Full listing
Dream signs
12/07/1019:23
I defy anyone NOT to get excited about typography once you click on this link, amazing work: typarchive.com
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To promise the sun is better than the moon
15/06/1013:29
“We simply must balance our demand for energy with our rapidly shrinking resources. By acting now, we can control our future instead of letting the future control us.”
- Jimmy Carter, 18. April 1977
More than thirty years ago, a set of solar panels were installed on the roof of the White House, Jimmy Carter dedicated them with the foreboding words:
“A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”
In a society so utterly driven by success, it has become a standard for the new person in charge to radically break with the ideas of their predecessor. The constant reinvention demanded by society meant that after less than seven years use, the solar installation was removed at the request of the new president Regan.
Whilst Swiss artist filmmakers Christina Hemauer and Roman Keller fulfill part of Carter’s prediction by handing over one of the original panels to the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, their film, A Road not Taken allows us to step back in time to follow the route taken by the solar panels, the different people involved, and the larger decisions made in relation to the oil crisis of the time.
By reviewing the current focus on the ‘urgency’ of climate change within the lens of decisions taken and not followed through over 30 years ago, this film is a reminder that the way forward, the way to reinvent and innovate, is to start to look in the rearview mirror a lot more than we do. We don’t need anyone to promise us the moon, but promising the moon is a different matter and we need to be able to recognise the difference.
Read more about the making of the film via: roadnottaken.info
Newspaper Club
18/03/1008:07
‘Helping people make their own newspapers’ is the tagline. There’s not too much more that needs to be said about this, other than it’s the closest ‘anyone’ can get to on demand newspaper publishing. From the examples I’ve had the pleasure to see, the quality and service is superb. Just make sure your deadline hits at the same time as the presses start rolling and order the number of copies you need.
For more news... webfeed your browser to: http://www.newspaperclub.co.uk
Good design
12/12/0919:10
It’s great to find like folk elsewhere in the world who, like thomas.matthews are equally passionate - and importantly, concrete - about the way in which sustainability can offer tremendous potential to projects, to clients, suppliers and the general public.
Check out the website at: www.designcanchange.org and check the resources section for some outline tips on how design transforms the world.
Signage overload
18/11/0920:15
For anyone fascinated by typography, a visit to Buchstabenmuseum - the Museum of Letters - might result in a need to lay down for a while. Over just 5 years the organisation has been rescuing amazing typographic icons. The current collection contains historical letters from all over Berlin and beyond.
For more info, take a look at the museum’s website: buchstabenmuseum.de
Greengaged on film
06/10/0917:01
This was the week that was ‘Greengaged’. For further information check out our blog posts at Greengaged.com.
Innovate, then innovate more
21/07/0910:04
I had the good fortune to spend time with Bill Buxton a few years back, a talented multidisciplinarian, renowned for his work in computer interaction and interface design, he brings a fascinating openness to probe new questions. When I noticed his recent article on the value of being a multidisciplinary practitioner, I couldn’t resist putting it up here, having the same enjoyment of different modes of practice. He suggests that there are personal value limitations to developing personal excellence, and if the goal is innovation then that makes a lot of sense.
Here is a potted version of Bill’s list on Businessweek:
Always be bad at something that you are passionate about.
You can be everything in your life—just not all at once.
Life is too short to waste on bad teachers and inefficient learning.
Remember: You can learn from anyone.
Check out the full detail behind these points on: www.businessweek.com
TED alive!
10/07/0914:30
Summer is obviously the time for design events, and now the big one, TED is on, in Oxford, UK. If you don’t know about this conference, prepare to be very jealous of anyone attending, or register for next year! All is not lost however, as you can always catch up on all the talks through the videos which TED graciously upload following the event. A very interesting and promising line up for this year, as usual.
Read more at ted.com
Greengaged 09 website is live
25/06/0918:35
Greengaged, the sustainable design hub for the London Design Festival is returning for its second year with some very exciting plans. Don't wait until the event in September, get online to find out more, join the community and enter the debate on the fabulous new and improved website. The event is being developed by thomas.matthews, Kingston University and Re:Design in association with the the Design Council.
Check out the site at greengaged.com
Read the more recent DesignWeek article
Experiments in experiential typography
16/04/0900:13
One Day Poem Pavilion, by Jiyeon Song
Life gets interesting when different worlds start to collide. The increased focus in the media on creativity of artists and musicians to offer hope and an idea of rebirth to a struggling financial system is one obvious example. I’ve previously blogged on the merging of art and design practice but my real fascination at the moment is looking at more extreme worlds merging, get an engineering mind with an artist for example...
On this post, you are looking at the thesis work of graduate Masters student Jiyeon Song; he positions himself as Media Designer / Artist, his practice being focused on the exploration of ‘Experiential Typography’. Anyone involved in design will recognise the phenomena of the typography ‘geek’ who can name any typeface from 100 paces whilst being blindfolded, most people who find this site will know at least one person like that. I would be very surprised if Jiyeon would classify his work in the context within typography. The fact he works with hardboard sheets and yet calls himself a Media Designer is fascinating... that’s a new hardware approach perhaps.
‘Media’ as a classification is nowadays assumed to relate to the digital world, at the very least. And with that comes the idea of instant change, rapid update ability, fast control of information. Imagine a billboard which reveals its message over time in opposition to instant messaging (Stefan Sagmeister and others have explored this idea in various ways). There is a cultural confusion — in the positive sense of redefining how we classify the world or read information — where artifact blends with experience, where design message blends with art object. Experience of the art object carries with it the assumption that time is taken to absorb meaning, and that meaning is taken away with the viewer. That sense of reflection, consideration, mulling over is a fascinating challenge to a world which has been about speeding up. Maybe we’re recognising the value in moving forward ‘effectively’ is more rewarding simply moving forward ‘fast’.
