Social Design Notes

The News Aesthetic

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:18:36 -0500

Very funny meta-newscast breaking down the style of truth in TV journalism:

With nearly a million and a half views, you may have already seen it. But it’s news to me so I thought I’d share.

Flow Lamp

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:53:17 -0500

Flow Lamp. A self-powered lamp post for illuminating public spaces in developing countries, this bamboo wind turbine charges LEDs, and is both cheap and recyclable. What started out as a graduate thesis will be going into production soon.

Green Patriot Posters

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:41:27 -0500

Green Patriot Posters. A call for poster designs to be included in a forthcoming book on contemporary graphic design promoting sustainability and the fight against climate change. Deadline is March 27th!

Design Against the Death Penalty

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:12:25 -0500

Design Against the Death Penalty. The death penalty will be the next focus of Poster for Tomorrow, an international, collaborative poster project. The project will culminate on October 10, 2010, the world day against the death penalty coordinated by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Posters are intended to be used by campaigners around the world and will be chosen in part for their reproducibility. The call for entries will open on April 10 with posters due in June. The project is run by 4tomorrow an independent, non-profit organization based in Paris that promotes active citizenship through the medium of design.

Always Wear Your Seatbelt

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:15:41 -0500

Always Wear Your Seatbelt. Stunning short video from the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership. The whole ad is one a simple, slightly surreal scene, but touches a deep, emotional place — a similar place to the recent Google ad, another simple, powerful video that’s surreal in its own way. Nicely done. (Via)

Free Business Card Printing

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:32:48 -0500

Fans of this blog, Next Day Flyers got in touch to offer free printing of 1,000 standard business cards to one lucky reader. These are glossy, full color, double-sided and would make a nice subversive palm card for a worthy cause. Next Day will include free ground shipping anywhere in the Continental U.S.

Next Day Flyers is an offset printing company that prints posters, flyers, and door hangers.

To enter, leave a comment here before February 28, 11:59PM EST. You must include your email address (though it will not show up publicly on the site) and you must be 18 or over to enter. On March 1, 2010 one commenter will be selected randomly.

Update 3/1:: Comments are now closed. Congratulations Brian!

Job Loss to Recovery

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:18:28 -0500

Job Loss to Recovery. The Obama administration has posted an infographic to bolster claims that a year after its signing, the Recovery Act is working wonders. I get the point, but the y-axis label is confusing: wouldn’t negative job loss be the same as job creation? Regardless, I had a different picture of the recovery.

When Fear Turns Graphic

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:27:11 -0500

When Fear Turns Graphic. “Switzerland stunned many Europeans, including not a few Swiss, when near the end of last year the country, by referendum, banned the building of minarets... A poster was widely cited as having galvanized votes for the Swiss measure but was also blamed for exacerbating hostility toward immigrants and instigating a media and legal circus.”

Three Little Words

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:33:45 -0500

Artist Unknown. Via.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Non-Profit Design

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:59:41 -0500

How does one make design for social change sustainable and scalable? To build a replicable model and an enduring momentum?

As someone who’s worked with non-profits for many years, I’ve occasionally thought about perhaps starting a non-profit of my own as a way of institutionalizing some of my activism and work, ideas, research and outreach.

You might be surprised to learn that the largest charity in the world is not run by Bill and Melinda Gates, but is one that promotes and supports innovation in the field of architectural and interior design. That’s the Stichting INGKA Foundation, the Dutch Foundation that owns IKEA.

I have more modest ambitions and checking out the prior art, I found there’s no shortage of design-driven non-profit organizations. A search on GuideStar, a database of non-profit organizations, turns up over 5,000 search results matching the term “design.” In my survey of design-centric non-profit organizations here are some I thought were notable. This list is not exhaustive (for instance, it does not include some amazing educational institutions, museums, or documentary projects) and the examples here are all US-based, but take a look.

Continue »

Impact: Design for Social Change

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:24:44 -0500

Impact: Design for Social Change. This summer SVA will hold a six-week intensive workshop on design for social change in New York City. Sessions will focus on developing a collaborative project as well as your own non-client-based project — and funding it.

Tracking the Recovery

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:30:31 -0500

Sources: CNN, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Howard Zinn

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:04:33 -0500

Yesterday, Howard Zinn passed away. A former World War II bombardier turned life-long activist, teacher, and radical historian, Zinn inspired and touched the lives of many. His watershed book A People’s History of the United States told the stories of atrocities and brutality, activism and organizing often ignored by mainstream accounts of US history. His anthology of primary sources, Voices of a People’s History of the United States led to the founding of a non-profit organization that holds dramatic readings of the works across the US: “By giving public expression to rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past—and present—VOICES seeks to educate and inspire a new generation working for social justice.”

Democracy Now! aired an hour-long tribute this morning. If you subscribe to Netflix, you can watch this documentary on his life and work. There’s more audio, video, and text at howardzinn.org.

Font Aid IV

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:27:34 -0500

Font Aid IV. The Society of Typographic Aficionados is calling for designers to submit a black and white "ampersand" icon to build a collaborative font that will be sold to raise funds for relief efforts in Haiti. Previous Font Aid fonts have benefitted UNICEF to help war and disaster refugees, victims of the September 11 tragedies in the US, and relief efforts in countries affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis.

26 Well Designed Websites that Help Haiti

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:19:36 -0500

26 Well Designed Websites that Help Haiti. Maps and large photos of suffering children are a frequent motif, but the sites do present a modest range of development approaches. I’m also interested in what’s happening at CrisisCommons, rapidly developing open source community technology projects for humanitarian relief.

Update 3/21/2010: the open source project Ushahidi has had some good press lately about its role in the Hatian and Chilean earthquake relief efforts, mapping the crisis and response with text-messages.