Designing change with Emily Pilloton

March 11, 2010 at 10:11 am
Filed under Pro bono, SEGD Conf + Expo, Social Issues

Emily Pilloton

At just 28, Emily Pilloton is changing design and changing the world.

The architect, industrial designer, and writer walked away from commercial design to start Project H, a nonprofit focused on product design to empower the socially overlooked. Project H has created water transportation devices for a community in South Africa, math learning playgrounds for schools in Uganda, the Dominican Republic, and North Carolina, and social programs in Austin and Los Angeles. Project H design teams are currently working in eight cities, as well as administering long-term educational programs in North Carolina’s poorest county.

She’ll join other change makers—including Stefan Sagmeister, Phil Freelon, Jason Bruges, and Richard The—at the 2010 SEGD Conference + Expo in Washington, D.C.  There, she’ll be a part of the conversation about Designing Change/Changing Design.

Pilloton is also the author of Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People. Her promotional tour for the book is a 75-day, 6,300-mile lecture series and mobile exhibit staged in the vintage 27-ft. Airstream she calls home.

The Design Revolution Road Show is visiting 35 schools during a 75-day mobile book and lecture tour.

Pilloton took a few minutes to chat with SEGD yesterday.

Q: You’ve been written up everywhere and even appeared on The Colbert Report. What do you think all the fuss is about?

A: I’m glad there’s a lot of attention being paid to design that empowers people. I hope it inspires designers to realize they can actually do what they do and also help solve some of the world’s problems. But the hype also bothers me. It indicates there’s a lot of talking but not a lot of actual work going on. We hope to transform all the hype into real work.

Q. So why aren’t more designers social activists?

A: A lot of designers go into design because it’s a great way to solve problems. Then they graduate and all of a sudden they have all these student loans, and they go to work in corporate environments, and suddenly it’s all about making money. The original ideas get lost. So many designers are looking for ways to use their design skills to make a difference. We hope Project H inspires them to realize they can actually do it.

Q: How do your projects get funded?

A: Our design teams are volunteers who are doing their own full-time jobs and also working 20 to 25 hours per week on our projects.

We’re funded almost entirely by individual donations that average about $50. We’ve had two small grants, but for the most part it’s crowdsourcing. We figure if we have 35,000 Twitter followers, we’re going to ask them for $5 each and that’s our budget for the whole year.

Q: What would you like to change about design?

A: Don’t just sit around and talk about this stuff. Do it. You can only go to so many conferences and debate this before you just buckle down. It’s okay if you have no idea how to do it and it’s okay if you have a failure or two along the way.

Also, design activism should start in your own back yard. We need to nurture the bottom of our own pyramid, not fly worlds away and presume we know how to solve their problems. We can all see huge needs in our own communities, in places where we’re invested. That’s where the best work happens.

–P.M.K.

Children at a school in the Dominican Republic play on Project H's math-focused learning landscape. "We wanted to create an experience, not a product," says Pilloton. Any school can use Project H's system for creating a learning landscape. It only takes 25 bus tires and someone to teach children the games.

DC: Designing Change

February 26, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Filed under Conferences, SEGD Conf + Expo, Uncategorized

SEGD Conference + Expo | June 2-5, 2010 | Washington DC

The world is changing fast. And as technologies, economies, and our physical landscape undergo constant metamorphosis, designers have to keep up.

How is the design world adapting to all this rapid change? How can we harness the incredible energy afoot and create positive change for our clients, our colleagues and employees, our families, and ourselves? That’s the Big Question at the 2010 SEGD Conference + Expo, and one that will be tackled by the likes of designer/provocateur Stefan Sagmeister, Project H founder Emily Pilloton, interactive lighting designer Jason Bruges, architect Phil Freelon, and many others in Washington, D.C., June 2-5.

The complete conference website was launched today. Check out the star-studded speaker list, fascinating project tours, and great networking opportunities. And get yourself registered to attend. Come be a part of the change. — P.M.K.