It is interesting to contrast the speed at which we need to move towards sustainability with the need to slow down and consider the consequences of our actions that will help make it a reality. Lets have more designers considering slow communication and encouraging consideration. If your computer loads this image more quickly than the work itself appears then consider what we’re loosing in the tremendous value to be accrued from just waiting.
As the poem is slowly revealed, the meaning can resonate with its patient audience.
Read more about the project on: www.OneDayPoem.com
And read more about Jiyeon Song at: www.artcenter.edu
Innovation to change the world
13/04/0911:18
Calling all software developers, designers, business brains and other seriously creative minds, oh, and a raft of social problems which need to be solved through some innovative thinking, and action.
Over one weekend from 19th-21st June 2009, some of the best of the UK’s software developers and designers will be brought together with those at the sharp end of social problems at the Saltire Centre, Glasgow.
Their mission will be to convert six raw ideas to change the world into six social start-ups in under 48 hours — complete with working software.
If you would like to take part, or have the ideas for problems which need to be solved (from education, to health care, the environment; something on your doorstep or stuff that effects the world) then take a look at the Social Innovation Camp website to join up.
The deadline for the big problems is Friday 22 May 2009, so check out: www.scotland.sicamp.org
Keep it, kept it, share it
04/04/0911:03
Looking for the latest gadget? Got to have that iPhone (yes, it can be a tough choice!). We are ‘programmed’ to ‘need’ the latest badges of post-post-modernity, sometimes it is useful, and at other times it represents desire, pure and simple. Imagine for a moment that it is now cool to have only as much as you require to enjoy life, and no more. Straightforward idea, and one which many belief systems have constructed themselves around.
Enter a straightforward project called, Kept. The idea being that you take pride in valuing what you have around you, avoiding having more and more stuff produced to satisfy a desire. Of course, a natural response might be, ‘loss of a commercial reason will kill development’ (based on the creation of desire as a drive for commerce). The challenge to move to a post-consumer world is baffling to some, and to others a new kind of self-control might be well considered, bearing in mind the fierce effect now being felt by the actions of the banking profession.
Projects like Kept shouldn’t be viewed as a full answer, but it does perhaps offer an opportunity for us to rethink the way we individually calibrate our concept of ‘desire’. One thing is for sure: we won’t create any type of paradigm shift to benefit the world by consuming more stuff. The development of the commercial service sector has surely only just been born. And with that, the practice of design continues to redefine itself.
Read more about the project and subscribe at: www.kept.it
The film: Age of Stupid
15/03/0922:48
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I’ve just returned home from the premiere screening of the film, Age of Stupid, unquestionable reaction is... see it as soon as you can.
And whether you see it or not, watch out for the reviews, they will be a barometer of reaction, intelligent, or otherwise. Apart from the fact that it’s not every day that you have a film telling the world it’s stupid (even if that’s getting a more popular subject, and do you have to wonder why...) it’s not often that you get a country’s Prime Minster publicly committing their whole country to be carbon neutral by 2010. Never-mind that it is the relatively small country, the Maldives; In the after film screening, a live national linkup allowed this one country to show that it is possible to make such a critical pledge, and most of all that it is not only driven by an ambition of thought, but action.
Franny, Age of Stupid’s director then both congratulated and condemned the UK for it’s aim of a 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 (the date in which the film predicts as the end of the world). Within about 10 minutes she swept environment secretary Ed Miliband aside for his unwavering commitment to his setting up of new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth (his argument suggesting that the UK needs to be a model for how to increase greenhouse gasses at a slower rate, rather than cutting them altogether, like the Maldives. Solutions are never cut and dry, for Kingsnorth or the Maldives (in the first real action needs to be balanced with highly strategic futurology, and in the second, no matter how carbon neutral the Maldives become, they will still need people to fly for the ecotourism to work), and whilst reactionism isn’t always the best policy, there is certainly clear need for new thinking, powerful response and immediate action to be taken on all fronts.
Still from Age of Stupid, image use courtesy of Spanner Films
Like most attendees of the premiere, I could write a whole blog on the issues which are contained within this film and the reactions to it (or lack thereof in certain quarters). Whilst the film has received criticism and praise in equal measure this seems to pivot on a balance between the art of the film and its content.
Two points to sum up, for now... The first view of the archive – in which Pete Postlethwaite’s character resides – shows a massive warehouse floor containing the world’s art treasures rescued by the nations of the globe and saved from the wind, fire and watery depths of climate change. How this curation of art – requiring international agreement – actually worked baffles the mind: nations were able to collaborate to save their cultural artefacts, rather than to save their people. Is our fascination with the world’s art like our addition to consumerism, there to the end? Or is it saying that if only we had embraced true creativity! Let’s say both.
Whilst the film can rightly be criticized for being a little unbalanced in some areas, like the demonization of India’s low cost airlines there are a broad number of realizations when what seem to be caricatured situations are actually real, we realise that actually the specifics aren’t the concern, it is the massive generality of Global Warming that should invite our full criticism.
Age of Stupid launches on 20 March. Check the film’s website for more information.
I’ve just returned home from the premiere screening of the film, Age of Stupid, unquestionable reaction is... see it as soon as you can.
