Eye Writer wins FutureEverything Award

March 12, 2010 at 9:35 am
Filed under Street Art, Technology, Uncategorized

Eye Writer, the low-cost, open-source eye-tracking apparatus that allows victims of ALS to create art using just their eye movements, has won the inaugural FutureEverything Award. UK-based FutureEverything celebrates outstanding innovations in art, society, and technology.

Eye Writer is the result of an ongoing collaboration among Free Art and Technology (FAT), Open Frameworks, the Grafitti Research Lab, and the Ebeling Group communities, teamed with legendary grafitti writer Tony Quan (aka TEMPTONE), who was diagnosed with ALS in 2003. Like many ALS sufferers, he is completely paralyzed with the exception of his eyes. The group’s long-term goal is “to create a worldwide network of software developers, hardware hackers, urban projection artists, and ALS patients who are using local materials and open-source research to creatively connect and make eye art.”  – P.M.K.

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.

Have a heart

February 22, 2010 at 9:53 am

National Geographic photo

For many people, emotion—particularly in the business world—is a no-no. Logic, rationality, work, and emotions, they contend, just don’t mix.

Tali Krakowsky begs to differ.

Her latest Creativity blog is a rumination on how emotion can actually facilitate the decision-making process, not bog it down. Her essay was inspired by a recent meeting of the SEGD Board of Directors, of which she is a member. She and her colleagues on the board are from many different walks of design, but all share an important emotion. — P.M.K.

Shakespear’s “poetic labyrinth”

February 14, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Hannibal's Elephant Devouring a Roman Legionary

The stone monsters of Italy’s Parco dei Mostri (Park of the Monsters) waited, hidden among overgrown grasses, for hundreds of years before being rediscovered (legend has it) by American troops during World War II. Since their discovery, the statues have inspired the likes of Salvador Dali, Federico Fellini, and Argentinian writer Manuel Mujica Lainez, whose novel (and the later opera) Bomarzo was inspired by the park’s bizarre, otherworldly beauty.

SEGD Fellow Ronald Shakespear is also under the monsters’ spell. He has visited the site, taken photos, and written an essay on what he calls “the poetic labyrinth.” First published as a blog entry for the website American Latte, the essay is now on the SEGD website. Read it, see the photos, and treat yourself to an amazing adventure. –P.M.K.

Digging deeper with client engagement

February 9, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Filed under Collaboration, Design Process, Design business, Uncategorized

Designers see themselves as problem solvers, and their first instinct when faced with a client’s challenge is to charge in—armed with available information, their own biases, and previous experience in similar situations—and deliver the Big Idea. But the problems designers are asked to solve are getting bigger and more complex. Often, they run much deeper than just the initial challenge the client presents. And as a result, they demand a much deeper level of engagement between client and designer, suggests Mark VanderKlipp.

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.

Kinetica with Jason Bruges

February 5, 2010 at 10:33 am
Filed under Interactive, Kinetic, Lighting, Media, Technology, Uncategorized

Jason Bruges’ light installations, interactive interventions, and placemaking projects sit somewhere between the worlds of architecture, art, and interaction design. One of Wallpaper magazine’s 10 “world-changing designers,” Bruges will be a keynote speaker at the 2010 SEGD Conference + Expo June 2-5 in Washington D.C. (Stay tuned for more details…)

In the meantime, Bruges is keeping himself busy with new projects including an Alexander Calder-inspired interactive light piece at Kinetica Art Fair in London. Kinetica is an exhibition of  electronic, robotic, sound, light, time-based, and interdisciplinary new media art. Bruges’ “Screen Cloud” recalls a Calder mobile, with 30 hanging screens that display changing content as they move. Each of the screens “understands” its orientation in relation to the other screens, demonstrating a concept called proprioception. — P.M.K.

Silicon switches

January 30, 2010 at 7:26 am
Filed under Industrial Design, Uncategorized

“The common wall switch has barely evolved at all in decades, leaving interior designers with something to work around, rather than work with. Now there is an alternative. 

Silicon Switches cover a prefabricated push switch. Pressing the raised area activates the switch. ” — A.M.

Seeds of hope

January 20, 2010 at 9:19 am

Since Hurricane Katrina, a group of professors from Clemson University’s departments of architecture and landscape architecture have been working on their project to develop temporary housing using surplus shipping containers. Now their work may be accelerated to help Haiti’s earthquake victims.

The Seed project was specifically designed with Caribbean countries in mind. These countries import more goods than they export, creating a surplus of shipping containers.  The 40-ft. containers provide 304 sq. ft. of interior space and are robust enough to withstand high winds and aftershocks. Outfitted with holes for light and air, running water and toilets, and a space for cooking, the containers could provide a welcome haven for Haiti’s homeless.

The containers’ flat roofs are a bonus, providing the perfect platform for gardening. To encourage inhabitants to grow their own food, each container would come with a 55-gallon drum of dirt and plants. –P.M.K.

Looking ahead in Haiti

January 19, 2010 at 9:13 am

Haiti’s immediate needs are for food, water, and medical supplies. But in the not-too-distant future, efforts will shift from rescue and relief to reconstruction. Architecture for Humanity has released a broad-reaching, long-term plan to help the country’s 2 to 3 million people who are without shelter. To get more information, or to give, visit the Architecture for Humanity website. — P.M.K.

SEGD searches for next Executive Director

January 14, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Filed under Misc., Uncategorized

SEGD seeks a seasoned and dynamic Executive Director to lead the organization to new levels of growth, acceptance, influence and overall success. 

SEGD is a non-profit membership organization serving the global community of individuals, companies and educators who work at the intersection of communication design and the built environment. SEGD is a stable, financially healthy organization of approximately 1500 individual and company members active in the varied disciplines of environmental graphic design, museum/exhibition design, wayfinding design branded environments and related design areas. The organization hosts an annual conference and expo, publishes a quarterly magazine and has ongoing initiatives in professional development, education, government relations and member support. 

After twelve years of overseeing substantial growth, expanding influence and assembling an exceptional staff, SEGD’s executive director will be retiring in late spring of 2010. 

For more information, click here.