities to attend, often at a reduced rate. Here are three upcoming design conferences with an emphasis on social change and the value of design in business. Check them out.


A Better World By Design, September 28-30, Providence, RI
Cost: Students $45, Professionals $275, single day passes available

The Gist:

A Better World By Design takes place on the campuses of Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. The goal is connecting multidiscipinary professionals and students to promote a socially-conscious global community.

The conference centers around the student Better World Challenge (submissions for this year are now closed). This year’s challenge is all about the digital divide and connecting the disconnected to the powersurge of information available through technology. The winner receives a $1,000 stipend towards implementation of the idea and is automatically placed into Dell Social Innovation Challenge’s semi-finalist round for a chance to win $50,000. Check out last year’s finalists and winners in this video.

Speakers include:

Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
Cheryl Heller, American designer and brand strategist
Dr. Timothy Beatley, internationally recognized sustainable city researcher and author

Topics include:

Panels on Design Policy
Urban Farm Tours
Studio Workshops

Fun Factor:

Celebrating it’s fifth anniversary this year, ABWxD is hosting a birthday shindig on Friday night with a stationary bike race, photo booth, bike-powered DJ (whatever that is), and food trucks with local eats and drinks.

Design-O-Meter:

Looks to be a great student event with a focus on collaboration and social change. Intimate setting and refreshingly affordable.

Why It Matters:

ABWxD focuses on bringing together individuals from around the globe to collaborate on social design issues. Not to mention RISD is a hub in itself of design and innovative thinking, with president John Maeda at the helm. A completely student-organized event, ABWxD strives to create impact by thinking globally and acting locally. Connecting the student body to the professional one is paramount in strengthening design education, and this conference is a leader in building those socially-conscious design relationships.

GAIN, AIGA Design for Social Value Conference, October 9-10, San Francisco, CA
Cost: AIGA Student Member, $425, AIGA Professional Member $475-850

The Gist:

From the website:
To be relevant in today’s economy, businesses must think about more than just their bottom line. At “Gain” you‘ll hear design, business and social innovation leaders from a variety of industries share their visionary approaches to creating social value.

Presenters will demonstrate the broadening role design plays in institutional strategy, leadership, process and service, product and message, and how the creative attributes of designers provide special advantages to tackling socially relevant projects and enhancing the human experience. Build value for your brand and strengthen your business practice at “Gain.”

Watch presentations from the 2010 Gain conference here.

Speakers include:

William Drenttel, designer and publisher, Winterhouse
Patrice Martin, co-lead and creative director, IDEO.org
Justin Ahrens, principal, Rule29
Robert Fabricant, vice president of creative, frog design

Topics include:

Negotiating and Contracting for Pro Bono Jobs
Implementing Social Change
Successful Grantwriting and Fundraising

Fun Factor:

Roundtable discussions with specific industry experts, opening night reception, you’re in San Francisco!

Design-O-Meter:

The preeminent professional’s conference with the big name speakers to prove it. Top of the heap schmoozing but you’ll probably have to work (and pay) for it.

Why It Matters:

AIGA recently revamped their membership pricing structure to be more affordable, and is adapting to meet the needs of those in this rapidly changing profession. The crème de la crème speakers at this event make the case for the value of design throughout business and messaging, something that is essential in today’s marketplace. The emphasis is in exploring the role of the designer in the professional space, rather than under the safety umbrella of academia, which is of particular interest to me—integrating social value as part of a holistic approach, not pro-bono work designers are supposed to do on the side.

DesignThinkers Conference, Nov. 8-9, Toronto, Canada
Cost: Before Oct. 9, non-RGD members (Canada’s semi-version of AIGA) $525, student member $175, single day and deluxe tickets available

The Gist:

This is the 13th year for Canada’s largest design conference and is part of an event-full design week in Toronto. The theme is The Sacred Order of Alternative Ideas with the Latin motto finire cogitationes ad infinitum, meaning, limit your thinking to the limitless.

Watch this video for highlights from last year.

Speakers include:

David Butler, VP, Innovation, Coca-Cola Company
Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg
Stefan Sagmeister, Co-founder & Creative Director, Sagmeister & Walsh
Glenn John Arnowitz, Director of Global Creative Services, Pfizer

Topics include:

How to Market with Content Workshop
In-House Q&A with Julia Hoffmann & Glenn John Arnowitz

Fun Factor:

Studio tours, an opening party, “Teaching to See” film screening, a PechaKucha night, and a student portfolio workshop with Bryony Gomez-Palacio

Design-O-Meter:

Has been on my radar since I saw last year’s speaker lineup. Combines relevant topics with additional activities.

Why It Matters:

RGD is a professional graphic arts organization much like AIGA, however, they set design standards and designate those who qualify as Registered Graphic Designers (R.G.D.). Members must pass a standard examination of accreditation. How does this change the profession and value we put on design? Are designers more revered for having this accreditation and does it help raise overall awareness?