And whether you see it or not, watch out for the reviews, they will be a barometer of reaction, intelligent, or otherwise. Apart from the fact that it’s not every day that you have a film telling the world it’s stupid (even if that’s getting a more popular subject, and do you have to wonder why...) it’s not often that you get a country’s Prime Minster publicly committing their whole country to be carbon neutral by 2010. Never-mind that it is the relatively small country, the Maldives; In the after film screening, a live national linkup allowed this one country to show that it is possible to make such a critical pledge, and most of all that it is not only driven by an ambition of thought, but action.
Franny, Age of Stupid’s director then both congratulated and condemned the UK for it’s aim of a 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 (the date in which the film predicts as the end of the world). Within about 10 minutes she swept environment secretary Ed Miliband aside for his unwavering commitment to his setting up of new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth (his argument suggesting that the UK needs to be a model for how to increase greenhouse gasses at a slower rate, rather than cutting them altogether, like the Maldives. Solutions are never cut and dry, for Kingsnorth or the Maldives (in the first real action needs to be balanced with highly strategic futurology, and in the second, no matter how carbon neutral the Maldives become, they will still need people to fly for the ecotourism to work), and whilst reactionism isn’t always the best policy, there is certainly clear need for new thinking, powerful response and immediate action to be taken on all fronts.
Still from Age of Stupid, image use courtesy of Spanner Films
Like most attendees of the premiere, I could write a whole blog on the issues which are contained within this film and the reactions to it (or lack thereof in certain quarters). Whilst the film has received criticism and praise in equal measure this seems to pivot on a balance between the art of the film and its content.
Two points to sum up, for now... The first view of the archive – in which Pete Postlethwaite’s character resides – shows a massive warehouse floor containing the world’s art treasures rescued by the nations of the globe and saved from the wind, fire and watery depths of climate change. How this curation of art – requiring international agreement – actually worked baffles the mind: nations were able to collaborate to save their cultural artefacts, rather than to save their people. Is our fascination with the world’s art like our addition to consumerism, there to the end? Or is it saying that if only we had embraced true creativity! Let’s say both.
Whilst the film can rightly be criticized for being a little unbalanced in some areas, like the demonization of India’s low cost airlines there are a broad number of realizations when what seem to be caricatured situations are actually real, we realise that actually the specifics aren’t the concern, it is the massive generality of Global Warming that should invite our full criticism.
Age of Stupid launches on 20 March. Check the film’s website for more information.
Serious about sustainability
12/03/0919:03
When the subject of ‘sustainability’ comes up, it’s not often dealt with through humour. In fact, ‘sustainable’ isn’t a particularly compelling word in many ways; think about its use in other contexts, how would you react if your partner suggested your relationship was ‘sustainable’, not exactly excitement city is it!
From another point of view the ‘S’ word has been used for so long by the greenerati – scientists and longstanding campaigners and many others – who, whilst rightly passionate, aren’t necessarily the ones with facility for PR. Perhaps this has given the term associations of ‘boring’, too alternative, etc. Personaly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the term: a word will take on new meaning, having potential to change over time: we simply need to see it as a fully 4-dimensional reality, give it a fuller life, broader meaning. Let’s understand its possibility, its massive relevance to every part of our lives, and also through humour, why not. Just maybe being sustainable doesn’t need to be that serious-a-deal after all... (so long as you watch where you recycle your plastic bottles that is!)
Creative accounting?
01/03/0908:55
It’s good to hear some positive news, not least when the focus is how creativity might solve the financial challenges faced across the sectors:
A report from Nesta, published in Designweek suggests that between 2009 and 2013, the UK's creative industries will grow, on average, by 4 per cent, more than double the rate of the rest of the economy. The sector will then outstrip financial services, which currently employs 1.2 million professionals, according to Financial Services Skills Council figures.
The organisation predicts that, by 2013, there may be as many as 180 000 creative businesses in the sector, compared to the current number of 148 000, and the sector will be contributing as much as £85bn to the UK economy, compared to £57bn now.
Jonathan Kestenbaum, chief executive of Nesta, says, 'Today's figures point to the creative industries, and specifically the talent we have nurtured within it, becoming a key driver in the UK's recovery from recession.'
DesignArt bends over backwards?
02/02/0918:54
Sebastian Brajkovic: Lathe V, Bronze, embroidered upholstery, Edition of 8.
Over the past few years the term ‘DesignArt’ has been growing in use. That’s not Design and Art, or even the old educational combo Art & Design, but one word, ‘DesignArt’. Whilst this is clearly a rather fuzzy label, it is an attempt to reflect the sprawling borders of creative practice.
Generally fuzzy labels can obscure the point, but if nothing else it gives writers and bloggers something to bash against to help determine and define the scale of any paradigm shift in practice, and the markets and audiences it serves. With a training as an artist, and years experience as a designer, this is a title which intrigues me as I’m constantly jumping over the parapet to see what design can learn, borrow, and steal from other creative models, no matter how divergent. If DesignArt is a new model of practice to be taken seriously, why stop there, shouldn’t we also consider DesignLiterature, DesignAirtrafficcontrol, or DesignCircus?
There’s no doubt that multidisciplinary practice has something to offer the world, which specialism cannot, I’ll be writing more on this in a following post which looks at connection between sustainability, the markets and the need for design practice to adapt to those changes. Having worked as an installation artist for a number of years, it does feel like the world of design catching up the world of art in a lot of ways. And there’s a lot to glean from art practice,context is 50% of the work, understanding human relationships to space and to objects, storytelling, the list goes on.
