If you haven't already watched it a couple of times, watch The Story Of Stuff before watching this. (or at least after watching this) I'm not taking a side on this issue yet because I don't know enough yet but this is a good introduction. All you designers out there, and just socially responsible citizens, need to get educated on these issues so you really know what 'sustainability' really means and what the issues really are that affect our everyday lives and our futures.
To watch the movie, just click on the image above or click > HERE <
WHOA!! I Just finally got around to watching Manufactured Landscapes last week. This was one of the better documentaries I've seen recently (I watch a lot of documentaries). The imagery is grotesquely beautiful and stunning. This one does not get into the political rhetoric that you may expect from these images. Instead it is just the film version of the images with a little bit of dialog and mostly just following famed photographer Edward Burtynsky to the different locations. He humbly points out that he is in no place to pass any judgement on these industries that humans have created since he is very much a part of these systems and relies on them. What he does point out is the effects that the manufacturing of products and waste management has on cultures and societies.
His work has been shown all over the world and he was even invited to speak at the TED conference.
This is a cool video showing design process but it's clear that the designers are out of touch with the purpose of raising awareness about the water crisis that nearly half of the world's population deals with. Somehow a giant expensive foam & plastic sculpture doesn't raise awareness about anything other than form and expensive CNC modeling. The end result is cool but waaaaay off target....hint: for the cost of this sculpture about 5 or more play pumps could have been installed somewhere in Africa and provide clean drinking water to thousands of people. Yeah, come to think of it, maybe it's better that the money was spent on some expensive temporary sculpture.
This clever little "why didn't I think of that" design is the work of Joonhyun Kim from Korea. If you haven't heard, they are rearry smart there. I wonder how they got a machine to smash lightbulbs without breaking them...amazing! Also, I like how they're kinda like "fuck the 'green' movement!" Seriously, this is much cooler than those spiraly cfl's that we all hate but use anyway so we can have a clear conscious about drinking 5 bottled drinks per day.
Global warming exists. Nobody will deny that. The problem is that we have being led to believe that it is all due to humans. This is not the case. I'm one of these people that likes to know 'why?' so I've done some researching into this matter quite a bit over the last year. People really thought I'm crazy when I said that there is no way global warming could only be due to humans. I remembered learning about the earth having several shift in climate in various regions long before humans and certainly millions of years before this new industrial era. What really amazes me though is that a lot of people that would deny that humans are not solely at fault are also people that denounce the way in which advertising has infected our society. Well folks, the human-caused global warming campaign is one of the biggest advertising scams ever!
I will say, however, that the intent is for the right reasons and I do not believe the people behind that train of though are seeking to steer people in a wrong direction. The threat of us as humans causing the earth to fail is large enough to make people more conscious about the way they consume and discard objects. Because of this higher sense of awareness it has forced companies to, once again, be more responsible both socially and environmentally. It is great to see the changes being made because of this threat and I advocate these efforts to promote more recycling, upcycling, sustainability and so on. Yes, we have done A LOT of damage to the earth and we do need to acknowledge this and change our ways. There is no denying that humans do contribute a percentage to global warming but guess what- so did the dinosaurs. Pollution and global warming are both separate and intertwined topics facing our modern societies.
My point is that I just wish that the public were told both sides of this story. People should also take a few moments to do some of their own research and balance out what they learn. I'd like to hear what some of you think about this.
Say what you will about American Apparel but I love the brand. Admittedly, I do not buy $50 sweatshirts from their stores (or anything else for that matter) but their business philosophy is one to make note of. Imagine if even 10% of companies in the world operated with similar ethics with regards to production and distribution. Sure, you could argue that because there is now another company making shirts, there is now another company using more materials and energy which is more damage to the environment. However, they have such a significant portion of that market now that other companies, that are not as conscious, may produce less and/or may have influence on those companies to adapt to similar systems. A company such as American Apparel also shows that collectively, our society is more concerned about how and where their products are made. Their marketing is clever too.
