August 25, 2008 • 8:45 pm 0
In conjunction with NYTimes.com, the AIGA’s Ric Grefé and Jessica Friedman Hewitt have developed an interactive demonstration of how good ballot design can improve the voting experience.
Filed under: On Graphic Design, On People, On Social Design, On Society, AIGA, Ballot, communication, Design, Good Design, Graphic Design, How Design Can Save Democracy, Jessica Friedman Hewitt, NYTimes.com, Ric Grefé, Typography, User Experience, Voting
August 22, 2008 • 1:04 am 0
Deborah Szebeko, Founding Director of Thinkpublic has been shortlisted for the British Council’s UK Young Design Entrepreneur Award 08.
Illustrating the power and potential of using design thinking to tackle some of the UK’s greatest social issues, Deborah and the team at Thinkpublic have helped make significant improvements to communications and patient experiences in the NHS.
“We are faced with a growing amount of social challenges, including an ageing population, social exclusion and global warming to name a few. Designers need to adapt their skills to play a role in helping solving these challenges. Not by designing posters or products, but by using their skills to involve people and communities in the problem solving process. Together we can understand how we can solve these big issues and design sustainable, useful and usable solutions that work in different households, communities, regions and counties.”* – Deborah Szebeko.
Alongside 5 other UK entrepreneurs Deborah has been shortlisted to the top six finalists. The winner will be announced at 100% Design, on 19th September 2008.
Filed under: Art & Design, On Ethics, On People, On Social Design, On Society, Award, British Council Award, Design Entrepreneur, Design Thinking, Entrepreneur, Improvement, NHS, Social, Social Change, UK, UK Young Design Entrepreneur Award 08
August 21, 2008 • 10:07 pm 0
Calling design students to use their creative thinking skills to address the global fresh water crisis, the AIGA, INDEX, Circle of Blue and New York design firm Collins have collaborated to launch the first annual Aspen Design Challenge, ‘Designing Water’s Future’.
Filed under: On Graphic Design, On Sustainability, AIGA, Aspen Design Challenge, Designing Water's Future, INDEX
August 19, 2008 • 8:25 pm 0
The San Jose Business Journal has reported that Stanford University and the Hasso-Plattner-Institute have announced a $16 million research collaboration that will investigate “design thinking”. “The methodology that melds an end-user focus with multidisciplinary collaboration and iterative improvement to produce products, services or experiences.”
Filed under: On Research, On Social Design, On Sustainability, Co-Design, Collaboration, D.School, Design Research, Design Thinking, Standford
August 17, 2008 • 8:28 pm 1
I have just rediscovered Collective Lens, an online network promoting social change through the use of photography. This is such a fantastic idea, that I hope more people get involved with. The website has a whole wealth of forums, articles and photo essays to explore. To get involved, you can upload a photo or a nonprofit organisation and help raise awareness to important social issues.
Filed under: Art & Design, On Ethics, On Social Design, On Society, Collective Lens, photography, Social Change, Social Design
August 14, 2008 • 2:58 am 0
When it comes to positive psychology, emotional intelligence and well-being initiatives, the standard of contemporary design and communication is often quite poor. However, with a confident and ‘funky’ identity, thanks to the design team at MultiAdaptor, InnerRevolution.com has set a new visual standard.
Designing tools and experiences that facilitate positive learning, creativity, motivation and inspiration, InnerRevolution.com is a project hosted by Elemental WorldWide, a socially focused company that gives 24% of its profits to charity.
Filed under: On Graphic Design, On Social Design, Charity, communication, Humanity, Inner Revolution, MultiAdaptor, philosophy, psychology, Social Design
August 13, 2008 • 10:41 pm 0
Missouri based designer and illustrator Frank Chimero has produced a great collection of ‘inspirational design posters’. I have returned to these workds countless times over the past week, consistently thinking how suitable they would be to support social projects. The posters are now available to buy online. It would be good to know if the profits are going to a social cause?
Filed under: Art & Design, On Graphic Design, On Social Design, Frank Chimero, Graphic Design, People Ignore Design That Ignores People, Posters, Social Design, Visual Communication
August 13, 2008 • 8:49 pm 0
IDEO have launched a brand new website. I am very impressed and yet to exhaust all the information within the site – this is certainly worth a look.
Filed under: On Graphic Design, On Social Design, IDEO, IDEO.com
August 13, 2008 • 8:38 pm 1
The New Orleans 100 (NOLA100) is a worldwide initiative founded by AllDayBuffet that “hopes to highlight and encourage discussion among millions about 100 of the most innovative and world-changing ideas to take root in the city since Katrina.”
To combat top down media during the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, AllDayBuffet hope to leverage bottom up tools on the social web (email, blogs, twitter, facebook, digg, etc.), which can reach a combined audience of millions to raise awareness about New Orleans and inspire action to make a difference.
A list will be released on Monday, August 25th – the week of the Hurricane Katrina anniversary. The goal is to reach 1,000,000 pageviews by August 29th. So, sign up to the Newsletter and you’ll get an email on August 25th of 100 world changing ideas to discuss.
I am interested to see how this develops, if the challenge is met and what projects arrive in the inbox!
Filed under: On Social Design, 2008, anniversary, ideas, Katrina, new orleans, NOLA100, social media, Social Networking, The New Orleans 100, world changing
August 6, 2008 • 2:29 pm 1
When scanning the RSS feeds, emails and articles there are few static visual elements able to stop me still. Last night however, in a focused search through Flickr for humanitarian related photography, I discovered the unique work of Polish born Maciej Dakowicz. For the third issue of the inspiring NEED Magazine, Dakowicz has visually captured a story about HOPE organization helping children in Kolkata, India.
Dakowicz currently lives in Cardiff, completing a PhD in computing and freelancing as a photographer. Do take a moment to explore his work at MaciejDakowicz.com.
Filed under: On Ethics, On Social Design, On Society, Maciej Dakowicz, NEED Magazine, photography, Photojournalism
August 4, 2008 • 11:50 pm 0
Over the last month, I have been helping Simon Berry (CEO, ruralnet|uk) promote his latest idea, and what an idea it is! “ColaLife” is a campaign aiming to leverage Coca Cola’s distribution muscle to distribute life saving medicines to children in developing countries. The idea is so simple, but until now has been difficult to evolve. The power of web 2.0 and social networking media however, has allowed Simon to digitally document his progress and to build a digital support network to develop the campaign.
“We can distribute Coca Cola all around the World but we can’t seem to get medication to save a child from something as simple as diarrhea and I think that that is wrong.” (Annie Lennox)
Since the launch of the campaign and due to the power of a Facebook group, Simon was invited by Salvatore Gabola, Coca-Cola’s Global Head of Stakeholder Relations, to a meeting to discuss the idea further at Coca-Cola’s European HQ in Brussels. The campaign’s Facebook group has reached over 3,890 members since its inception on 18 May 2008. It was nominated for the NewStatesman’s New Media Award in June and showcased at London’s 2gether08 festival on 3 July. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: On Ethics, On People, On Social Design, On Society, On Sustainability, Aid, Children, coca-cola, coke, ColaLife, Creativity, Kate Andrews, simon berry, social media, Social Networking
