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Project H Design (Anti) Manifesto: A Call To Action For Humanitarian (Product) Design, By Emily Pilloton
I think we can all agree that manifestos are over-written and under-executed. So call this a rant or a pep talk, a sermon if that's your cup of tea, or maybe most appropriately, a call to arms.
Here's the rose-colored glasses version: We need the design world (particularly industrial design) to stop talking big and start doing good; to put the problem-solving skills on which we pride ourselves to work on some of the biggest global issues; to design for health, poverty, homelessness, education, and more.
And here's the brass tacks reality: We need to challenge the design world to take the "product" out of product design for a second and deliver results and impact rather than form and function; to reconsider who our clients really are; to turn our tightly-cinched consumer business models and luxury aesthetics on their heads; to get over "going green;" and to enlist a new generation of design activists. We need big hearts, bigger business sense, and even bigger balls.
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Serious Play 2008 Coverage: All posts in one place!
Check out all of Core77's event coverage of Art Center's Serious Play Design Conference 2008 in one easy-to-browse place. Congrats to the organizers, and good luck with clarifying the "bi-annual" over the next two years!
Serious Play 2008: Art Center Turns on the Fun
Serious Play 2008: Hockenberry and the Space Dudes
Serious Play 2008: Play Study, Places to Play, and Playing With Paper
Serious Play 2008: Google, Second Life and *Magic*
Serious Play 2008: Opening Night Target Party
Serious Play 2008: Tuxedo Travels and Mentos With Coke
Serious Play 2008: John Maeda Rocks!
Serious Play 2008: frog's Crows and Eames' Elephants
Serious Play 2008: Paula Scher, Seriously
Serious Play 2008: How Things Work, Inside/Outside
Serious Play 2008: Bruce McCall, Aimee Mullins and Your Moment of John Oliver
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One Day Paper Waste Furniture by Jens Praet
What can you do with waste paper apart from filling up your dustbin? Jens Praet knows! One Day Paper Waste is a little table/console, obtained by taking shredded confidential documents, mixing them with resin and compressing them into a strong mould... End result: a new interesting object that has the strength of wood.
Every document tells a story. By shredding confidential documents, part of its information remains mysteriously visible. One Day Paper Waste gives new life to these documents, that's the real beauty of this product.
Check out more waste paper concepts at Jens' website (don't miss his "black edition").
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1HDC Winner: THE Olympic Torch
Given political climate, it's tough to know what role design should play in the creation of an Olympic torch. Can such a symbolic object ignite commentary or should it remain as universal as the Games themselves? This month's 1 HDC sparked a participation that was as diverse in form as it was in function. Results were as wide-spread as from Pakistan to Detroit, and as pretty as they were political. In homage to the diversity of Olympic competition, we picked three winners this round. Yup, a Gold, a Silver, n' a Bronze. (Insert trumpet blasts and national anthems here)
GOLD:
A forum fave, the Gold medal is awarded to Soyun's 'Olympic Torch for Mumbai, India.' Inspired by the harmony of Indian culture, the participatory nature of this design can function both on a local and universal level. The shaft neatly houses puzzle pieces from each participating country, added one-by-one as the torch makes it journey through the world. The design is completed as the final piece - representing India - is added upon arrival to Mumbai. A symbol of participation and community, this is a fine representation of the ideals the Olympic games stand for.
Check out our Silver and Bronze medalists here.
>> See all the entries here.
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Local River
Designed for the "locavore," Local River, created by Mathieu Lehanneur and Anthony van den Bossche is a home storage unit for fish and greens. This DIY fish-farm-cum-kitchen-garden is based on the exchange and interdependence of two living organisms - plants and fish.
Here's the dirty stuff:
The plants extract nutrients from the nitrate-rich dejecta of the fish. In doing so they act as a natural filter that purifies the water and maintains a vital balance for the eco-system in which the fish live. The same technique is used on large-scale pioneer aquaponics/fish-farms, which raise tilapia (a food fish from the Far East) and lettuce planted in trays floating on the surface of ponds.
Simply put, now you can have your fish, lettuce, and eat 'em too! The ultimate goal of Local River is not just decorative, but functional too -- serving as an aquarium/refrigerator it allows fish and greens to cohabit until .....um.....dinner time rolls around.
On view at Artists Space from 25 April to 21 June 2008.
Check out more pix here.
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RSS Alert: New Gallery up at Core77: Material Xperience
From recycled chewing gum to transparent concrete, Core's materials addict, Aart van Bezooyen, inspires us with the look and feel of Material Xperience 2008. This four day event in The Netherlands (April 23-26) showcases the latest materials for architecture and design.
