Design Conversations
Graphic Design as Consumer ProductPosted by Ellen Lupton, on Thursday August 16, 2007One of the themes looked at in the Triennial is the rise of graphic design as a consumer product. It used to be that graphic design was strictly a business-to-business service. Triennial, graphic design, consumer, product, business-to-business, B2B, service, access, professional quality, software, fonts, printing, services, Blik, precut, vinyl graphics, applied, direct-to-consumer, commodity, commodification, DIY, vector-based, image file, sign company |
|
Doing more with lessPosted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Friday August 03, 2007The Buckminster Fuller Institute has announced an annual award named in honor of the innovator has been described as a “philosopher of shelter”. Buckminster Fuller Institute, financial, $100000, award, annual, Buckminster Fuller, honor, innovator, problem solving, solution, innovation, limited, energy, appropriate, usage, resource, maximum, positive, impact |
 |
Low Cost and ValuePosted by Ellen Lupton, on Thursday July 19, 2007Several weeks ago while in the exhibition speaking to two museum directors I found myself pulled away by two engaged visitors. Ruth Yoffe, a product/retail/branding designer, and Elisabeth M de Morentin who is a recent graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology overheard my conversation with the two directors and wanted to discuss their insights with me. Ruth Yoffe, Elisabeth M de Morentin, costs, Display, Bamboo Treadle Pump, One Laptop per Child, OLPC, AMD, Personal Internet Communicator, Ceramic Water Filters, Drip Irrigation System, International Development Enterprises, IDE, Water Storage System, Global Village Shelter, Jaipur Foot, Kenya Ceramic Jiko, Kinkajour Projector and Library, LifeStraw, Mad Housers Hut, Q-Drum, StarSight, MoneyMaker Pumps, Sugarcane Charcoal, Solar Aid, Pot-in-Pot Cooler, low cost, affordable, inexpensive, online, discussion, Corporate Knights, publish, Julia Novy-Hildesley, Lemelson Foundation, value, return on investment, ROI, poor, productivity, enhancing, enhance, technology |
 |
Light Filters WaterPosted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Friday June 08, 2007A low cost UV water filter is making an impact in the field. Mexican non-profit Niparaja teamed with AquaStar and the local Technological Institute on the design of the low cost UV Bucket water filter. low cost, affordable, inexpensive, UV, ultraviolet, bucket, water filter, impact, Mexico, non-profit, NGO, Niparaja, AquaStar, Technological Institute, disinfection, module, water, lamp, rate, purify, purifying, fabrication, distribution, rural, population, Baja Sur, school, federation, chain store, DICONSA, Mexican, Ministry of Social Affairs, stores, nationwide |
|
It's a Book, It's a Blog, TooPosted by Ellen Lupton, on Thursday May 31, 2007Here’s another blog that just became a book: Michael Bierut’s new collection of essays, Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design, published by Princeton Architectural Press. Sixty-eight of those essays first appeared on Design Observer, the blog that Bierut edits with Wiliam Drenttel, Jessica Helfand, and contributors. blog, book, Michael Bierut, essays, collection, Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design, Princeton Architectural press, Design Observer, William Drenttel, Jessica Helfand, editors, online, content, print, permanent, snapshot, TYPEFACE |
|
Rope PumpsPosted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Friday May 25, 2007The show was conceived to begin a conversation and provoke discussion about the broad range of ways various organizations and individuals are addressing the underpinnings of poverty through design innovations. The selected objects tell a story and are windows into the numerous ways these groups are providing direct solutions Exhibition, Design for the Other 90%, discussion, conversation, address, underpinnings, poverty, innovations, story, rope pump, technology, adapt, water, supply, local, materials, production, repair, profit-based, sustainability, Practica Foundation, Netherlands, Holland, Zimbabwe, Millenium Development Goals, cultural acceptance, simplicity, efficiency, durability, volume, low cost, affordable |
|
It's a Magazine, It's a Book, It's a MookPosted by Ellen Lupton, on Thursday May 24, 2007The magazine Make, featured in Design Life Now, bills itself as a “mook,” a hybrid between a book and a magazine. The smallish paperback size recalls Popular Mechanics from the 1950s Make, Design Life Now, Exhibition, Triennial, feature, mook, hybrid, book, magazine, paperback, size, format, craft, publications, feel, efficient, resources, Martha Stewart, miniature editions, fashion magazines, print vs digital, virtual vs physical, compact, permanent, eco advantage |
|
It's a Book, It's a Blog, It's a BlookPosted by Ellen Lupton, on Tuesday May 15, 2007Recently released is The Word It Book, a collection of visual submissions to the blog Speak Up. “Word It” is one of SpeakUp’s most popular and original features. Each month, a different word is posted on the site, and anyone who so desires can submit a visual/verbal interpretation. Word It, book, collection, visual, submissions, blog, SpeakUp, Design Life Now, Triennial, Exhibition, favorites, high-resolution, files, print vs digital, virtual vs physical, curated, pacing, scale, sequence, interviews, commentary, sensual, seductive, phenomenon, blogging, writers, Lulu Blooker Prize, blooks |
|
Video: In Their Own WordsPosted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Monday May 14, 2007What is the best way to convey the spirit of the work being done around the world? Footage of the exhibition objects being used in the locations where they are normally used helps provide context. spirit, work, World, footage, context, Exhibition, Design for the Other 90%, Interview, contributor, Botswana, video, themes, open source, options, leapfrog, technology, economic, impacts, community, buildings, testing, end-user, research, low-cost, affordable, innovations, social enterprise, Humanitarian, entrepreneurship, improved, democracies, calls to action |
|
Full CirclePosted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Thursday May 03, 2007Though we knew that we may find it tough to ship several of the objects, our registrars and exhibitions department have had to make extraordinary efforts to make arrangements to bring objects from remote areas around the world. shipping, objects, registrar, Exhibition, remote, locations, Nigeria, Mohammed Bah Abba, Pot-in-Pot Cooler, low cost, low-cost, affordable, refrigeration, Chad, war-torn, alternate, source, explanation, practical action, EF Schumacher, economist, non-profit, NGO, appropriate, technology, poverty, small is beautiful, influence, Humanitarian, local, solutions, demand |