Sure, people want to criticize them for their ads for some reason. I don't see what the big fuss is all about. Not just because I like to see sexy girls in ads, but because they're not any worse than Calvin Klein, Guess, Victoria's Secret, etc... If anything, they are a lot better since they are glorifying naturally beautiful girls with out the use of airbrushing, make up artists and agents. Maybe it's the fact that these images look 'real'? A lot of them do look as though they could have just been taken by a boyfriend and that's the appeal and the success. Average citizens can relate to those images and to the company. Even at this point most people know about the good nature of that company but they continue to make people aware even in some of their sexier ads. Recently, they even included a mini newspaper with Vice to make people more aware of immigration issues in America and specifically L.A. Of course it's part of their marketing but they don't have to do what they do.
Oh, did I mention they have some beautiful pictures of girls and other great info on their site?
Here's a few new explorations into graffiti worth checking out:
PaintThatShitGold allows you to bomb any other site on the web. It's part of the promotion for Atmosphere's recent album (I don't know if it's the most recent one)
Graffiti Playdo allows you to do graff with other people over the web.
Green Works' Reverse Graffiti is a really cool project. So simple but thought provoking in different ways. Thanks to one of my professors, Tony G from Grow Design, for letting me know about this. You can see a lot more pictures of these pieces on Flikr
Tagged In Motion is insane!!! I love the blend between the primitiveness (yes, it's a new word now) of graffiti with the cutting edge computer/tech/geek/vr stuff. This still blows me away when I watch it. I first saw this about 6 months ago and it's stayed in my mind since then so it's pretty damn impressive.
Hektor is another project I've known about for a while (although I was late...it's a few years old). It's essentially just a couple of motors and a string that moves the can of spray paint around. It makes the images from basic vector art and then figures out the path that it must go in to produce the art, similar to a CNC machine.
Yes, that's right, a disappointment. C'mon Apple! There was soooo much hype and then you introduce a phone that is what the first version should have been. Great, now you finally have a phone that compares to Blackberry or Treo. But it still lacks basic features that even the cheapest phones have (like a headphpne jack that's flush with the body!!?) and then they made a big deal about the 2.0 firmware release features that should have been there to begin with! (such as 'delete all' for mail...big deal!) Ok, it DOES do a lot of things that no other phone does but it should do all the things that other phones do do. (HAHA..get it. Sorry, I had to for shits & giggles. Ok, I'm stopping now because I think I just pooped! No shit!)
From a design perspective, I have to question Apple's choice in material- plastic. This strikes a nerve with me for a couple of reasons. For one, it's not recycled plastic and chances are, it never will be recycled. There's also a durbility issue with plastic since it can crack and scrathes easily. (it's that super-glossy kind) Wasn't that a big issue with old iPods? If they stuck with aluminum, they could not only use a higher percentage of post-consumer waste but it could also help to keep the product out of the landfill. Not to mention the fact that it is much more durable and scratch resistant. OK, so I got three points. The third is the fact that Apple is voiding their own promise to be environmentally responsible and conscious. Which, by the way, they are not very responsible with their packaging for the iPhone either. I think consumers will be just as happy if their new iPhone came packaged in a 100% post-consumer recycled cardboard box printed with soy inks and no plastic bags. Apple does claim to be very environmentally aware and responsible about it's products but I'm not totally convinced since it is also very trendy to put this kind of stuff on your website nowadays. However, I think Apple's choice to only redsign the back and not the top was a good one to make. But what about all the things it does do or have...
The camera still sucks (except outdoors) and has no flash. Still no MMS. Still no cut and paste. Still no date on the main screen. Still no SMS features such as letting you know how many characters or how many you've used, canceling send, etc.. Still no sorting features for the iPod Still no manually moving the cursor (w/ keypad) Still no viewing quicktime or mpg vids on sites Still no flash browsing Still no full-screen browsing Still no control over the drive for downloading, importing or exporting files (such as email attachments Still only on ATT Service fees are higher than 2G version by about $15/mo. Cannot activate from home anymore (very strange since it will be available online.)
After I get 2.0 for my 2G iPhone I'm sure there will be A LOT more issues. This is just a small list from what the current version (1.1.4) doesn't have. It is only $199 though..hopefully they will offer a refund on recent purchases of the 2G model. I was also surprised that they didn't introduce a new MacBook Pro which they were expect to do. Not that I would be able to afford one, but it would make the price of the current ones a lot less and hopefully attainable for me!
