Design 21: Social Design Network

the following is an anonymous demographic take from 20 mothers of different race, religion, income as well as their geographic location (i.e. neighborhood.)

One of the questions on my survey ask parents/focus group participants to mark their household income, write their zip code as well as their/their child's ethnicity. All the mothers who marked Caucasian (except for one) listed their household income at $150,000 + annually. The latter were either Latino/Hispanic, Asian or African American with an average income of $50,000 - $100,000 annually. The mothers who make $150,00 + annually (and it should be noted that that option was the highest listed multiple choice) all live in Manhattan (Murray Hill and the West Village to be exact). When asked how much they valued my individual products the average was $45.00 to $55.00 for either set of building blocks or a blanket.

The mothers remaining, who took the same survey and were participants in the same way, live in either Queens, Long Island or Brooklyn. One is a resident of New Jersey. When asked to value the individual products their average came to $10.00 to $15.00. That's a difference of approximately $30.00. Also, of the above mentioned mothers, only have have a college education, one only completed high school in Columbia and is here illegally. These mothers also have children who are deaf.

My target customer is first and foremost parents with Deaf children (specifically Hearing parents of Deaf children). My secondary mar...

“Social Character National Competition”

This contest was the result of an action promoted by the Brazilian Department of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and Solidarity University (UNISOL) with the support, among others, of the UNESCO Monumenta Project. This contest was directed only to undergraduate students.

The main purpose of this initiative was to incentive the insertion of design in deprived segments of society and its popularization through the promotion of socio-environmental awareness and the inclusion of disadvantaged communities in the productive processes.

Sixty three projects, from undergraduate students of twelve states, were submitted to appreciation. For the category "Vehicle for Collection of Recyclable Material" only eight projects were chosen, including two from students of the FUMEC University .

Sivuca Project Team participants (Undergraduate students of Industrial Design Course): Bruno Godoy, Eduardo Barros, Felipe Freitas and Francisco Emmanuel; Professor Coordinator: Eliseu de Rezende Santos.

Note: The prototype was developed with the financial and technical support of the University FUMEC. It was donated to the community of scavengers of paper (Contagem/Minas Gerais, 2006).

Just thought that this was interesting. The most popular first word/sign the children of deaf parents I have interviewed so far say that their baby's first word (or among there first words) is moose. MOOSE?!?!?!

One reason for this phenomenon is that the sign for moose is relatively easy and is perhaps the most basic gesture an infant can make. Infants have poor eyesight the first few months after birth and can only see close up (within 18 inches approximately) as well as only high contrasted images. For this reason parents are often up close and in their child's face, talking, cooing, playing, touching, etc. Among these activities the parents hands aren't tied behind their backs. Their hands are kinetic (in Deaf parents more so than Hearing parents).Put yourself in a situation (hypothetically) where you are asked to interact with an infant. Chances are you may very well bring your hands to your face and try on a few funny faces. This is perhaps the easiest way of describing why children sign moose early in their communicational development.

Secondly, because of the ease for signing moose, Deaf parents often incorporate it among other signs such as 'mom', 'dad', 'all done' and the manual alphabet (signed alphabet).

For future reference, I will include on my survey a question regarding the child's first word/sign.

Best, Michael

I met with a friend, Christian, the other day at his house for Easter. There I met his wife, brother, brother's wife, and his two adorable little girls Brooklyn (3 y/o) and Remy (13 mos.). They were like most all little girls, talkative, excited by new company and wanting to engage me in every aspect. Both know American Sign Language, bits and pieces, and they are fully hearing.

Amy, their mother, started teaching Brooklyn ASL when she was 6 months old and benefited quickly after. She used signing aids such as Baby Einstein Movies and books to teach Brooklyn the basics such as 'eat', 'more', 'no more', 'hat' and 'milk'. Brooklyn could successfully communicate basic ideas and thoughts to her parents at 11 months old before she could do so verbally. This isn't because speaking is harder than sign language, but because the vocal chords are not fully developed yet; another reason why sign language is beneficial as a platform for communication.

When Remy was born, ASL was immediately implemented.At 13 months old, Remy can tell her parents she is hungry, whether she wants more soup and baby (this is perhaps the most popular sign I have seen so far). Remy is now beginning to speak. What I found most exciting and interesting is that her parents talk 'up' to her. That is, instead of mimicking her baby talk and gurgling, they talk to her as though she is an adult. There are many theories for and against this. This is a common practice among Deaf parents and their children. Baby sig...

When it comes to bragging every living soul on earth knows that a huge, sound, concrete subject will get more attention than aiming its work on less charming ones. One can be in the front page of the major mainstream newspapers of the world if he (or she) shows gallantry and even a certain aura of Don Quijotism by defending the blue whales with an old joyfully coloured tug against the sailors of gloom in their gigantic death vessels. Ok. It is nice, helpful, brings out visibility to the fight and strategically intelligent when it comes to the awareness of common people all over the world to the environmental cause. Also it is charmy and helps to rescue a certain romanticism through the beau-geste, sounds like the good cause. Notwithstanding we all know how deep and wide this fight can be and the myriad of different subjects attached to fighting this good fight. Major challenges are right in front of our everyday´s eyes, from extreme poverty in shantytowns to the constant advance of the agricultural boundaries towards fundamental biomes, from the destruction of entire cultures through war to the pollution brought by the chemicals used in the manufacturing of warfare in the theatre of operations. Some of these subjects, though, don´t get the proper and due coverage or research for they might either sound anacronic to the press or not appealing enough to justify more space or duscussion within the academy. I observe that there is a tendency on taking some of this less-seductive...

one of three proposals. Furniture can be constructed using hand held tools and custom order of CNC parts from {UN)Wanted. By also offering volunteer programs, {UN}Wanted aims to invite and encourage the community to salvage, be creative and skillful.

one of three proposals. Furniture can be constructed using hand held tools and custom order of CNC parts from {UN)Wanted. By also offering volunteer programs, {UN}Wanted aims to invite and encourage the community to salvage, be creative and skillful.

one of three proposals. Furniture can be constructed using hand held tools and custom order of CNC parts from {UN)Wanted. By also offering volunteer programs, {UN}Wanted aims to invite and encourage the community to salvage, be creative and skillful.

one of three proposals. Furniture can be constructed using hand held tools and custom order of CNC parts from {UN)Wanted. By also offering volunteer programs, {UN}Wanted aims to invite and encourage the community to salvage, be creative and skillful.

In New York City, there is an increase in the number of HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM), many of them due to unsafe sex. Many MSM in the city put themselves at risk by using drugs and alcohol, often while in a night club. Such behavior affects their judgment, and leads to the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. If condoms were easily attainable, safe sex would be practiced more often and less MSM would be at risk for HIV. The solution to the problem is simple: use a condom. “Hey New York: healthy is sexy” is an awareness campaign that encourages MSM in New York City to practice safe sex.