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Whitepaper on Design & Sustainability
Established late last year, DesignTalks is "the online community for the UK design and manufacturing industry, and the ideal place to debate the hottest topics of the moment. As well as providing an online debating environment, we also produce whitepapers and other resources designed to help manufacturers get the best from designers - and vice versa."
Their latest whitepaper is on Design & Sustainability and can be downloaded, free, here.
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Smart / Models
Smart / Models is a one-day event scheduled for Saturday May 17 at the Times Center in NYC. The conference will feature presentations by five design firms describing their five different business models. According to the web site, the day will cover 'the overlap between smart design and business smarts." Sounds like you'd be smart to register while there are still tickets left!
Cool poster design by Sam Potts!
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LG Chairman "gets" design, puts his money where his mouth is
Good news for designers, or 700 of them, anyway: LG Corp has announced they're expanding their focus on design. With a steadily increasing design budget--US $77 million in '06, $88 million in '07, and nearly $100 million this year--and a recently formed LG Design Committee, the South Korean conglomerate is expanding their design staff from 640 to 700 designers. Chairman Koo Bon-moo's "design-first management philosophy" is said to be driving the surge.
LG is probably best known outside of Korea for their mobile phones and appliances; what is not well-known about the company is its history.
LG claims that it was the first Korean company to introduce the concept of industrial design in the 1950s. Started as a cosmetics maker, the group has been considered to have more feminine qualities among Korean conglomerates, compared to Samsung and Hyundai Group that are based on heavier industries such as cars, ships and construction."Design does not only mean visual beauty. It has become a crucial factor in improving the value of people's lives," the group said in a statement. "With sustainable investment in design, LG will focus on creating unique designs that can lead the lifestyle of customers."
via korea times
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Cooper Hewitt's National Design Awards winners announced
The winners of Cooper-Hewitt's 2008 National Design Awards have been announced. This year's first prize and two runners-up in the Product Design category were all New-York-based firms: Antenna Design, Boym Partners and Karim Rashid. To see the winners in all of the categories (Architecture, Communications, Fashion, Interior, Landscape, Design Mind, Corporate Achievement and Lifetime Achievement) click here.
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Touch Diamond Smart Phone
San Francisco based studio One & Co have collaborated with the HTC design team in Taiwan to create the HTC Touch Diamond. The irregular back facets are a trend we've seen in recent contemporary architecture and furniture providing a highly recognizable design element.
Close-up pics here.
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Interview with exciting speakers designer Kurt Solland
iLounge has a great interview up with Kurt Solland, Design Veep over at Harman International. Solland is the man behind JBL and Harman Kardan speakers like Champagne, Creature and On-Stage, and was one of the first to successfully move computer speakers from beige boxes into something that actually investigated design. In the interview Solland's not only forthcoming with his design philosophies and intentions--he's provided a bunch of his sketches as well. Click here to read.
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Fish in a Barrel: Steven Heller Deconstructs "Design Patois"
The puff-tastic sameness that pervades the language design firms use to promote themselves has bugged us for a long time, but leave it to Design Observer regular Steven Heller to finally take the gun to this particular barrel of fish.
In a wickedly precise article on the AIGA website Tuesday, Heller gives a bit of history on the relationship between designers and the written word, and then steps back to let modern design firms (attempt to) speak for themselves. The results are horribly familiar, and raise the excellent question of how it got to be this way.
The list of samples is long and telling; we dare you to read all the way through the list without either glazing over or dissolving into a giggle fit. A few choice entries from section one: Happiness Is a Warm Client:
* The process begins with analysis, immersion into the client's situation in order to define the true problem. * Our primary concern is with our client's success in their business. * The basic need of most clients who come to us is to fulfill a business function. * Our primary concern is to solve the client's communications objective. * Our goal is to meet our clients' visual communications needs by applying an approach based on discipline, appropriateness and ambiguity. [huh?]
Read the full article here.
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Core77's New York Design Week Guide 2008
And finally here is the first cut of our definitive guide to this year's ICFF and New York Design Week. We'll be updating the list regularly this week with the best exhibits, parties and events, so check back often and refresh your browser!
And If you're putting on an event that's not listed, drop us line.
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Special thanks to Aart van Bezooyen for his contributions to this weeks newsletter!
Please share the Monday Morning Must Read with colleagues, clients and collaborators. Many email programs do not forward messages in their original format, so please use this link: http://www.designdirectory.com/blog/newsletter
Email us your feedback and comments. We are looking for stories, case studies and global news on where and how design can make the difference.
