Design Conversations: National Design Policy Summit

Dr. Turnstall (pictured: in the printed dress) has begun to see the fruits of her labor having just concluded a summit on the possibility of developing a design policy for the United States.

This timely meeting of design professionals in Washington DC could be the beginning of something really good for the country as it struggles with charting a new course under a new administration.

Who better to help shape the future than a group of well intentioned designers?

Dori's Blog Site

Design Policy Website

Auto Design: Japanese Design Exhibition

The London Science Museum exhibition Japan Car presents a future view of Japanese car design. Small vechiles that provide comfort and more choices was the idea between the car include in the exhibtion.

This exhibition is a product of a nationalize policy that promotes the creative and economic development of the country and the industry to the world. This touring exhibit is also a first towards the development of a Design Museum of Japan.

I viewed this in contrast to the current troubles and question of whether support should be provided to the U.S. auto industry. On a boarder plane the failure to see the industry as an essential component of the American economy and takes a position that is categorically opposed any governmental support.

London's Science Museum

Article: Wallpaper Magazine

Japan Car on Flicker

National Museum of American History- Redesigned

The number of Museum's that have embarked on multi-million dollar renovation projects since 2000 is amazing. And so, as the main project for my Typography/Graphic Design class, I assigned the students the task of developing an identity program for a museum of their choice. It proven to be an inspired project that has produced some great work by the students.

As museum managers have sought to refresh the image of their institution to maintain and attract visitors they have had to consider how the museum could best present its image to the public.

Article: National Museum of American History

Article: on the Museum of Art and Design

Article: Museums Look Inward for Survival

For Fun: Video by Pop Singer - Rihanna

The visual and sonic strategies along with the artist's style makes this video worth sharing. Enjoy!

Rihanna - New Music - More Music Videos

Books to Read: Outlier and Who's Your City?

""Outlier" is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience. In the summer, in Paris, we expect most days to be somewhere between warm and very hot. But imagine if you had a day in the middle of August where the temperature fell below freezing. That day would be outlier. And while we have a very good understanding of why summer days in Paris are warm or hot, we know a good deal less about why a summer day in Paris might be freezing cold. In this book I'm interested in people who are outliers—in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August."

Macolm Gladwell

"How the Creative Economy is Making the Place Where You Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.

It’s a mantra of the age of globalization that where you live doesn’t matter: you can telecommute to your high-tech Silicon Valley job, a ski-slope in Idaho, a beach in Hawaii or a loft in Chicago; you can innovate from Shanghai or Bangalore.

According to Richard Florida, this is wrong. Place is not only important, it’s more important than ever."

Richard Florida

Who's Your City?

Gladwell Article

Environmental Graphic Design

"Environmental Graphic Design embraces many design disciplines including graphic, architectural, interior, landscape, and industrial design, all concerned with the visual aspects of wayfinding, communicating identity and information, and shaping the idea of place.

Some common examples of work by EGD practitioners include wayfinding systems, architectural graphics, signage, exhibit design, identity graphics, civic design, pictogram design, retail and store design, mapping and themed environments."

-SEGD

Society of Envoronmental Graphic Design

Works by Pentagram

The Poll Place Project

The New York Times and AIGA have created a program to collect photos of the voting process, view images or submit images by visiting this repository.

The Polling Place Project

Bag Design: A Growing Business for a Mobile Generation

The Kata line of bags are designed for the technology carrying consumers that need protection for their consumer electronics.

Company Website

Graphic Designers: Shephard Farley and Sol Sender

Shephard Farley, the street and graphic artist behind the popular image of the new president elect shares his thought about politics and the future.

Interview: Shepard Farley

Article: Why Obama needs Design


Sol Sender, a Chicago based graphic designer talks about the evolution of his "O" logo design.

Interview: Sol Sender

Shepard Farley Enters the Smithsonian

Policy Decision: The FCC Opens Access to the Radio Spectrum

The FCC decision has the potential to spur the development of new types of wireless devices that could provide access to the internet.

Press Release:

In its continuing efforts to promote efficient use of spectrum and to extend the benefits of such use to the public, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today adopted a Second Report and Order (Second R&O) that establishes rules to allow new, sophisticated wireless devices to operate in broadcast television spectrum on a secondary basis at locations where that spectrum is open. (This unused TV spectrum is now commonly referred to as television “white spaces”). The rules adopted today will allow for the use of these new and innovative types of unlicensed devices in the unused spectrum to provide broadband data and other services for consumers and businesses.

Article: Fast Company

Article: NYTimes

FCC Website

Designing for the Abled and Disabled Amongst Us

Here is a new idea bubbling in the design community that pushes universal design theory a little down the path of acceptance at least as it might apply to toilets.


Article: Designing for All

Designs for a Universal Toilet

When Times are Tough the Smart Companies Innovate

It has been common practice that during economic slow downs businesses cut back on design initiatives, as well as broader research and development investments.

This article argues that the smart companies continue to support the search for the next innovation.



NYTimes Article