So what are we to make of the market being created for DesignArt such as that of Sebastian Brajkovic, currently on show at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery (a business which specialises in promoting the converging fields of art and design through editing limited-edition works). On analysis, the majority of the galleries DesignArt practitioner’s are actually defiantly artists, rather than designers. (Marc Quinn, Atelier van Lieshout, Ron Arad, Wendell Castel, Ingrid Donat and extends to the current generation : Sebastian Brajkovic, Robert Stadler, Pablo Reinoso, Demakersvan, Xavier Lust, Vincent Dubourg and Mathieu Lehanneur.
Maybe it’s about recognising the role which art brings to a world; it is our cultural lifeline, the thing which keeps us growing, innovating and creative, and yet in less certain economic times it might otherwise be demoted. Personally, I feel that the longer that DesignArt refuses definition, the better; the questioning which pushes practitioners from all backgrounds to extend their practice, to risk working across boundaries, will create some interesting and engaging results.
You can see the work of Sebastian Brajkovic at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery in from 5 February to 14 March: http://cwgdesign.com
Further links on DesignArt can be found through:
In your element?
24/01/0910:20
Released this month ‘The Element: a new view of human capacity’ is sure to be another amazing read by Ken Robinson, agitator for the enhancement of creativity as critical to education. If you don’t know this guy, look back at my previous post on this brilliant, witty speaker and author, ‘Mr Ken Robinson speaks’. The cover design may not be a great creative work, but the content should be more captivating. Available from all good bookstores.
The site and state of land use
10/01/0911:57
The way in which a place builds into form, and the nature of how that relates to changing human relationships has always been a source of fascination to me. One reason to explain the reason I enjoy working on projects like the public consultation for the Legacy of the Olympic Park, or experiencing art installations, amongst other things.
With the constant shifting of our relationship with ‘place’ in mind, I thought the following website would be of broader interest.
The Center for Land Use Interpretation website catalogues different sites of interest within the USA. Their database includes many ‘unknown’ or lost sites, themed categories include Transportation, Water, Cultural, Industrial, Mining, Waste, Military, Nuclear / Radioactive, R&D. The website also links to better known sites such as Arcosanti (Art Urban Laboratory) by the architect often framed as utopian, Paolo Soleri. A great resource.
A less enticing image, but a fascinating website nevertheless, Subterranea Britannica deals with forgotten, inaccessible and disappeared sites, usually below ground (as the organisation’s name indicates). Curiously the site shown above doesn’t look particularly subterranean, and there are a good number of other surprising sites to be found on the website.
In both these sites, it’s fascinating to see how history is formed, recognised, remembered, or forgotten.
Designs on Christmas
18/12/0800:30
There’s no end of virtual Christmas cards this year, and generally you have to ask if it’s as much inspired by thrifty thinking as much making a step towards becoming more sustainable. Most companies’ physical cards are leave something to be desired at best and their virtual versions seem to follow the same character; so it’s nice when the fellows at the Design Council do something a little bit more enticing.
Are you ON for Christmas? The Design council have decided to focus on the small things which have a larger affect. Hopefully this shows a central commitment recognise the indelible link between ‘good design’ and ‘sustainable design’, how many Christmas tree lights will it manage to turn off by converted web visitors, that fact will remain in darkness unfortunately. But it’s great that the sustainable message will mean something for larger numbers of companies. Check out the Design Council’s virtual Christmas card
Recent statistics show that one billion Christmas cards, weighing 20,000 tonnes, will end up as waste this Christmas.
Mr Rob Ryan
16/12/0820:35
I love Rob’s intricate papercut work and prints, it reminds me of the wonderful illustrations and textiles by the Swedish artist/designer Stig Lindberg. Check out more of what Rob Ryan has does in his own subtle, beautiful and curiously haunting way at misterrob.co.uk
Positive, Neutral, or Responsible?
10/12/0822:57
This content of the post (below) is actually a steal from Andrew Zolli; I don’t make a habit of lifting complete quotes without comment (in fact this is a first) but I liked his idea of addressing the ‘Carbon Neutral’ term we are all now getting ‘familiar’ with.
Andrew is a futurologist I linked up whilst at Bruce Mau Design half a decade ago, I remember thinking then what a fascinating line of work it must be to reflect on and plot the future everyday.
And if you are wondering, the above model depicts the fullerene: one of the eight different molecular configurations which can be formed entirely of pure carbon. And now, here’s the post:
Carbon Positive, Carbon Negative, or Carbon Responsible?
“To some the glass is half empty, to others half full. It appears this question of perspective is also afflicting those looking at going beyond carbon neutral. Two terms are being used interchangeably despite being opposites: carbon positive & carbon negative.
In both cases people are referring to offsetting or sequestering more carbon dioxide than is emitted. To date, neither Wikipedia nor Google definitions has weighed in on this matter.
As the point is to leave less CO2 in the atmosphere than you put in, we at Z+ think it makes sense to call it carbon negative.
We are however willing to concede that offsetting beyond neutrality is a positive thing to do!”
Text by Andrew Zolli, from the Z+ blog
News relationships lead to innovation
04/12/0814:34
We’re used to seeing sponsored sections of newspaper, the big player’s version of an inserted flyer, the PR value is varied but always clearly focussed on the sponsor’s product as the result of a simple cash/ad space exchange. In this hard copy news encounter there’s obviously a halo effect between the brands of sponsor and news organisation.
Things have been a little more clear-cut in the online world of news organisations; The Guardian’s website was The Guardian’s own domain, apart from the odd banner ad,
A new kind of relationship with IDEO looks set to change that online balance. Since working with IDEO as a consultant a few years back I’ve kept an interest in the relationship of their practice to the PR, and this recent development is an interesting and rather impressive move. IDEO and The Guardian Online have started a quasi joint venture to publish thoughts on... anything to do with ‘innovation’ (which happens to be one of IDEO’s key self generating labels.) Whilst it could be easy to dismiss this a purely a PR exercise for a big and bright international service and product design company, it is also a significant move for Guardian themselves.
