Responding to current economic, social and environmental crises, London’s NEF (New Economics Foundation) are this month running “The Bigger Picture”, a series of creative activities and events, exploring the possibilities of ‘a new kind of economy’, an economy which is low in carbon and high in well-being.
The event series culminates in a large-scale, public “Festival of Interdependence” in central London on 24 October 2009 when an interactive, living exhibition will be staged in the dramatic post-industrial setting of the Bargehouse on London’s South Bank. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you a design student or graduate finding it hard to access or find your place in industry? Well, with over 185,500 [1] design practitioners in the UK alone that’s not surprising!
“For the designer to become a producer, she must have the skills to begin directing content, by critically navigating the social, aesthetic, and technological systems across which communications flow.” - Ellen Lupton, 1998. The Designer as Producer. [2]
Earlier this week I stumbled on By/Association, the latest in a line of social innovation projects from alldaybuffet.
“Innovation is an emergent phenomenon that happens when a person or organization fosters interaction between different kinds of people and disparate forms of knowledge.” — Murray Gell-Mann
‘By/Association seeks to reinvent the traditional notion of “networking” by enabling substantive interactions and long-term relationships. By/Association is for people who want to make their lives, ideas, and networks richer by meeting other remarkable people. It’s not about getting help with your current need or project. It’s about connecting to people that make you better — to inspire more action, better ideas, and new ways of seeing the world.’
For all information about memberships, visit ByAssoc.com
Pitched to be this year’s most talked-about climate change film, The Age of Stupid is a new movie from director Franny Armstrong (of McLibel) and producer John Battsek (of One Day In September). In this epic tale, Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
On Sunday 28 June 2009 at London’s Conway Hall, Alice Rawsthorn (design critic of the International Herald Tribune, columnist for the New York Times and a leading authority on contemporary design) will host a ’sermon’ at The School of Life entitled “Alice Rawsthorn on Good Design”.
Founded by More Associates Director Luke Nicholson, Kept is a new movement celebrating the “stuff” that can be kept in the world, stuff that isn’t rubbish. “Together we will help the people who still design and sell rubbish to embrace the change”, he explains.
Of course, we are in the throes of a worldwide recession, and we also face the urgent global crisis of climate change. Most of the new materials we take out of the ground to drive our economy are rubbish just one month later. This makes a huge contribution to both problems. If we’re going to ’spend our way out’, we shouldn’t be buying products that are designed to go into landfill.
Most of the stuff we can buy today is rubbish, and it was designed to be rubbish. Literally. Now, that’s not easy for us to say; we invented some of it, designed some of it, photographed it, advertised it, wrote about it, composed music for it and in the end we went out and bought it. Kept has been started as a way to make things better. Companies have to make products and services that meet our needs without extracting virgin materials from the ground, and without creating systems that routinely bury products that still have life in them. This will help them – by using fewer materials and less energy in clever ways, they can actually become more financially successful.
Kept represents anyone who wants to have great stuff in their lives, and who wants stuff to be better. Kept will be working with companies who care about the stuff they make, and wouldn’t want it to do harm. And will help government to understand what they can do (or not do) to bring about the improvements we all want.
To get involved, Kept is asking you to tell your stories and share what “things” you value and cherish. Submit your stories about the things you have kept, big or small, by visiting www.kept.it or if you use twitter just add #kept to your tweet!
You can follow the project news @keptintheloop and please join the project the Kept Facebook Group where we will be raising questions and sharing news, insights and debate.
Asking how technology, globalisation and sustainability will impact the creative sector? And, further, how they impact the education sector? Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication presents the 2009 Cumulus Conference: ‘Confronting Challenge with Change’ at the O2, on 27 – 30 May 2009. Key note speakers include Lord David Puttnam, Dr Angela Dumas, Sir Ken Robinson, Prof. Robin Baker OBE and many other industry and education leaders.
After being diagnosed with a life threatening disease, Washington based artist and illustrator Eric Smith set up We Live Now, a project consisting of a growing collection of quotes, thoughts, stories, lyrics, creations and other various mediums that pursue the idea of living now and inspiring each of us to grow, live meaningful lives and be happy! “Our lives are only in the moments right in front of us.”
The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future, which will have its world premiere in London on March 15th 2009 and then be released in UK cinemas on March 20th 2009, followed by other countries. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055, looking back at archive footage from 2007 and asking: why didnt we stop climate change when we had the chance?
On April 30th, in the heart of London, four students from London’s Ravensbourne College of Design will present Blank Canvas, a silent auction of customised design work by the likes of Milton Glaser, Ken Garland, Non-Format, Jonathan Barnbrook, Si Scott, Julien Vallee, James Goggin, Graphic Thought Facility and many more!
Blank Canvas is an event organised by the students on the BA (hons) Design for Moving Image and Graphic Design course to raise funds for their graduation show. They will be sending a list of top designers and illustrators random items, found in various jumble sales and charity shops across London (anything from an old teapot, to a rusty cog, to a vintage suitcase). They will then be asked to customise these items to then be collected and put to auction on April 30th at the Vibe Bar on London’s Brick Lane.
Brilliant idea guys, I’m looking forward to seeing some old stuff made new!
Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman speaks on the MIT campus in a talk entitled The World is Flat 3.0, where he discusses the 2007 update to his bestseller The World is Flat and provides a preview of his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded.
