Maybe we can afford a 3-D Printer

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20 Color Images

Notes on Podcast (International Design Forum-Dubai)

~ Interview with Luke Williams, Frog design
~ Focused on Middle eastern
~ Dubai is borrowing western notions of design, haven't found a language of their own.
~ Trying to incorporate their own designs.
~ Thought of as a culture just starting to embrace design.
~ Started building fast and now are thinking about individual design.
~ Designer said: Design should be contemporary, never look back to the past.
~ Designer said: Steal and give back, take idea from past and rework it into something contemporary.
~ Rapid development with no thought or planning.
~ Like Sim City in real life.
~ Designers gave advice to Dubai to use there own influence to design. (simple and elegant garments)
~ Barriers against upcoming designers in the culture.
~ Design to shape and influence human behavior.

Notes from Podcast (Digital Manufacturing)

Interview with Yana
~freedom of creation(technology meets design)
~Pioneer of digital manufacturing
~Yana tried to find ways of not having his designs compromised by commercialism
~Rapid manufacturing- Taking a 3-D file and putting it into a 3-D printer. So that whatever you can create on a computer screen can then be turned into a 3-D design.
~ Used for prototyping and manufacturing
~ Range of Materials-plastics, metals, starch, and paper. Claims any material you can stack.
~ At just below 20,000 dollars these machines are costly.
~ If you are persistent enough in sending email, calling and knocking on doors you may be able to gain access to one of these machines as an art student.
~ Design opportunities-custom design, production, and medical products including hearing aids.
~ Products the company is making- lamps, sports products, interior products, lighting right now is the biggest area.

Jewelry Design Problem #3 (Materialise)

Ive started researching the designers at Materialise. The first design that caught my eye was of Bathsheba Grossman who made these really cool lamps. She uses CAD which is really neat because that is the program i mainly use at work. She also talks about electro forming which we are about to learn in Enameling. I also really like the design approach of Ross Lovegrove, "He is inspired by forms of the natural world, the possibilities of new manufacturing techniques and the ability to evoke an emotional response in users." I will post more later.

BMA-Design for Community

U.S. Postal Service stamp featuring Andy Warhol design

Pen designed by SHAFIQ AHMADI

Sphere Magazine by WorldStudio

The show consisted of 5 designers that talked about their research and work revolving around design and community. Each designer had a different way of using design to impact and improve the community.

Mark Randall(very nice guy)- Mark is a graphic designer and co-founder of Worldstudio Inc. and Worldstudio Foundation. Worldstudios Inc. pays the bills and the foundation is the company's side project that allows them pro sue there own interests. The interest of this company happens to be helping to improve the community. The foundation created a magazine for this very purpose called Sphere. Within the magazine they told there personal feeling on topics like politics, health, community, art,etc. Mark talked about how the Design field was primarily white and that they wanted to help the it become more diverse. This is why the company offers scholarships to minority's with talent and social agendas. Shafiq Ahmadi was one of the many students that have been given a scholarship he works in industrial design. I have an example of one of the things he designed that caught my eye. The foundation also offers free mentoring programs online. The last thing Mark talked about was their creation of "The Urban Forest Project". This is a great idea they wanted to spread the word about sustainability so they brainstormed and came up with a tree as their main design and asked different artist to make them posters of a social issue that had the theme of a tree. These signs went up all over New York City and were even displayed on the big screen in time square. These posters were to send a message to everyone and after the poster were taken down the foundation decided to make them into bag designs which they auctioned off and all the money went towards their mentor ship and scholarship programs. I was excited to here that The urban forest project is coming to Baltimore from April 11th-27th and they will be displayed in Druid Hill Park. There is currently a Denver urban forest project going on.