This IDEO driven/branded marketing exercise uses some of the Guardian’s columnists shoulder to shoulder with its own writers. There is clearly an eye for an opportunity from the guardian in this new style relationship. The news industry has been in sharp decline in recent years, and clearly they are looking at expanding and innovating themselves into new relationships with thinkers, content makers, and ultimately it’s increasingly technologically driven public.
In the same way that ‘everyone’ can now call themselves a ‘designer’ (from bioengineers to service strategists), the news industry is opening themselves up to new ‘content developers’ from diverse practice backgrounds. This isn’t much of a surprise when you consider the impressive rise of the blogger, however there is an interesting paradigm shift when institutions such as the Guardian open up their website, and not only their comments and blog in collaboration with their own columnists. Let’s see where this can go next.
Take a look and see what you make of the inspire-innovate relationship.
Lord Holycroft
30/11/0810:54
Come and buy.... not that I make a habit of selling products on this blog, but Danny is a very good mate and having pains in my side from laughing at his 2006 calendar, I thought it would tickle him back to see his new 2009 calendar site here. If you’ve still to get your new office calendar, or one for your grandmother, you could do worse than visit Lordholycroft.com
Domestic communication design
26/11/0820:05
Just ‘looking cool’ doesn’t make for good design but there are so many fantastic colours and simple ideas on this site from stickers and wall drawings through to mirrors and product. Hard to believe that anyone ever thought that ‘illustration was dead’ (for the young guns... that was a long time ago it has to be said!), seems very much alive and well at domestic.fr
Buy the Golden Fleece
23/11/0818:02
Turning into a major institution, this is your chance to buy work by some of Scotland’s top artists through to those who are to be tomorrows big hitters.
Works from David Shrigley, Nathalie de Briey, Toby Patterson, Alisdair Gray and many more are being offered with startlingly low reserves, and you can actually give a silent bids online too if you’re not able to attend the event in person. Some of the most interesting artists have set the lowest reserves to encourage all bidders which is great to see.
Read more about this event, taking place on 6 December at 6pm in Glasgow, the dedicated website has plenty of information and it’s great to see this fundraising event getting great support from so many established and talented artists:
thegoldenfleece-auction.blogspot.com
If you love print and pattern...
16/11/0819:55
This is a page from the astounding book, The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, architect, visual researcher and artist from the late 1800s. I borrowed a library copy about 20 years ago, having forgotten about it since then. Amazing that its luscious colour plates have been finely scanned by two separate groups and the whole book is now available to view online.
The Grammar of Ornament is now available on Flickr, and through The Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture website.
What is fascinating is the level of study and analysis developed by Owen at this period in history, it certainly deserves its place as a widely used ‘Bible of Ornament’. Originally published in 1856, it is thankfully still possible to buy a new edition (2001) by DK Publishing. I’d love to come across the original version again, with it’s rich, striking print.
Just DO something
12/11/0800:19
I’ve just come across what looks like it was an interesting lecture series, thankfully the site contains a good amount of info too lead the casual reader down a long, and interestingly winding path.
Check out the site for more info at dolectures.co.uk
Climate Safety: Keep your eye on that big old ball
09/11/0814:24
image: George Monbiot
Interested to hear what any of these speakers have to say? Wish I was around for this talk, it should be fantastic!
Caroline Lucas
George Monbiot
Jeremy Leggett
Kevin Anderson
Tim Helweg-Larsen
A short and simple summary of the latest climate science followed by a discussion of what we’re going to do about it.
On Thursday 27th November from 7-9pm, The Public Interest Research Centre will present the Climate Safety report at Friends Meeting House, Euston, London.
The ‘Climate Safety’ report gives a clear and simple summary of the latest science, and shows how our current handling of the problem has exposed us to serious and growing risks. Modelled on the Australian ‘Climate Code Red’ report, ‘Climate Safety’ delivers a clear message that to have any chance of maintaining a safe climate, we must rapidly decarbonise our society, preserve global sinks, and address the problem with an unprecedented degree of seriousness.
Even with a commitment to 80% carbon cuts by 2050, “Climate Safety” warns that our current policy response does not match up to the scale of the challenge. Come along to this event which promises a discussion exploring ways to get beyond ‘politics-as-usual’, and to achieve ‘a full emergency response’. Worth a punt isn’t it.
If you are interested to come along then take a look check out climatesafety.org
Following the talk you can now download the climate safety report here
City Eco Lab
07/11/0811:19
In the words of John Thackara....
“If you know of another event about city-regions and design that includes permaculture, mushrooms, spin-farming, fritzing, open money, peak protein, alternative trade networks, dry toilets, sustainable urban drainage, alternate reality games, watershed planning, seed banks, de-motorisation, and VeloWalas – go to it. That way I won’t suffer remorce for my encouragement of long-distance travel. Otherwise, here are highlights of the encounters and presentations planned for the event”
Aimed at encouraging visitors to think about ways to interface with a sustainable world, the event will run from 15-28 November in St Etienne.
If you’re passing through the ‘Massif Central’ area of France you could do worse than check it out. For more info: biennalesaint-etienne.citedudesign.com
There is still a sense that sustainability is this ‘otherworld’ which we need to be forced into making a connection with. To some extent that’s understandable (ideas about Permaculture have ‘only’ been talked about for the past 30-40 years), people obviously take a little while to take new ideas on board.
