Design 21: Social Design Network

Sixty Graphic Designers and Illustrators have teamed with UNICEF this week, to launch a new publication, website and forthcoming exhibition. This is by far the most exciting Social Design collaboration I have come across in a long time.

The two years project was born last week, and all the money raised will go to UNICEF. The 60 Unite For Children website is just a sample of what I am sure will be an exciting project. There is also a blog, that hopefully will keep us up to date with the goings on.

The book can be bought online from tomorrow, whilst the exhibition will start in November, for a year.

60 Unite For Children Via. CPLUV

Cause/Affect is a biennial graphic design competition which celebrates the work of designers and organizations who set out to positively impact our society and communities.

AIGA San Francisco, the professional association for design, has issued a call for entries for a new graphic design competition celebrating the work of designers who set out to positively impact our society and communities.

"All design work entered in the competition must promote or support social good and actively engage in enriching our lives. "So often designers work on pro bono projects, or other projects for good causes, in isolation. In our professional lives we can get the feeling we are sneaking a non-profit client in through the back door, as we strive to meet our other professional obligations."

The entry deadline for the competition - cause/affect - is November 9, 2007.

Read More at AIGA San Francisco, via. Dexigner.

The National Organization for Women Foundation is hosting a poster contest to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Love Your Body Campaign.

The grand prize winning poster will be used as part of a national campaign to challenge the violent, drug-addicted, starved, surgically-enhanced images of women and to fight against industries that profit from women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies.

LoveYourBody via. Dexigner

Everywhere we look, the news this week is that the world moved into "ecological overdraft" last Saturday, the point at which human consumption exceeds the ability of the earth to sustain it in any year and goes into the red, The New Economics Foundation think-tank said.

From Saturday 6 October, the world as a whole goes into ecological debt driven by over-consumption. 'Ecological debt day' is the date when, in effect, humanity uses-up the resources the earth has available for the year, and begins eating into its stock of natural resources. World ecological debt day has crept ever earlier in the year since humanity first began living beyond its environmental means in the 1980's. The latest available data reveals that the overuse of the earth's resources is much more extreme in rich countries. For example, if everyone in the world wanted to live like people in the UK, on a very conservative estimate, we would need more than three planets like Earth.

NEWS HEADLINES:

• 06.10.06: NEF : Ecological Debt Day
• 06.10.06: Environmental News Network

Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.

"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” Gore said in a statement. “We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.”

Gore won an Academy Award this year for his film An Inconvenient Truth a documentary on global warming, and had been widely expected to win the prize. Climate change campaigner Al Gore and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the Nobel citation said. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."

HEADLINE NEWS:

• 12.10.07: BBC
• 12.10.07: MSNBC
• 12.10.07: Inhabitat

Prime Concern is dedicated to raising awareness to the Endangerment of Primate Species. The weblog profiles the founding and project development of an awareness campaign and research initiative which intends to gather collective interest from a global audience of scientists, animal behavioural experts, zoologists, researchers and socially conscious designers and creatives.

Prime Concern is a non-profit initiative, set up to raise awareness, share information and ultimately encourage feedback, participation and collaboration. Prime Concern was founded in September 2007, by MSc and PGD Student Julia Quick, currently studying Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Belfast’s Queen’s University and Socially Conscious Communications Designer Kate Andrews. The diverse collaboration between scientist and designer gives Prime Concern two platforms of expertise and experience: a body of knowledge focused toward the endangerment of Primate Species, and understanding of how Communication Design can assist in raising the awareness of global, environmental and social issues.

The endangerment of Primate Animals is an ever increasing problem, and I wholeheartedly support Julia's ambitious intentions for the project. Please do visit the new blog and if you are interested in further details email Julia at julesq82@googlemail.com

Prime Concern

Celebrate Water is a magnificent communication project carried out by Carrie Hodson-Walker. Now a graduate from the University of Lincoln, Carrie curated this non-profit social design initiative as part of the final year of her course. She invited several international designers and illustrators from across the world to donate poster designs on the theme, Celebrate Water. Eighteen designers responded and the posters were printed in a limited run in order to raise money for water charity, Just A Drop.

Contributing designs came from: Matt Willey & Giles Revell, Pentagram’s Rob Duncan, Michael DeForge, Former Pentagram designer Leigh Brownsword, John Dowling, Gavin Downey, Jon Burgerman, Brad Yendle, Luke Best, Billie Jean, Jeffrey Brown, Gaston Caba, Kerry Roper and Jack Daly of SUMO.

All the posters will soon be available to buy on the website: CelebrateWater, but for now do take a look at the works over at Creative Review's Blog.

“The Economist is not changing the magazine in any way but they do believe that there’s a new, perhaps younger, group who would be interested in it.”

AMV.BBDO have launched a new set of illustrations for The Economist, designed by Non-Format, Mick Marston, Fine ’n’ Dandy and Geoff McFetridge.

Creative Review profiled last week: "A new, radically different campaign for The Economist breaks this month in the national press and on crosstrack posters, but it does not spell the end of the classic red and white ads, say AMV. Instead, the new campaign of seven ads will complement its classic cousin. “The success of the ‘white out of red’ campaign was based on the idea of feeling that you were a member of a club. This is an attempt to broaden the appeal of that club and engage with a new audience,” says AMV’s Paul Cohen, art director on the new campaign."

Resources:

• Creative Review
• The Economist

"After decades of military dictatorship, the people of Burma are rising – and they need our help. Marches begun by monks and nuns have snowballed, bringing hundreds of thousands to the streets. Now the crackdown has begun...

When the Burmese last marched in 1988, the military massacred thousands. But if the world stands up and supports their struggle, this time they could succeed. We'll send our petition to United Nations Security Council members (including the dictatorship's main backer China) and to media at the UN, while also alerting the Burmese to our support."

Sign the petition

I have just come across a PODCAST mp3 from London's Design Museum. The podcast covers an event entitiled FEEDBACK, held on 9th February earlier this year, which discussed the work of the late Graphic talent, Alan Fletcher, and "explored the history, working practice and achievements of pioneering design organisation Pentagram," which Alan Fletcher co-founded.

Event speakers included current Pentagram Partners Harry Pearce, John Rushworth, and Paula Scher, each in conversation with Emily King, curator of the Design Museum's Alan Fletcher exhibition.

For me, Pentagram remain one the most powerful design agencies, consistently producing pioneering contemporary and strategic communication design, with consistent focus to social issues. This is a design studio which all socially conscious creatives should take inspiration from.

London designer Ben Terrett was in the audience, and his blog post earlier this year also profiles some thoughts and photos from the event.

Listen to the Podcast