As many of you will know, for over a year now, I have spent a great deal of time mentoring graduate designers and creatives, offering them advice, connections and often helping them to gain working placements. Today, one 2008 graduate forwarded me news of a new social enterprise that’s been launched in North London. Consurgo is an initiative that gives exciting opportunities to design students and graduates through a range of pioneering schemes such as portfolio reviews and remote placements. Brilliant, schemes like this are vital.
In this short video Dr Deepak Chopra, renowned physician and best-selling author, suggests how the environmental crisis stems from humanity’s flawed perception of reality. “The earth is your body, the air is your breath… There is a single reality”, he comments. See the full video at Big Picture TV.
‘Dance’, the latest Saatchi & Saatchi commercial for T-Mobile, was filmed at 11am on Thursday 15th January 2009 at London’s Liverpool Street station and aired less than 48 hours later. Although (to us savvy users of Web 2.0) flashmobs may not be a new concept, when I saw the smile on my fathers face as he saw this ad on friday night, I realised how such a simple act of community collaboration (and dance!!) can add a little bit of happiness to the daily routine of the commuter. Wonderful – I love how the elderly lady joins in at the end too!
Having founded the company Adaptive Eyecare in 1996, British inventor Joshua Silver has embarked on an ambitious quest – to offer glasses to a billion of the world’s poorest people by 2020. Full news report at the Guardian.
Whilst learning about David Berman and his new book ‘Do Good Design‘ I came across this speech, which he gave at the 2006 Icograda Design Week in Hong Kong.
Launched late last year, UsNow is a documentary film by Ivo Gormley, that set out to explore the political power of social media collaboration. With thanks to John Walters, you can read my full review over at Eye Magazine today.
On Tuesday 3rd February, creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson will take to the stage at BMI IMAX in London, to give a lecture on “The Element”, the title of his forthcoming book on creativity, education and human talent.
“Sir Ken will draw on personal stories from a wide range of people – from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to renowned physicist Richard Feynman – showing how all of them came to recognise and utilise their unique talents. Sir Ken will outline how every one of us can find our element, connecting with our true talents and fulfilling our creative potential. He will give you a detailed account of how you can instil this practice into your organisation, making sure that the right people are in the right jobs, and with maximum motivation.”
All guests will receive a complimentary copy of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Sir Ken Robinson, published by Allen Lane (RRP £16.99). To book your ticket visit the London Business Forum and find out who else is going on Facebook.
Back in December 2008, I interviewed Lea Simpson, co-founder of Unchained, the online guide to independent shopping in London and New York. Behance Magazine have published the interview today, so do take a look to find out more!
Following the first seminar with Stephen Bayley, the school of Graphic Design at London College of Communication are holding the second event of the series, a presentation by students on the MA Design Writing Criticism course.
Please join us on Wednesday 4th February 2009, from 5:30-6:30pm. There will also be a general talk about the postgraduate courses at LCC from 4:30-5:00pm. Room locations will be provided by the guides at the door. The event is ‘free’ but advanced booking is recommended.
Early this month ICOGRADA’s David Berman launched his new book “Do Good Design: How Designers Can Save the World”. Unlike other socially or ethically dedicated design texts Do Good Design is focused on advertising, brand and graphic design.
“Design matters, like never before. Designers create so much of what we see, what we use, and what we experience. In this time of unprecedented environmental, social, and economic crises, designers will choose what their young profession will be about: inventing deceptions that encourage overconsumption – or helping repair the world. Today, everyone is a designer. And the future of civilization is our common design project.”
Discussing the emerging need (and trend) for social and service design, Alice Rawsthorn has this week published Creative Solutions in Tough Times, a prominent feature for the International Herald Tribune.
“Another question is whether designers are ready to respond to these challenges, as “service” and “social” design involve very different skills to conventional design practice. The 20th-century notion of the lone “designer-hero” (there were depressingly few “heroines”) shaping his projects from start to finish was always illusory, but the new approaches to design require far greater collaboration, not just with fellow designers but with experts from other disciplines like economists, social scientists, anthropologists and programmers too. Designers also have to make the leap from a material culture where their work generally had a definitive outcome, such as an object or image, to one in which they are applying design thinking to analyze problems and develop solutions that are neither visible nor tangible. Read the rest of this entry »
If you had to tie a red balloon to your favourite thing, what would you tie it to?
As part of her undergraduate project Douceurs, post graduate service designer Lauren Currie, (a.k.a Red Jotter), took a dozen red balloons to a park in Edinburgh, and to encourage traditional communication between the public asked people she met to tie them to their favourite thing. Read the rest of this entry »
In collaboration with the Samaritans, talented photographer Hege Sæbjørnsen is organising ‘Affluenza’… THE exhibition. With an aim to promote “creative self-expression as a powerful tool to develop an understanding of ourselves and the world around us”, an exhibition of works from over thirty international multidisciplinary visual and performing artists, “…aims to inspire an open debate about the destructive impact of consumer values on our emotional well-being and our integrity as human beings.”
The call for artists has been launched, and entries will be selected by a prominent panel of judges, including Jonathan Barnbrook, ‘Affluenza’ author Oliver James and the Design Museum’s Michael Czerwinski.
The deadline for submissions is 30th January 2009 and the events are scheduled to begin in March. For full details about the project visit AffluenzaExhibition.org, and you can also join the exhibition’s group on Facebook.
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On Tuesday 3rd February, creativity expert 
Early this month ICOGRADA’s David Berman launched his new book 
