A New Way of Being

A cute animation from the Adbusters website, encouraging us to celebrate “Slow Week” Feb. 8th - 12th. Click here to see it.

“Slow isn’t necessarily a pace, it’s a philosophy – a way of approaching life. We can slow down simply by addressing the disconnect that makes life feel anxious, alienating and fast. Try simple things like shopping at a local farmers’ market rather than a big box store. Knowing the provenance and history of your food will change the way you experience eating. Instead of hopping in your car and heading to Starbucks, walk to an indie coffee shop. Chat with the owners, smile at a stranger and sip your latte from a mug rather than dashing off with a cardboard cup. Explore what your neighborhood has to offer and experience the simple, provincial pleasure of purchasing cheese from one store, bread from another. To slow down, we don’t have to stop moving – we just have to move in different, more meaningful ways.” – pulled from Adbusters site

Planet-hogs Anonymous Newbie

I found this fantastically informative interactive piece online, a green calculator/finger-wager, if you will.

After a short series of entertainingly animated questions, I found out that though my ecological footprint may be lighter than the average American, (pause here for dramatic effect) it would take 3 planets to support a world in which each person lives the way I do. And, I recycle/compost everything; carpool/bus to my workplace which is only 2.3 miles; seldom buy new books, clothing, furniture—blahblahblah.

I guess the bottom line is: You can always be greener. And also: Design can change the world. Yeah, I said it. 

Find your score and more info at Global Footprint Network.

Happy Farewell-to-the-Berlin-Wall, Germany!

. . .and Happy Anniversary to the people who were moved to paint:

Oh, just one more. . .

I must mention just one more dollhouse: The Detacho Playhouse for separated or divorced families. In a time of multi-ethnic dolls, designer Ben Forman figured it was high time the modern family was depicted in all its challenged glory. This one’s not just for imaginative play, it’s also a learning tool in which the circumstances of families split into separate homes can be accurately explained—the play house can divide into several smaller units.


That’s not all, the child can also role play conflict using the dual-faced characters’ ability to be either happy or sad. When the members are sad a cleverly-placed magnet prevents them from kissing on the lips. Instead, they opt for cordial kisses on the cheek. Wow!


I think the look on this kid's face says it all!

Helios House

I was driving through LA recently and happened upon this shocker of a gas station (on the corner of Olympic and Robertson). It's a British Petroleum venture to enhance the gasoline consumer experience and to showcase some overall functional and structural sustainability. The design strategically selected materials, lighting and plumbing methods to limit environmental impact. Helios House exceeds current environmental standards for on-site water collection and uses 16 percent less electricity than traditional stations, says BP.

Coined a “living laboratory,” this spot also serves as an educational center, in which specially trained employees actually distribute to the unsuspecting driver guides to greener living. Not a bad way to spread the word!

Looking Good while Being Good

For LA's Fashion Week, soy bean enthusiast SoyJoy and Gen Arts gave four emerging fashion designers a platform in sustainable fashion show Fashionably Natural, presented yesterday. The Battalion, Brigid Catiis, Popomomo, Velvet Leaf offer eco-garment alternatives using sustainable materials, organic, raw textiles and recycled vintage fabrics. Pretty cool.

Another notable SoyJoy project is its Art of Optimism Tour, where they promote fine art across North America as a means of lending hope.

War, what is it good for?

The work of Polish artist and animator Tomek Baginski is the perfect answer. Compelling and fresh, this is Fallen Art:

i want you to want me

I can't remember the last time I was actually floored by a work of art—I mean floored, effected in every conceivable way. I recently came across one of the most moving pieces of technology art/information architecture that I have ever seen. What is unique about it is that not only is the gathered data fascinating, the delivery is quite beautiful. I mean, yes technology art usually looks interesting with its random visual output, and information architecture is quite appealing in a black and white sort of way, but I tend to miss the poetry. This piece has the graphic design know-how needed to carry its message closer to the heart.