Sheila Levrant- Sheila started about by explaining that she does a lot of research before she starts a project. She really likes to meet the surrounding community that she is working in and ask the people around what they have and need. She had done things such as redesign a 100 year old school. She repainted and brought in some new energy with poems she had the students and community contribute. At the end she invited some of the school Alumni to come back and talk to the current students about the improvements. In Los Angela's she wanted to make the community near little Tokyo remember its past and decorated the sidewalk with messages and package designs which signified how the culture was once packed up and moved to concentration camps with no proof of them committing any crimes. Later she traveled to Siberia where she got help from 6 students to create panels that had one letter and then space for the member of the community to come and right in there own thoughts. She also designed a lazy Susan granite table that also allow the community to form its own sentences by moving certain words around. She was very interested in helping communities to communicate better.

Wendy Brawer- Is one of the creators of the Green Map system. The idea is to have the community create a map for themselves and visitors of good areas to visit within the community. There are 3 main categories Sustainability, Nature, Culture & Society. The great this is this programs works on its own. After the first Green Map was made in 1992 the trend has started and today 424 places have their own Green Maps. The leaders and groups for each Green Map change with location and anyone can start a Green Map for any area. Basically they have people go out and look around there areas for Good places for nature (parks), food (farmers markets), relaxation (pond), art (gallery's). They leave the selection up to the people who design the Maps. After you go around and locate these "Good" areas in your community you create a map that has all these locations highlighted. The maps are given to visitors and are shared throughout the community. There is currently a Green Map for Baltimore in progress by Janel Felston. "Think Global, Map Local".

Sylvia Harris- Has been named by friends the "Citizen Designer". Sylvia wanted to redesigned the U.S. Census, the old one was hard to understand and not very useful. So she enlisted the help of a group of Yale students to help redesign the Census. After some time they finally got their ideas passed and her company ended up hiring 2 of the Yale students. The Census was designed to be reader friendly and since the numbers have increased which it hasn't done for 20 years. Sylvia also worked on the vote project which improved the design of machines, location information, registration form, and allowed feedback about personal experience when voting. Design for Democracy had a hand in helping and is still trying to better the voting system. Later Sylvia became a member of the U.S. postal service stamp board and helped to design stamps. They decided to bring art and design to stamps by featuring artists such as Andy Warhol. In closing she said we should "work, understand, and learn about the community."


I had a really good experience its great to see other designers who are trying to better the community with their designs. Even though the artists were all graphic designers they each found a unique way to use their art form to help improve the world. I found it very interesting that many of them used the help of student to help design their work. They really look to the future generation for great ideas and are really active in trying to help them succeed in graphic design for the community.

10 photos on my social design problem

L.A.-Racism March

British Racism protest


Thousands of demonstrators converge on Jena, Louisiana, most of whom were there to show their support for six black men who were charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white student.








Its was hard for me to find Images around my neighborhood that had to do with my social issue(Racism) so i found some online from other areas around the world.

AAR for Project #1 Jewelry II

My first project was a Droog inspired design of an interactive art display. I designed a kit that has the tools to introduce to the consumer ways of making their own art and a place to display that art.

Sustains: I think the design of my display was very successful I thought of all the different way in which the buyer may want to display there work and created with that in mind. The display can be moved and changed to hold multiple works at a time or plastic sheets can be removed to allow more room for larger works. I enjoyed making a piece that the buyer can explore and use in a number of different ways. I included tool that will get the buyer started but suggest that they do there own investigations on other design materials.

Improves: I thought about different ways to show the buyer the many possibilities of this product. At first i was going to include different examples of works others have previously done. They would most likely be thrown out after the buyer opened the package so i think the best idea would be to start a website or blog and give the buyers access so that they can share with other buyers there own original works. I didn't think of this idea later and so i think that this is something i can do that would improve my project.

What Ifs: If i were to do this project again i think i would have made more then one display so that i could send them out to people and get feedback on the idea and also some samples of there original artwork. Maybe even have handed one out to my design team to see what i could have improved on.

Project #2 Social Design Problem

My social design problem is about Jena 6(Racism)in our culture today. I believe that the arrests and charges were excessive and racially discriminatory. Others believe that there is no evidence of unfair prosecution.


Some sources for more information:

Wikipedia

New York Times

Earth Times

Color of Change

Democracy Now!

