Design 21: Social Design Network

Ciao Derek, Thank you for your response. Fully agree that it would be more appropriate to make it against total abuse. I saw this post on Computer Love website and it grabbed my attention as social issues are not a common subject over there. For me is very interesting to see that designers are finally beginning to design not only for the trendiness and money but for good reasons. Clearly this process is still in slow motion but at least I feel that we need to praise projects that people are having the initiative to do. Recently I went to a big design conference in London where some people at the audience got angry and started a discussion about climate changed not being a graphic designer's concern but point of view. Ignorance is surrounding us but some people really want do to something to change it. Many people like yourself are producing great valuable work and are aware that there is plenty to be done rather than producing more printed material about one single subject. Let's welcome the possibility that some designers will receive the message one way or another..

"As designers we have a social obligation to raise awareness of the horrors that less fortunate people face. Tibet has been illegally occupied by China since 1950 and yet only recently with the Olympic Torch fiasco have these attrocities been recognised by the popular radar..."

"...Please note that this society does not condolne the discrimination or slander of any race, especially the Chinese, as many people of the Chinese race themselves have no idea what has been going on. Thus the sole purpose of this society is to raise awareness of the facts and not to make judgement upon anyone, let alone discriminate against them..."

DATA is currently working on its first project, collaborating with some of the most renowned designers, illustrators, digital artists, photographers and motion designers to create a book.

Some confirmed participants are:

Adhemas Batista, Alex Trochut, Bram Timmer, David Carvalho (Karpa) Greig Anderson, Pawel Nolbert (hellocolor), Pete Harrison (Aeiko), Mike Harrison (Destill), Si Scott, Justin Maller (superlover and depthcore), Diogo Potes (six letter word) etc.

Although at this moment in time, participants for the book in project 1 are by invite only.

DATA is also currently looking for designers to volunteer to make a functioning website. If you are interested please contact: info@designersagainsttibetanabuse.com

DATA IS COMPLETELY NON PROFIT, 100% OF THE PROFIT DONE WITH THE BOOK SELLING WILL GO TO THE TIBET FOUNDATION

More info go to: DATA

Sou...

EcoMag will be a Pdf magazine about art, design & sustainability. EcoMag aims to foster whole systems thinking and help create an alternative cultural vision that can drive transformational change to meet the goals of a fully sustainable society.

Each issue will focus on a tool and a theme - as they relate to questions at the heart of our environmental crisis and pathways for change. The tool will be a design tool (i.e. a method, a set of practices, or a concept) that can be applied to any relevant theme. The theme (an issue, a sector, or a system) can be explored with any design or artistic method. We will also write a short article on each tool and theme under exploration.

Briefing:

Tool1: Scenario Planning

Scenario planning is a method for learning about the future by understanding the impact of important driving forces affecting our world. The scenario planning process involves thinking about the future by developing stories about varying future scenarios. The goal is to craft a number of diverging stories by extrapolating uncertain and heavily influencing driving forces. The process widens our perception of possible future events, builds useful dialogues about the future, and helps to develop a ‘prospective mind’. How can this tool be used to engage with the powerful driver of change that is climate change? EcoMag invites artists & designers to help us explore future scenarios.

Theme1: Economics

How can design inform our understanding of macro-economi...

www.greenawards.co.uk

Good opportunity for individuals and companies to exhibit ethical, sustainable and ecological projects published commercially.

The submissions deadline is 10 September 2008

Knowing that at present it might sound utopia, mineral water, in my opinion, should be available free of charge to everybody since it is essential for life. However, as it is still not possible, authorities have been showing investments and research on changing and improving plastic’s recycling system and waste reduction. According to the Guardian bioplastics, which are made from maize, sugarcane, wheat and other crops are also contributing to the global food crisis by taking over large areas of land previously used to grow crops for human consumption. The below article dated 26/04/08 describes the concern about ‘eco-friendly’ plastics:

The industry, which uses words such as "sustainable", "biodegradeable", "compostable" and "recyclable" to describe its products, says bioplastics make carbon savings of 30-80% compared with conventional oil-based plastics and can extend the shelf-life of food.

Concern centres on corn-based packaging made with polylactic acid (Pla). Made from GM crops, it looks identical to conventional polyethylene terephthalate (Pet) plastic and is produced by US company NatureWorks. The company is jointly owned by Cargill, the world's second largest biofuel producer, and Teijin, one of the world's largest plastic manufacturers. Pla is used by some of the biggest supermarkets and food companies, including Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Del Monte. It is used by Marks & Spencer to package organic foods, salads, snacks, desserts, and fruit and vegetables....

The 'Re-drawing the Line' symposium will take place June 5 2008 at the London College of Communication, Elephant & Castle, 10:30 – 17:30.

Re-drawing The Line is a one-day conference open to professional illustrators, designers, artists and creatives from related industries, as well as students, offering presentations, cross-disciplinary panel discussions and debate on contemporary topics and trends that are shaping the industry.

Main themes of discussion:

Applying labels: Categorising your professional practice With colleges increasingly taking a multi-disciplinary approach to the creative process, is the term ‘illustrator’ becoming a limiting description of your working practice? Are you proud to call yourself an ‘illustrator’? Is illustration enjoying the same status as say graphic design or fine art?

Emerging Markets: With illustration enjoying a resurgence in popularity and the digital revolution being the most important development in illustration over the past decade. What are the current trends shaping our industry and the new opportunities open to illustrators? How long is the current renaissance in illustration set to last?

Drawing the line: Addressing climate change & the ethical debate in illustration With sustainability and the eco-issue affecting all areas of our lives, what role are illustrators and graphic designers taking in addressing climate change? How will illustrators rise to the challenge? And, do illustrators need to adopt a more ...

Hi Kate! Thank you for your reply. I will try to find out. Best wishes

Do you know if it was Composite Projects who designed the 'Reduce your waste' campaign for Islington? I added a comment about it last week.

I took this shot in Islington, north London, few weeks ago. It is a great initiative to include the suggestion “Reduce your waste. Choose products with less packaging” as part of the design of the truck.

We all know that by embellishing the package the probabilities of generating sale increases. However, there is no excuse to overuse plastic and cardboard. For example, I recently found in a popular supermarket a small full-colour cardboard container of a 45p chewing-gum wrapped by a delicate plastic protection. Are we inducing clients and customers to use and waste more material?

It is our job as designers to add value to products not by including unnecessary material but by communicating effectively with simplicity and consideration to the amount of rubbish a single product can cause.

I fully agree with the above point of view. More issues to be considered:

• food such as vegetables and fruits found in plastic bags ready to go in supermarkets. Despite the fact that nobody bothers to wash them...well, they are normally plastic anyway
• amount of food put in the bin...It seems that there is plenty of food all over the world for it to happen.