Washignton DC Redesigns its Website

One of the indicators of a well managed city is the ease of access to information provided to its residents. DC is demonstrating that it is serious about being a leader in its use of technology to make government more transparent and efficient.

Washington DC's Government Website

The Proposed New EPA Mileage Stickers

EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are updating this label to provide consumers with simple, straightforward energy and environmental comparisons across all vehicles types, including electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and conventional gasoline/diesel vehicles. The agencies are incorporating new information, such as ratings on fuel economy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other air pollutants, onto the label as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007.

EPA Website

Design History: David Rowland

The design of the 40/4 space saving stacking chair was an alternative to the often used folding chair.

David Lincoln Rowland (1924 - 2010) an Industrial Designer who studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1951 and later worked with Norman Bel Geddes, designer known for popularizing the 1930's streamline aesthetic.

NYTimes Article on David Rowland

Social Design: What's in a Name?

I just came across another branch of design, the name social design is being used to describe design services applied to real "world" concerns.

Emily Pilloton

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This seems to be a move toward relevance for the product design professionals whose care for the profession is leading them to look for ways to be useful and use their skills. Architectural professionals have and are facing the lack of opportunity to practice their craft as technology has shifted building design planning into the hand of construction management. Likewise, traditional product designers are refocusing on new opportunities to provide value by taking on real world task.

Essay by Ramsey Ford

Design Impact website

NY Times Article: Project H in North Carolina

Project H website

Graphic Design: Analyzing Election Signage

Public radio, WAMU's Kavitha Cardoza spoke to Robb Springfield, former head of the Graphic Design department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He analyzed the signs of the DC mayoral race as an outsider, and has not been following the campaign.

Audio: Campaign Signs, What Do They Say About The Candidates?

Design Thinking: What Habits Do Designers Have that Allow Them ...

Warren Berger pens an article for Harvard Business Review that sums up his findings about the behaviors of successful designers.

Aricle: Four Phases of Design Thinking

The IDEO Approah:

2010 Winner of the James Dyson Award

This bike hub is said to transform any bike into a hybrid electric bike.



More information on the competition and the bike hub

Interview with Architect Richard Cook

The role to the architect has been replaced to a large extent by construction enginners, the move to more energy efficient buildings provides architects a new opportunity to regain a leadership role in making building.

Images of the Bank of America



Ricard Cook, a partnter in the firm behind the largest buidling to recieve a platinium LEED(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)certification, the high rating possible.

The New Yorker's Interview with Richard Cook

What is Design?: Bill Moggridge Presentation

Bill Moggridge seems to be everywhere since being selected to head the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. The truth is he has been an instrumental player at key turning points for profession for more than forty years.



Video Presentation: What is Design?

Audio Interview: Technology and Design

New Material: Sensitile

This light responsive product (a polymer with embedded fiber optics) will offer creative opportunities, bringing interest and beauty to a variety of interior applications.



Sensitile Website