Designers “…must elevate ourselves from the product level to the systems level, from designing artifacts to designing entire ecosystems, from being problem solvers to becoming solution finders,” says VanderKlipp, president of Corbin Design and a member of the SEGD Board of Directors. His article for Design Intelligence explores a deeper level of client engagement, and suggests four ways of “Forging Invaluable Partnerships.”  –P.M.K.

The Miami Science Museum slated to begin construction this year will share the city’s Museum Park with the Miami Art Museum. The MiaSci building designed by Grimshaw Architects is “structured around a lushly landscaped indoor and outdoor ‘living core’ of terrestrial and aquatic exhibits, featuring one-of-a-kind aquarium components, a state-of-the-art digital dome, hands-on exhibits and interactive digital technology.” This week, marine experts from around South Florida met with the exhibit design team from Thinc Design for a brainstorming workshop focused on advancing the design of the aquarium components.

According to the MiaSci blog: “The workshop was the kickoff to an intensive period of exhibit development that will begin next month, drawing on the experts to refine the key messages and content areas of the Living Core. In particular, the group identified specific opportunities for connecting the exhibits to current research; how the exhibits could be used to explore the broad environmental and social impacts of such topics as aquaculture and climate change; ways to use technology to enhance the experience, and ways to engage the public in ongoing research and solutions to environmental challenges.”

For a full list of collaborators and updates on the project click here. — S.N.

View from the Living Core

So the SEGD staff compared notes and devised this list of the Top 5 EGD (or related to EGD) Books published in 2009.

1. The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places, by David Gibson

Gibson’s book has quickly become a top-shelf reference guide for environmental graphic designers and those interested in wayfinding. The co-founder of Two Twelve provides a practical guide to the design of wayfinding systems, from “finding the hidden logic” in complex environments to building an effective project team.

2. Information Design Workbook, by Kim Baer

Well, OK, this was published in May 2008, so we cheated a little. But a new paperback edition will be out next month. It’s a comprehensive approach to information design, including an entire section devoted to EGD, contributed by Wayne Hunt of Hunt Design.

3. Data Flow: Visualising Information in Graphic Design

As the world—and the data generated by it—rapidly becomes more complex, data visualization is coming into its own as a design discipline. A cast of designer/editors presents 256 pages of inspiring, innovative designs.

4. MUTCD

The first new version of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices in six years was released by the Federal Highway Administration on December 16. It includes a new Community Wayfinding section that provides allowances for communities developing urban wayfinding systems.

5. Typographic Conundrums, by Harry Pearce

Just for kicks, and for the love of type, peek into the Pentagram partner’s funhouse of typographic puzzles.

And while you’re getting your reference shelves organized, you might want to consider SEGD’s Essential Reading list for EGD practitioners. Enjoy! — P.M.K.

You can watch and interact with the Summit live from 9:30am-3:3pm EST viawww.ustream.tv/channel/us-design-policy. The social stream will be connected to the group’s Facebook page, Twitter account @usdesignpolicy, and YouTube page, http://www.youtube.com/user/USDesignPolicy.

During breaks in the Summit, participants will answer your comments and questions on the social stream about what you have seen and heard at the People’s Q&A, moderated by Change Observer’s Brad McKee. 

SEGD is a co-sponsor of the Summit, and has been involved in the initiative since its inception. SEGD CEO Leslie Gallery Dilworth is attending today and SEGD is co-sponsoring the design policy Q&A session.  

The Summit will gather design association leaders,  government agency representatives, and design educators to push the group’s design policy proposals forward. By being a voice for the U.S. design community, the Design Policy Initiative seeks to:

 ”….design promotions to boost the demand for American goods and services

“…create innovative policies to protect American intellectual property and support the People’s entrepreneurial spirit

“…design standards to guarantee inclusion, sustainability, safety, and quality in the experiences of the human remade world

“…facilitate policy designed to address design’s role in making American democratic values tangible to the People.”

Design policy proposals include formalizing an American Design Council to work with the U.S. government; setting federal guidelines for legibility, safety, and accessibility in all government communications; establishing an assistant secretary for design in the federal government; and expanding national grants to support interdisciplinary community design assistance based on human-centered design practices. –P.M.K.

download The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada dvd . Here’s a perspective on the topic from an international grass-roots organization. — A.M.

• Alvin and the Chipmunks hd

Buck Privates film

The Tomb dvd

Hello, Dolly! trailer Pig Hunt ipod The Governors Wife aka Deadly Suspicion movie download – “cheap and easy, but well-planned and good-looking” - can inspire someone who’s making a move into new space. — A.M.