I hope that the exhibition activates a positive change in the visitors who experience it. I also wish for a parallel approach that actually puts the knowledge and tools in peoples lives. Is it a dream to imagine a real life strategic project to promote social change, along the lines of Jamie Oliver’s ambitions to instigate change in the way society eats, but more successful than that. Aren’t we in danger of perpetuating the issues of sustainability as a freakshow, something which is put on display and shown to be ‘different’.
Perhaps I should just go and check it out, I might just find something new there, who knows.
Guides to sustainability for designers
28/10/0819:02
Not so well known in the UK as it could be, this is a really interesting site giving designers some of the equipment required to work more sustainably. For more information check out Re-nourish.com
Worth a check is another project by Sophie of thomas.matthews in collaboration with Caroline Clark (lovely as a tree), and Nat Hunter of Airside, take a look at their approach at threetreesdontmakeaforest.org
No rain in the Tate Turbine Hall
21/10/0818:42
This erstwhile exhibition will be an engaging encounter for any visitors (particularly if you have an interest in the use of scenarios for visioning exercises!). This is the work of Dominique Gonzalez Foerster. The context for what is encountered in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern is set in text before you enter the space (see above image).
The visitor becomes participant to the imaginary event.
IKEA meets contemporary art space, where are the boundaries, where are the differences, how does it make you feel...
Nothing is quite as it seems, with perfect replicas of work owned by Tate Modern, of Louise Borgeois and Alexander Calder and others; these sculptures are larger than their originals, they confess to being props only when tapped on closer inspection. This isn’t a work about physical objects, but one of a socio-psychological encounter. Definitely worth checking out!
This exhibition runs at Tate Modern until 13 April 2009.
For more information visit tate.org.uk
"Things I have learned in my life..."
09/10/0822:57
Generally I'm not terribly impressed by graphic design (which might sound strange coming from a proponent of communication design, amongst other things), however Stefan Sagmeister's work often makes me smile, his talk at TED earlier this year has some nice examples, showing his playful approach.
Origins
08/10/0823:34
Travelling back from a presentation in
Coventry this evening and chatting about the concepts
we had presented, the conversation was sharply
punctuated by an amazing thought from the seat
behind:
"I've been reading the Origin of Species... by Charles Dickens"
What a wonderful idea! That made us laugh all the way back to London, thinking about the impact of that kind of evolution.
"I've been reading the Origin of Species... by Charles Dickens"
What a wonderful idea! That made us laugh all the way back to London, thinking about the impact of that kind of evolution.
Just what is going on?!
06/10/0822:27
Never a big fan of the ‘True’ branding which this video evokes, this video drew my attention. Whilst the aims of the team who put this together incorporate a whole cornucopia of contemporary issues, from credit crunch, to climate change, the video plays on the associations of the original advertising strategy very successfully indeed. You would have a hard time thinking it wasn’t a Budweiser ad. It’s well done.
Multi-touch
06/10/0822:02
I am fascinated by anything which creates interactivity, from pens and paper, to multi-touch and more. I found this back yard experiment online at IDEO Labs
Demand for change
01/10/0821:38
This stunning range of statisitics comes from the annual Global Management Meeting event by Sony BMG Entertainment in May this year. Its role: to illustrate the demand for change. When a company shows its investment in knowledge like this it is hard to knock it. Mixing visionary message and with brand is a winner. This is actually a revised version of an earlier video, but the combined work of research and graphics compliments each other with simplicity and directness. Enjoy, and reel at those stats, how have they changed in the 5 months since this video was first made, what will they be like a year on from now, change is exponentially faster day by day. How are you going to react to the increasing speed of change?
Another more recent related video by the Now Network, similar thinking!
(this last video link added on 27.04.09)
Studio visit No. 1
01/10/0809:55
Whilst this isn't the first studio visit for thomas.matthews (by any means!) it marks the first to have reached my blog, so more to come.
Another amazing installation commissioned by the frequently inspirational ArtAngel organisation, this show by artist Roger Hiorns. A quasi immersive experience of blue crystals that coat every wall of an otherwise completely unassuming council flat 15 minutes south of London Bridge underground station.
Many photos are flooding the internet of this space, with relatively few of the close-up (imagine a room covered in with this intensity, so much more than simply a blue wall). What did people do before mobile phone cameras. Go see it whilst it remains in place. Runs to 2 November; the experience is better than the imagery!
For more information visit Artangel.org.uk
Googled: it's a long, long post...
01/10/0809:45
Yes, another project with 'good' ambitions; to 'change' the world, or create a step change in peoples attitude and action. Often a project will give space for reflection, and most often it results in a series of ideas, some old, some new. One of Google's current projects is the 10 to the power of 100, based on many ideas contributing to a manifesto for change. 10tothe100 is a competition project being run by Google, submit your ideas before 20 October, 2008. Project10tothe100.com
It reminds me of the various editions of the Whole Earth catalogue, initiated by all round inspiration, Mr Bucky Fuller, and published (rather a short time before I entered this world) in 1969:
A rather worn copy, of the increasingly rare 'Whole Earth Catalogue'.
Pages have the layout of a typical catalogue of products of the era (think about warming up your Gestetner machine!). The frontispiece informs the reader, "The Whole Earth Catalogue functions as an evaluation and access device. With it, the user should know what is worth getting and where and how to do the getting."
Under the title, "Purpose", the text goes on to say, "We are as gods and might as well get good at it. So far remotely done power and glory--as via government, big business, formal education, church--has succeeded to the point where gross defects obscure actual gains. In response to this dilema and to these gains a realm of intimate, personal power is developing--power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested. Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the WHOLE EARTH CATALOGUE."