Signing the National Mall

February 19, 2010 at 10:49 am
Filed under Conferences, SEGD Conf + Expo, Urban Planning, Wayfinding

More than 25 million people visit Washington D.C.’s National Mall and Memorial Parks each year, and on any given day, more than 60 languages are spoken on the mall. It’s a special place, with a dramatic story to tell about America and what it means to be an American.

But many visitors don’t know the Washington Monument from the U.S. Capitol, never mind how to find the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. For them, the two-mile stretch of the National Mall can be a complex, confusing place to be. Help is on the way, though, in the form of a new wayfinding and signage system designed to guide visitors to major destinations, identify monuments, explain park rules, and reduce sign clutter. In late 2007, the National Park Service chose Hunt Design to develop the signage system and, this spring, the first of about 300 new signs will be installed.

The new program is featured in the latest issue of segdDESIGN magazine and will also be a tour spot during the 2010 SEGD Conference + Expo June 2-5 in Washington, D.C. We’ll see you there. –P.M.K.

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The FBI needs YOU!

November 27, 2009 at 8:36 am
Filed under SEGD Conf + Expo

To quote the blogger on coolfinds, “The FBI needs a design makeover (and a manual).”  This would be a fun exercise during the upcoming SEGD Conference + Expo: redesign the identity for a government agency! — A.M.

SEGD Design Awards Program- now online!

November 17, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Filed under Calendar of Events, SEGD Conf + Expo, SEGD Design Awards

Now you can enter this prestigious event recognizing exceptional EGD online!  No more midnight Fedexing.  Submit that last entry from the comfort of your desk — or your pajamas.  The entry deadline is January 29 and the late deadline is February 12.  Start thinking about what to enter.  And what to wear when you accept your award at the 2010 SEGD Conference + Expo. Thanks to ADCON for sponsoring this year’s program! – A.M. 2009 SEGD Design Awards Program Merit winner B&T Pizza, designed by Kuhlmann Leavitt

Back at the farm

October 27, 2009 at 10:40 am
Filed under Food, Green Related, Interior Design, SEGD Conf + Expo

Photography by Michael Moran

When you’re in DC for the SEGD Conference + Expo next June, be sure to check out Founding Farmers located at Pennsylvania Avenue and 20th Street. According to the CORE architecture + design website, “Founding Farmers was designed to the owner’s specifications – low energy output, renewable materials, in a fun, casual environment. A project of the North Dakota Farmer’s Union, Founding Farmers is designed to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards, making it the first restaurant in Washington, D.C. to achieve such a rating.” Your devoted blogger, Ann, recommends the bottomless salad of 17 different vegetables. For more on the sustainability of the project, read the case study in GreenSource. — S.N.

A great dog is hard to find.

October 26, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Filed under Architecture, City Happenings, Food, Misc., SEGD Conf + Expo

Since the next SEGD Conference + Expo is in Washington, DC, your devoted blogger will be preparing you for your trip (you’re coming, right?) with some tasty tips on the National Capitol Area.  Not to be missed is Ben’s Chili Bowl, known not only for its half smokes (a local specialty between a hot dog and a sausage) but also its vintage decor.  Put it on your list.  But bring cash because only Bill Cosby and Barack Obama eat for free. — A.M.

EGD Inspiration: Washington, DC

August 25, 2009 at 10:53 am
Filed under SEGD Conf + Expo

The 2010 SEGD Conference + Expo “Design for Change” will be held in Washington, DC, June 2-5. Citizen Creative

• American History X download

(formerly Fox Graphics), a Virginia-based firm, recently installed environmental graphics at Change to Win, an organization of seven labor unions organized in DC. From the Citizen Creative blog: “The goal for the environmental graphic design system was to communicate the energy of a protest and the idea that a group standing together is more powerful than one standing alone. When we started the project, the space had no identity besides the bright orange walls. Our solution was to unify and brand the space through repeated silhouettes of workers and protesters and Change to Win’s logo.” This is just one example of the EGD work being done in and around DC. More to come… — S.N.

Kids release