CBS News

Guardian

First 10 words that came to mind that i like

1.) Unique
2.) Imagination
3.) Kind
4.) Intelligent
5.) Caring
6.) Song
7.) Exploration
8.) Dream
9.) Fantasy
10.) Love

Reverse Graffiti- a new way to send a message

This was such a great idea. All he wanted was the tunnel cleaned. He didn't hurt anything just simple sent a message and got a response. Great example of an innovative design.



Alexandre orion removes soot to draw the skulls and create the intervention
OSSARIO: Art Less Pollution

AAR for Project #1 BODY IMAGE

Sustains: I think our project was a great success. We made a plan and it worked out better then i had imagined. My entire group was very interested in the topic of "Body Image" and we each did our part to make the outcome what it was. We made tee-shirts that had silhouettes of real women's bodies. Along with our tee-shirts we had information on the tags to help spread the message to love and respect your natural body. We also had a power point that outlined our idea and the information for our peers. By asking a Goodwill to help with our project we were able to upcycle tee-shirts. I think in all our project was very successful in accomplishing what we had set out to do.


Improves: I feel that the best way to improve on our project would have been able to reach more people before the due date. I would have liked to have been able to show the class the amount of people who had be given the information.


What Ifs: To make the project more successful i feel it could have reached more people before the project due date. We all did a good job in the time we had to get things worked out buy maybe we could have finished the tee-shirts faster by either hiring an outside business or taking on some volunteers. Bigger is always Better!

Bloggin for a Cause

This is from wired online. You should check it out sounds like a good idea and easy way to help.



Anne

Some highlights from cradle to cradle

Chap.1
* The designers of the past didn't look at the larger system that they would effect.
* Western views of the past were negative toward nature. They thought it dangerous and wanted to civilize and subdue rather they learn and create with nature in mind.
* "Cradle to Grave" 90% of materials used to make goods in the US become waste almost immediately.
* We consumers pay for goods and along with them receive additives we didn't want and are unaware of.
* This system cannot continue to be supported and maintained by us.

Chap.2
* eco-friendly industrial businesses should be encouraged.
* Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Regulate
* The only way our planet safely absorbs waste is when the waste itself is healthy and biodegradable.
* "downcycling" is not the answer but rather "upcycling"
* "To be less bad is to accept things as they are, to believe that poorly designed, dishonorable, destructive systems are the best humans can do."

Chap.3
* Growth for growth's sake is a cancerous madness.
* "Design human industries and systems to get bigger and better in a way that replenishes, restores, and nourishes the rest of the world.

Chap.4
* Waste equals food
* Biological mass & technical (industrial mass)
* Early communities returned biological wastes to the soil, replacing nutrients
* Cities started taking nutrients from place to place
* Humans are the only species that takes from the soil vast quantities of nutrients & rarely put them back.
* Throwaway products have become the norm (Frankenstein products)
* We need to learn to imitate nature's system
* Designing products as products of service (technical nutrient)
* Negligence is described as doing the same thing over and over even though you know it is dangerous, stupid, and wrong.

Chap.5
* When faced with darkness, nature rises to fill in the space.
* De-evolution
* The vitality of ecosystems depends on relationships.
* Large scale energy providers throw off tremendous heat energy that goes unused.
* Wind power offers similar possibilities for hybrid systems that are a more effective use of local resources.
* "Form follows Function"

Chap.6
* Decades worth of manufacturing processes had taken a toll on the soil and water.
* If we are to solve the problems that plague us, our thinking must evolve beyond the level we were using when we created those problems in the first place.
* Eco-effective
* Make better choices
* Imagine what a world of prosperity and health in the future will look like and begin designing for it right now.

Fergie goes green!

Fergie: Hummer eBay Auction benefits Global Green

Black Eyed Peas vocalist and solo artist Fergie has currently listed her 2005 Hummer H2 in an eBay auction to benefit Global Green USA.

Inspired by her participation at Live Earth, Fergie decided to get rid of the Hummer for a more environmentally friendly form of transportation as a step in reducing her carbon footprint.