I wonder how Bucky would change his approach if he was blogging himself, and advising the people at the Google project (above). The above paragraph could be talking about the current scope of the Internet. Never before have we had so much capacity to change the world, so many tools within easy reach. To what degree does the power still remain in the word, getting traction on new ideas is still the challenge to engineering social behaviour change.
I wonder if Patrick Leavens was able to push forward this idea. It still offers an interesting and potentially viable alternative to the Internet experience, Internews/Internet. Shame that now google has to engage people with a competition that crowns an individual winner, rather than expecting that they'll enter out of good will for change...
Design the world: solutions to water crisis: competition
30/09/0820:06
Another fascinating and ambitious competition from the people at Aspen, lets see more ambition changing events like this, certainly it makes a more relevant focus than the usual, 'design a poster', water is going to be one of the most highly contested resources over the next few decades. Aspendesignchallenge.org
The future for designers
29/09/0819:13
“We won’t have a future which needs design.” That’s enough to get even the most aesthetic designers out of their shells surely? It’s interesting to see the range of approach here to the question of our changing attitude and action towards the development of sustainable design. There’s a confusion from some of those interviewed about how to get to grips with sustainability, lets look to people showing by example as well as raising the level of debate.
Ken Robinson speaks
26/09/0810:01
When I first encountered the challenging mix of wit and tell it like it is approach of Sir Ken Robinson, I must have emailed and recommended it to almost everyone I know. This guy has some really solid inspirational thinking on the relationships of creativity, innovation and culture, and the way in which society continually fails to promote it, particularly within education (however the points are more broadly socially relevant too).
Here is Ken's talk at TED, which - by the way - is an amazing site crammed full of inspirational thinkers and doers from all walks of life, check them out after Ken's talk at ted.com
And if you liked that, take a look at Sir Ken speaking at the RSA
...and now, a book alert: ‘The Element’, to be published in January 2009. Sure to be a fascinating investigation into the potency of creativity, a must read (I can't wait!). Glad he's dropped the 'Sir', replaced by the Ph.D (now that must be an old fashioned Ph.D rather one driven by the current funding takeover of higher education).
Design and sustainability: resources
23/09/0823:47
Here are a few organisations working in the
intersections of design and sustainability. I don’t
usually throw up a set of links without further
detail, but I’m working through a list of things I’d
like to comment on, for now see what you make of this
mix:
bc.gdc.net/practivism/
AIGA Center for Sustainable Design
designcanchange.org
bc.gdc.net/practivism/
AIGA Center for Sustainable Design
designcanchange.org
Sketchy attitude
18/09/0808:12
Created by three researchers in the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, it’s great to see an interface which brings us back to basic directness of sketching. I noticed that there has been some criticism of this interface because there is a fear that many CAD trained operatives would be redundant, it’s an unfortunate thing that we are loosing that ability to sketch, as technological interfaces continue to develop, it shows how important it will be for us to connect back to simple tactile expression. Pick up your pencils now.
One eye on design competitors?
18/09/0801:04
Are you competitive? Here’s a great list of
opportunities in one space:
facesofdesign.com/competitions
facesofdesign.com/competitions
More time please?
18/09/0800:58
In the same way that you can divide the population into young and old by wether they still wear a watch, it seems a slightly baffling idea to create an 'old skool' clock for the internet, particularly when any screen already has at least one time measuring device in one corner or another. On the other hand it is still a bit of fun, which isn’t a bad reason to keep things like this around, is it.
Sustainable Branding
10/09/0808:32
How
can socially responsible businesses build authentic
brands for a
more sustainable future? That's the question at the center of an
upcoming workshop series entitled "Branding for Sustainability"
featuring top executives from:
Gap Inc. (September 17 in San Francisco)
Whole Foods (September 22 in Austin)
Eileen Fisher (October 20 in New York City)
For further information take a look at brandingforsustainability.com
more sustainable future? That's the question at the center of an
upcoming workshop series entitled "Branding for Sustainability"
featuring top executives from:
Gap Inc. (September 17 in San Francisco)
Whole Foods (September 22 in Austin)
Eileen Fisher (October 20 in New York City)
For further information take a look at brandingforsustainability.com
Diller & Scofidio
10/09/0800:46
The work of Diller & Scofidio is pretty engaging stuff, thinking differently about architecture, I came across their newish website, the interface of which bows more than a nod to the apple interface, great work though dillerscofidio.com
Hey old bag!
09/09/0809:35
It still stuns me that such a high
percentage of lunchtime shoppers nipping out of their
office for a hurried bite to eat still insist on
taking their sandwich and pack of crisps away in a
brand new, volumous, plastic bag -- in my case from
the local Sainsburys -- only to throw the bag into
the bin a minute later as they enter the park around
the corner (it is summertime). Worse still, the
supermarket staff haven't cottoned on to the idea
that they could actually ask if the aimless customer
if they actually 'need' a bag. Lets see how long it
takes for this post to start to become irrelevant.
You could watch this on your iPhone your in the checkout line: www.plasticbagfree.com
You could watch this on your iPhone your in the checkout line: www.plasticbagfree.com
Greengaged: the LDF sustainability hub
07/09/0819:21
The London Design Festival is about to kick off and thomas.matthews have been busy with [re]design and Kingston University to curate and launch the event's first ever 'sustainable design hub'. It's a free event, based at the Design Council. Featuring debates, workshops, exhibitions, seminars and master classes, it brings together an exciting mix from all sectors of the design industry with strategists, chemists and magicians to focus on sustainability issues, exchange ideas and carve out new roles for design.
