Design 21: Social Design Network

Just a brief hello to all.

My name is Erik Brandt and I am teaching graphic design at MCAD in Minneapolis, MN (Estados Unidos), and am very much interested in this community and international design phenomena in general. I have lectured recently at an MCAD/AIGA Co-sponsored event on graphic and typographic viruses here in Minneapolis (see attached image), and previously at ATypI Lisbon in 2006. I host my own related blog called Geotypografika and invite all interested to have a look.

Geotypografika

Please help yourself to goodwill from me.

=:-)

I just signed up to volunteer for UNICEF's TAP Project. The TAP Project is a remarkably simple way to raise money and awareness for the Worlds Water Crisis.

Beginning Sunday, March 16 through Saturday, March 22, restaurants will invite their customers to donate a minimum of $1 for the tap water they would normally get for free. For every dollar raised, one child will have clean drinking water for 40 days. Or 40 children for one day.

Something as simple as paying $1 for a glass of TAP water,.. will literally change the lives of millions. The Tap Project is a grassroots initiative that was started in 2007. TAP Project helps UNICEF provide clean water to children around the world. {currently there is 1.1billion people without access to clean water} TAP Project was launched in New York City last year and raised over $100,000. This year it is a National Event.

Go visit TapProject.org to find out how you can get involved,.. or see which restaurants in your area are participating.

Thanks!!

One of our favorite pieces is a remake of a poster for the 1986 Australian Anarchist Centenary Celebrations, which we are making available as a desktop background for our readers. The Celebrations were organized by the Melbourne Anarchist Club, the country’s first, and included the likes of the renown John William “Chummy” Fleming. First offered as an offset lithographic print (measuring 41.9 cm by 29.2 cm) the poster commemorates the 100th anniversary of organized anarchist activity in Australia.

Central to the poster is the symbol of the encircled A, the most common and recognizable representaion of Proudhon’s maxim, “Anarchy is Order.” We’ve chosen to keep as much of the original intact here.

Grab the 800 x 600 and the 1024 x 768 versions here.

John Robertson’s work helps him clarify his thinking about political issues; he’s not out to change your mind. Informed by Susan Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others, he finds that images might move one to sympathy, but are impotent in moving one to action. It’s a question fundamental to how we proceed with our work, and one we’ve briefly addressed before. Now, though, we’d like to hear from you.

In discussion with John, I asked whether he’d be willing to have us do a feature on his piece, that asks whether art opens minds.

For the next week, the floor is yours. We’ll post a summary of your thoughts on Friday, February 29, and will be back to regular postings in March.

So, what do you think - does art open minds?

Project H is supporting the amazing Hippo Roller water transport barrel device, delivering 50 of them to a community in South Africa this April. You can sponsor your own for $100! Donate online at www.projecthdesign.com

What’s a Hippo Roller and how is Project H involved? The Hippo Roller is a simple rolling barrel device that allows the millions whose livelihoods depend on the daily fetching of water to more easily access and transport their daily water supply, and reduce the risk of long-term bodily injuries. The roller holds 3-4 days worth of water for a family of 7, about 5 times the amount of water that can be moved using traditional methods, which frees up time for more productive economic and educational activities. It’s an amazing product and an amazing story of good design enabling communities.

In April of this year, Project H will be traveling to South Africa to visit the Hippo Roller’s manufacturer and headquarters, and will personally hand over fifty rollers to a community in Northeastern South Africa in need of enabling water systems. The rollers are a gesture of support and a catalyst for more collaboration on larger water systems projects within Kgautswane. $100 sponsors the production and delivery of one roller in your name. Thank you in advance for supporting this amazing product and the amazing people whose lives you’re improving.

DONATE ONLINE at www.projecthdesign.com

World Industrial Design Day (WIDD) is an international day of observance in recognition of the profession of industrial design. First declared on June 29, 2007 on the occasion of Icsid’s 50th anniversary, WIDD has been established as an occasion to mark the development and evolution of industrial design throughout the course of its history.

WIDD is a special project introduced by Icsid with the aim to promote solidarity and collaboration amongst Icsid membership pillars through recognition of industrial design, its evolution over the years, as well as its progression into the future. Furthermore, WIDD seeks to highlight the contribution designers and academics have made to the discipline of industrial design relative to the study of design theory, research, and practice, as well as providing a window of opportunity to address key issues such as the safeguarding and protection of intellectual property.

Through a series of international events on June 29, WIDD will provide designers and like-minded design enthusiasts from a wide spectrum of professions with a channel to engage with one another. This is an opportunity to accentuate industrial design’s role in improving the economic, social, cultural and environmental quality of life around the world. Consequently, it is an affirmative step towards fostering a global understanding of design and all that it encompasses.

A simple, but ethically effective initiative was launched this week from Emily Pilloton's NPO Project H Design.

'The Hippo Roller is a simple rolling barrel device that allows the millions whose livelihoods depend on the daily fetching of water to more easily access and transport their daily water supply. The roller holds 3-4 days worth of water for a family of 7 [approx 5 times that of traditional methods].'

Read more about the project and get involved in sponsoring one yourself at Project H Design!! What a marvellous initiative!

Founded by Emily Pilloton, Project H Design is 'a charitable organization that supports, inspires, and delivers life-improving humanitarian product design solutions to global communities in need. We champion industrial design as a tool to address social issues, a vehicle for global life improvement, and a catalyst for individual and community empowerment.'

What happened to the cool Air India? It must have been great during the 70s? Apart from the smoke in the air plane, it could have been cool to receive a book of matches like these.

Crate and Barrel recently launched a new store, CB2 to brawl with its competitors like West Elm and Room and Board.

Based on a tip from a friend I was brought to this item which lists as the following from cb2.com's website.

bollywood pillow $19.95

Bombay blockbuster. Coming to a sofa or chair near you. Bollywood film clip, remastered in black and white on 100% cotton. Hidden zipper closure; feather-down insert. Machine wash. Imported.

The strange thing is that this item looks more like a Urban Outfitter's product. It reminds me of something that would be found in someones "smoking" room. I could never imagine this product doing well in, India where the image was generated from. People would mock the product and wonder why it costs $19.95? That would be close to 780 rupees, which could fetch a designer's silk embroidered pillow. Big difference, but we might be able to attribute this to overhead?

In the end there isn't a series of these items that would make it a line for CB2. It seems like they are testing the waters to see where all this Bollywood hype would take them?

http:www.cbaz.com

For those that are not aware, Air India had actually employed the services of the famous "Surrealist" painter Salvador Dali. He was commissioned to design an ashtray that was given to lucky passengers.

Imagine going down to your adventurous traveling, grandmother's basement and finding this relic alongside a snake charming flute? It apparently can fetch $800-1200+.

It is a funky design and one that I wouldn't look at twice, but hey it was designed in a limited addition by a famous artist and I would be the first in line at the, "Antique Road Show".

Source: ebay, Jan. 2003 "The ashtray is approximately 4" x 3" across and 2 1/2" tall. Ashtray is mostly unglazed porcelain with a glazed serpent around the lip of the ashtray. From the booklet that accompanied it:"

"The ashtray is composed of a shell-shaped centre with a serpent twined around its perimeter. It is supported by two surrealist elephant-heads and a swan. These supports are based on Dali´s double-image effect. The master explains: "The reflection of an elephant´s head looks like a swan and the reflection of a swan appears to be an elephant. This is what I have done for the ashtray. The swan up-side-down becomes an elephant´s head and the elephant inverted - a swan."

It is the first time that an artist of such world stature has designed an "objet d´art" for an airline. And we at Air-India are honoured and delighted to be able to present this ...