• Safehouse

• The Devils Brigade psp

All or Nothing ipod business

- verbal- linear
- bottom-line Ali movie
- problem-focused
- looking for one right answer
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms psp
design
- visual

• Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot film

- circular
- common good

- solution-focused
buy Feast 3: The Happy Finish Jesse Stone: Thin Ice divx - believe there isn’t one right answerWaynes World buy

1. You are doomed to fail. It is inevitable. Don’t be afraid of it – accept it and it will spark an even better conclusion. Let others fail around you and work together to find a solution. Not only will you come up with something better, but you will be a better designer for knowing why you failed. Your failure may eventually lead to your success (if you are still alive to see it).

2. Ignore everything that Patrick, Cybelle, Sujit, Rob, Tamar, Bruce, Jeremy, etc. tell you. Okay, don’t ignore it – do it (now, damnit) – but also do something based on it that is completely out of the box and insane. Purposely misinterpret an idea, whether it be from a colleague or your own imagination. Stop being so fucking practical and challenge your superior and yourself. Some of the best ideas come from collaboration and challenge. Don’t take it personally when the idea is dismissed – just tuck it away and pull it out another time. Just remember that great design needs one person to make the final call, not a democratic process that produces an average (and sometimes less-than average) result.

3. Go to a concert. Listen to how your favorite artist changes (read misinterprets) their own work. It intentionally does not sound like the CD. They do this because they are bored of playing the same damn song in 85 cities over 125 days. Design works the same way. You have design tricks and you know it. Stop using that same font that you love, stop using that same orange pms color that you have grown so fond of. Make yourself try something new and uncomfortable – that discomfort breeds brilliance.

4. Leap off the shoulders of giants. Take a great idea and tweak it. There is no original idea – creativity is taking what you know and have seen elsewhere and combining it into something new. Look at that beautiful new Starke chair, that old Rand logotype…but also look at that gorgeous aphid eating your plants, the pattern of agriculture at 35,000 feet, the decades old bubble gum stains on the sidewalk…now mash them up. Inspiration is everywhere, so open your eyes, fool.

Panic Room divx
5. Be pragmatic and extravagant at the same time. But don’t try to do both simultaneously. Old designers know a lot about how things are built, but that squashes creativity. Young designers know too little, but have moments of brilliance through naiveté. Think to yourself, “What is the most cost-effective way I can do this?” and then think “What is the most over the top way I can do this?” Then discover a happy balance in between through collaboration.

Toy Story rip

6. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Perception is the new reality. Illusion is truth. You are not designing an environment, you are evoking an emotional response. That response is not only visual, so play an experience to all of the senses. Inflict moving reactions – they make for better visitor experiences, win awards, more clients and a nice pat on the back…good doggy.

7. Have a kid. Do art with them. It will change your perception of creativity forever. 13 years of schooling followed by 4+ years of design “school” have educated the creativity right out of your mushy brain, my friend. A pre-K kid sees the world in an entirely different way (not to mention 3 feet below your eye level). Crawl on the ground with them, look under tables (try not to chew the gum you find stuck there), get dirty without worrying about scuffing your brand new Adidas, play with your food and scream as much as possible. Spin in a circle until you spew all over yourself then fall down laughing. It is so liberating you will shit yourself (change your own diaper). Too young or old to have a kid? Do the next best thing…go to Burning Man.

Crocodile Dundee download

8. Stop collecting pretty little pristine items to put in your pretty little box. Your life is not about these beautiful objects that you amass for your home – it is about your friends and the personal experiences you have with them, silly. Tell them how great you think they are, have a drawing night together, go to that concert together, go on that trip together, or just beat the shit out of each other and hug afterward.

Time After Time move 9. Make a list. Your 10 passions in life and 10 goals in life, your 10 favorite albums, artists, buildings, insects, smells. The 10 people you most admire. 10 things you wish you never did. 10 ideas for becoming a better designer. Better yet, think outside the box and make lists of 9 or 11 just for shits and giggles. Get in touch with your emotions in a visual way and read your lists periodically and you will find patterns that make you special as a designer and also what is holding you back from being the rock star we all know you can be.

10. Stop looking at the internet. Pompeii: The Last Day movie download Go buy a book, and preferably not one on design (E
dward Tufte and Karim Rashid are not gods). Go for a hike, take a trip to another country, take some drugs (preferably legal ones) and go on a journey of the mind. Whatever it takes to break free of the misconceptions you have about what design is. And oh, stop reading stupid design blogs written by egotistical designers!

End note: I actually wrote this as a challenge for myself…a kick in my own pants if you will. Push some buttons in you? Good! Write a response, a retort, your own list. Dialogue will save us aaaaaaallllllllllllllll… Much love, FPG

Brick Lane