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”.
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.”
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.
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.
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 »
Last Tuesday the UK Design Museum announced the nominations for the 2009 Brit Insurance Design of the Year award, including a nomination for the first EVER service design project to be included in the awards – The Social Innovation Lab for Kent (SILK), by Engine.
SILK is a project and a platform Engine have been developing with Kent County Council (a local government authority in the UK) that helps users and providers of public services create better services together using design tools and processes.
Read the full story at Engine and see a video here.
In collaboration with IDEO, The Guardian newspaper have launched “Inspire and Innovate”, a column focused on innovative thinking and innovation. This exciting partnership and its discourse is evident of how creative processes, thinking and methods are valuable to social and economic arenas.
In preparation for The Real Work Experience workshops later this month, last Thursday nine graduate and undergraduate designers took part in an engaging afternoon of workshop training!
Arriving at the thinkpublic studio from Bristol, Brighton, Bournemouth, Glasgow, London, Kent and Leeds our leading designers are each running workshops on Friday 21st November to explore what young designers need to enable them to use their skills for social causes. Read the rest of this entry »
The latest video from the UK Design Council has wonderfully captured the essence of design. Ambitiously entitled ‘What is Design?’ the video illustrates the simplicity required to explain the nature (and power) of design to the masses.
On Friday 21st November, final year and graduate designers will run simultaneous workshops up and down the country, in an exciting stage two of The Real Work Experience.
Exploring how designers can play a role in social improvement, we are asking young designers to consider what “The Real Work Experience” could do for them? Could it be an online network that bridges the gap between education and seeking (socially engaged) work? Could it be a mentoring program, or a regular series of events that discuss design’s wider potential? What do designers and graduates need, to be able to use their skills to tackle social issues? What does a movement toward socially responsible design look like to you? Read the rest of this entry »
On Friday evening, as part of the magnificent Greengaged hub of sustainability events (at London’s Design Council), a series of leading speakers will debate; “Should we believe the hype? Green Marketing, spin and substance.”
In 2007, 70% of the US’s GDP was generated from consumption. UK household waste has been growing by 2% – 3% per cent a year. The average shopper in the developed world shopper adds 3 tonnes of CO2 to their carbon footprint by simply buying stuff. Products and services are clicking on to the big sell of green. In the climate of economic down turn how can we create behaviour change in consumers who are bombarded by advertising and bored of green wash.
Chaired by Lucy Siegle from The Observer, the speakers include: Ed Gillespie (Futerra), Sophie Thomas (thomas.matthews), Stewart Rassier (Saatchi & Saatchi S), Richard George (Plane Stupid), Chris Sherwin (Forum for the Future), John Grant (author of The Green Marketing Manifesto).
To join the debate visit Greengaged.com and book your place! Kick off is at 6.30pm.
With the 2008 London Design Festival only a matter of days away, it is with great respect to read ‘Scenes of Graphic London’, an editorial piece written by Teal Triggs (Professor of Graphic Design, University of the Arts London). Highlighting the importance of Graphic Design to the UK capital, Triggs beautifully captures a timeline of the UK’s most iconic work, and intelligently pays respect to the changing faces of its future. You can download the full article from the London Design Festival website.
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Early this month ICOGRADA’s David Berman launched his new book 