Take a look at Jonathan Harris & Sep Kamvar's I Want You to Want Me, (featured at NY MOMA last spring). It's a powerful soliloquy, real expressions of desire and loneliness orchestrated into an interactive installation that speaks of our human need for company and sense of self. This ode to humanity reveals how we see our selves, how we represent ourselves to the world, and our struggle to find a perfect match. Across time and cultures, methods and technologies vary, but this need is always universally the same in its urgency.


Perhaps, the work can be best described as a tracking device on the human quest for love and a chronicle of the phenomena that is online dating—what it says about us, and how it reveals our ultimate solo essence.

Offensive?

I'm curious to hear your opinions about California-born artist Douglas Stanley's Twin Tower version of the classic arcade video game Space Invaders. It's a multi-player game that requires individuals to work together to fend off the invaders. With some work, a team can actually beat the game.

This piece offended so many people that the artist decided to take down his installation at the Leipzig Games Convention in eastern Germany last month; and Taito, the creator of the original Space Invaders, is considering a lawsuit. . . which begs many, many questions. Among them: When is it not too soon anymore? Is there a calibur of tragedy in which it will never be okay to make art that is less than mournful? And, whose measuring stick do we use?

The Kite Runner

Have y'all seen (or read) Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner? We finally did. If you like type (and I know you do), you'll enjoy the film titles that The Ebeling Group created:

And, I must mention the story, too: Whoa. Amidst the intensity of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the film manages to reveal a Kabul that is universal in its everyday make up of good and evil. I am not very familiar with this culture (I've never even flown a kite), but I absolutely felt our kinship as a species. I know some of the scenes are difficult to watch, but necessary, I think. Rather than allowing you to just be an observer, the author broaches the subject of honor vs. shame in a way that injects the moral directly into your blood stream. Pretty effective from my perspective. Your reactions?

*For those of you who don't know the story, I hate to ruin it, but it must be acknowledged that the rape scene caused so much controversy, the actors were actually threatened and had to be relocated to an undisclosed city in the United Arab Emirates before the movie's release last year. What's surprising to me is that the family that experienced the most grief was that of 12-year-old Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, the boy who played the victim. In Afghanistan, the victim of a rape is often ostracized. (And, not that it should matter but: Fearing their community's response, Ahmad and his parents actuality refused Ahmad's participation in the rape scene. A body double was used.)

Art That Upsets; The Freedom of Speech.

Andres Serrano

Lars Vilks

Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin

Recently swedish artists like Lars Vilks and Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin has created quite a stir all over the world with their controversial art. Another artists that has created the same effect with his art is the american artist Andres Serrano. The conversations that these artists are starting are many, but fundamentally it is about our human rights to the freedom of speech.

Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization

Cover story from adbuster #79 by Douglas Haddow. Die you rock, punk, disco, hiphop, metal, grunge, alt-rock, emo, mash-up hipster scum of the sub-cultural waste basket!! I *heart* you.

Click here for article

What do you guys think?

Designers as Public Servants

Another great way designers have answered the questions of the heart:

The Hippo Roller is an easy-to-use water transporting tool that holds 90 liters or 4 to 5 times the normal water capacity of traditional methods. In impoverished places, the nearest water source can be 2 hours away. This design provides a more efficient and safer method to a basic life necessity.

Earlier this year, a fairly new non-profit called Project H offered a way for the public to help distribute these via their Fund This Project campaign. They successfully delivered 75 Hippo Rollers to residents of Kgautswane, South Africa, and proudly report that the donations have allowed the female population the time to pursue an education.

Currently, the new San Francisco chapter of Project H is working on a re-design of the Hippo Roller. If you'd like to donate your creative insight, the next meeting is this month. Email SF Chapter Head Ryan Duke for details: ryan@projecthdesign.com.

And while you're at it, have a look at Project H's current Fund This Product campaign, Lifestraws for Mumbai.