In addition, 10 years worth of carbon emission credits are being donated to help offset the impact.

According to the eBay listing of the organization designated to benefit from Fergie's Hummer H2 auction,

"Global Green USA works with governments, industry and individuals to create a global value shift towards a sustainable and secure future. Global Green USA is addressing three great challenges facing humanity: climate change, weapons of mass destruction and the need for clean water."

Restricted to pre-approved bidders or buyers only, Fergie's Hummer H2 eBay auction ends on September 15. You can email the seller and ask to be included in the bidding. The best possible outcome to Fergie's Hummer H2 auction? The winning bidder permanently parks the Hummer.

Reusable Bags!! Buy One for Everyone you Know!

Above: Trader Joe Reusable Bag Designs

Hey Guys,

So i went to Trader Joe's the other day and noticed that they had these really cute reusable bags. Which after reading cradle to cradle I've been thinking about how many bags my mom and i bring into the house and what should we do to cut down or even stop. So while i was at Trader Joe's i decided to buy Two one for my mother and one for me. Today my mom forgot to take hers with her so i mentioned that she should keep it in her trunk to help her not to forget. Anyway i checked some local grocery stores to see if anyone else had reusable bags and i found some more at Giant. I think this is a great idea and the bags only cost a dollar each. I think every one should buy them and spread the word to there family's and friends. I Bought a flower designed bag for my mom and mine has a pirate ship design on it. I think they are AWESOME! I'm going back tomorrow to buy one for my grand mom.

Who's Who at Target

From top to Bottom: Isaac Mizrahi/Mossimo/Tara

When we first arrived at target on day one i started to think about all the designers that target was interacting with. The one i feel i hear about the most is Isaac Mizrahi. I first learned or this designer by watching his show on the Style network. He talks to celebrities about what they have in there closets and about their life but then at the end of the show he takes design questions from the audience. Well now he gives design advice to target. I did some research and found out that Mizrahi attended NYC's Hight School of Performing Arts and Parsons School of Design. He also wrote a comic which i thought was interesting called "The adventures of a Supermodel." They have other designers such as Tara Jarmon which consists of a Canadian Student Tara and David Jarmon an international jet setter who designs with feminine simplicity. Tara meet David and together they formed Tara Jarmon. Target hasn't always welcomed fresh designers the people credited for this new idea are CEO Robert Ulrich who put design at the core of the company's differentiation strategy. Along with Robert is Robyn Waters who's idea was to give runway to soccer moms. She was the vice president of trend, design, and product development. Waters was responsible for Mossimo and Philippe Starck some of the most popular designers that work with Target today and even though she has left Robert Ulrich has continued to bring great designers to Target to design for the everyday consumer.

Droog

I really enjoy Droog designs. Droog, a dutch word meaning dry, is headed by Renny Ramakers and Gijs Bakker and consists of over 180 products by more than a hundred designers such as Marcel Wanders, Tejo Remy, and Jurgen Bey. Droog make the viewer see in a different way. This company has a fresh, unique view of what 21-century design should be. Pieces such as the Bee Vase show that these designers really use there imaginations. The Bee Vase started out as a vase constructed of hive then the designers used honeycombs to attracted the bees to there creation so that the bees would reinforce the vase with wax. How cool! I also like the Shadylace parasol, this design allow you to still be protected from the sun but allows hits of the light and warmth to still come through. Have you ever bought a product that came with its own hammer, well now you can with Do Hit. This invention is a metal box that begs to be hit into whatever form you feel it should be. In the end after fun hours of taking out pent up anger you can relax in your newly form seat. Neat Idea! Another design of Droog i like is the Frame It, which is a decorative tape that lets the customer frame whatever they feel is important. I really enjoy the idea of Droog creating an interactive product. Now a days many just buy thing and don't have to think but with these products Droog is inviting the customer to interact and make the Droog product become truly the customers product. I'm excited to try and brainstorm on ideas involving this concept of consumer participation.