To look at the programme and book your free place visit greengaged.com
Japanese woodblock on acid
07/09/0819:03
Two good friends Asako and Jack invited us for a meal last night (fantastic to have Okoniyaki again guys, many thanks) and showed us the work of contemporary woodblock artist, Kenichi Yokono. I really like the quality of illustration in his work produced from 2004: it consists of woodblocks inked in red alone, and interestingly, never printed. Fascinating image/objects.
Check out the work on the website of Kenichisan and look at the 2004 work.
100 months to save the planet ...and counting
30/08/0821:53
One of a number of similar projects which are great too look at, what is the barrier to signing up though. Real action needs personal motivation, which of these projects can hope to achieve that result? Not to diss the motivation of those who have developed the project, but when thinking about issues like ‘credit crunch’ we know that people don’t necessarily respond to logic until it’s too late. Particularly when they have the feeling that there is safety in numbers (if we’re all doing it one way, it must surely be right...?) Making the issue of climate change personal is perhaps the key, how does it affect YOU, not your neighbour. The Internet is becoming a great social network, but can it develop as a space to create personal motivation to make change on the ground....
Check out the site at onehundredmonths.org
Inspiration on TED.com
15/08/0819:12
I cannot enthuse highly enough about the TED conference, and I’ve never even been; each year a broad selection of thinkers and doers are brought together to share knowledge and insights, these include designers, technologists, futurologists, cultural seers, bio-memeticists, explorers, etc., etc. The list keeps getting broader and longer, but always fascinating.
How is it possible to rave about such a wellspring of innovative thought and action without having been to a single event? Every last talk can be found online of course, at TED.com.
Have a good poke around the site. There are a few duds in any conference, however you’ll be hard pressed to find that here (one or two perhaps), mostly the content will fire up anyone’s hunger for knowledge, exploring the unknown, making the all important link between learning and creativity.
Make it instructable
31/07/0820:14
You have a spare hour, perhaps you fancy building a Stirling Engine? Welcome to the online hangout of the modern Heath Robinson at instructables.com
If you’ve not explored the portal of the Instructables website, some might say you’ve never lived, the reality is more that you will be amazed by the ingenuity of ordinary people looking for home cooked solutions to a myriad of problems so broad ranging it is almost untrue. Yes there are plenty of weird and wacky, with a few neat ideas rolled in to the mix.
Let awe and wonderment begin: Instructables.com
The world according to design...
15/07/0818:02
I have to admit that I was originally curious, and concerned about the principles The Designers Accord being, as it is, an uncertified denomination of designers who would like to associate themselves with the issues of sustainability.
At a time when popular awareness is starting to understand terms like ‘greenwash’ there is obviously a commercial as well as ethical demand for design companies to step towards an understanding of their impact, both positive and negative, on the issues in sustainability. The idea that signing up to the label of the Designers Accord (DA) has been criticized for suggesting your company may have taken ambitious steps towards a sustainable future, yet in an unmonitored and uncertified way.
That criticism assumes of course that the DA is like so many other ‘membership’ organisations designed to give the client a supposed confidence in the members associated green credentials. Interestingly, the DA makes no claims to be anything other than a group of designers of very different backgrounds and standards with an interest in change. Whilst it has to be acknowledged that change ultimately comes out of action, a critical first step must surely be based around communication, and developing a forum to explore pathways through an unchartered future. Perhaps the DA is a first move towards establishing a community, but is it useful if it doesn’t demand an agreed, measured, certified adoption structure for its members.
‘Movement’ and the Internet also make bedfellows that can make people wary, largely because a culture of joining and subscribing must make ‘action’ follow along way behind the click of the mouse.
Bringing sustainable design practice to your own design company requires more than membership, to go further than that, at thomas.matthews over ten years work in the field of sustainable design means that the greater ambition is to go beyond even the expectation of certification (such as the popular ISO 14001).
Point your mouse towards designersaccord.org.
Seven ways to a greener life
04/07/0818:55
Do the Green Thing is a fun site designed to enthuse people about the ease of a more sustainable lifestyle, and the broader experience that results. It’s a creative exploration of the issues raised by climate change; nice design work from peepshow too.
See what you can do to green yourself up, take at look at dothegreenthing and have a smile or two at the same time.
Nathalie de Briey
27/06/0819:00
I was going to pop this in a category called ‘Links’ until my brain caught up with the fact that all blog postings are links. If that had been the case then, my wife’s site would obviously be top of the list. Artist extraordinaire, Nathalie works with the most challenging materials, from breath, to frost, rubberbands, and wind. Check out her site, and most of all her blog at: nathaliedebriey.com
TM in the Consultation Games
23/06/0820:45
Always fantastic to see that an interactive we developed works well, particularly in the field of public consultation (a fascinating and varied audience to work with). We developed this design approach to inform the master plan for developing the approach to the Legacy of the Olympic Park. It’s nice when it gets this amount of press too.
Read all about it on the BBC website
Spacial headspace
09/06/0801:39
The architecture developed by Herzog & de Meuron for Tate Modern in London is largely focused on puncturing levels and creating interesting connections through space. The approach to the walls and ceiling of the ground floor shop forms a small essay in this approach, one I think is daring, and beautiful.
Glass walls fan out as they rise up to meet the ceiling, and you are consciously aware of the ‘hidden’ lighting betraying their slitted homes. Stunning, whilst understated. I love the fact that this degree of detail was reserved for one of the smaller spaces in the building, nice work.