Design 21: Social Design Network

Please see The Groundswell Blog for our blog on art and activism.

We are a forward-thinking, green company that specializes in fine home furnishings and accessories from around the world. Our look is contemporary. To find out more, visit us on the web!

hey all, my thesis partner and I did a presentation about our solution for crowded cities...foot bikes. Yes, footbikes.

What's a footbike?

Well, it's like a scooter and a bike had kids. Large wheeled, comfortable and stable, you can fold it up and bring in it on the train, store it in your house and use it to get where you need to go...Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan's Design Meetup hosted the event (every month at Design Within Reach) and he was kind enough to blog about us...I'm hoping to get some updated images. He's showing our micro-scooter concept, not the footbike as it is envisioned now...

I was cruising the internet (as I often do) and I found Worrell, a small but powerful design firm in the midwest...check out their presentation

at Solutions Twin Cities, a recurring event to cultivate social design thinking...I don't know about you, but this makes me want to move to Minneapolis. Worrell's presentation is about how they applied design research thinking to make some improvements for Film Aid International. It's seven minutes well spent, so watch and learn!

also, more videos at solutions twin cites including how to make a green room in seven minutes...

I am looking for a supplier of aluminum 3003 1/16 inch in rolls 48 inch in width. Anyone familiar with a supplier in Maine or New England

Among the many characteristics which have been identified as peculiar to the human species – language, laughter, politics, love, cruelty – the one which is often overlooked is the capacity to be delighted and diverted by the exercise of the senses. Although these systems were evolved to furnish reliable knowledge of the external world, man is unique in exploiting them for sheer enjoyment.

In fact a large proportion of his energy and ingenuity is spent on re-arranging the external world for the express purpose of providing more delightful perceptions. Even in communities which live on the margins of subsistence, scarce resources of time and energy are dedicated to the pleasures dervied from decoration and ornament, and in more developed societies the amount of labour devoted to such provision is taken to be one the most significant measures of civilization.

Jonathan Miller, from the Foreword to The Paradox Box

Dear Friend of Drosera:

I'm working on a project that I need your help to finish. I've designed a native plant display garden for Union Square Park in Manhattan, to bring the beauty of native plants to one of the city's most unique and historic public spaces. We started planting in May, but now we are at a stopping point because we've run out of money.

The goal is to raise $2500 for fall plantings, and time is running out. So please, take a look at my website, and if you can, donate a plant. The site accepts credit cards securely through PayPal, so whether you'd like to give $8 for a wildflower or fern, or you're looking to offset those flights to Rio last year, making a donation is quick and easy. Even if you can't contribute monetarily, you can still help by passing this link on to others who might be interested in donating or volunteering with the project.

Here's the wildflower donation website

The garden will have its official ribbon cutting ceremony during the 1st ever NYC Wildflower Week, May 4-10, 2008. I'm organizing the event for the Torrey Botanical Society. If anyone is interested in volunteering or participating in that event, please let me know!

Thanks for your time and help,

Marielle

Idea!s with Kape Isla present Design to Make a Difference. Design to Make a Difference is a venue for young designers (whether in fields of the arts, graphic design, architecture, photography or industrial design) to share their works and ideas among other designers, and possibly network and collaborate on projects that will hopefully result in positive change. It will serve as a platform for ideas, inspiration and action, encouraging a culture of creativity that aims for social impact.

Program will run for approximately one-and-a-half-hours to two hours, with each speaker given 10 minutes to show his/her work, and briefly discuss their ideas. 6 speakers will be presenting , with an open forum at the end.

Design to Make a Difference will be launched at the Philippine Coffee Board’s Coffee Festival, with a session that will begin at 7:30 PM on October 23 (Tuesday), at Kape Isla at Serendra.

———————————————- Presentors are:

• ERIK MATTI screens TV spots that move people
• DAN LICHAUCO builds a case for green architecture
• ROCKY SANCHEZ talks about Campaigns Social Response
• FARA MANUEL shows how it’s easy being green in graphic design
• DAN MATUTINA talks about a youth-run design group for development organizations
• TOMMY HAFALLA turns his lens on the preservation of the Cordillera cultures

...

This is a video simulation of all planes flying across America in 24 hours!! This was presented by Ben Terrett at Campaign's Applied Green Conference. Read the speech here.

I just came across a great post from Ben Terrett of Noisy Decent Graphics covering his recent talk at Campaign's Applied Green Conference. Terrett discusses his thoughts on how valuable design thinking is and should be, in tackling the world's greatest challenges.

Someone with a designer’s brain can spot these problems and can go about solving them. Someone with a designer’s brain can be invaluable in the fight against climate change. I keep having this thought that the best design minds in history would see Climate Change as amazing opportunity. Don’t you get the feeling Da Vinci could have knocked up an alternative fuel in his spare time?

Marvellous commentary Ben. I entirely agree. I really wish, as a design thinker, I was used better.

Read the full article.