Finale Ligure, Italy
Social Design Poster is a concept launched by Sergio Olivotti in 2009. An invitational design competition on the theme of “Autism” drew in some 300 posters from around the world and began a social network of more than 2000 designers. An exhibition of selected submissions subsequently traveled to Spain, Bolivia, Venezuela, France, and Italy.
Shown above is a small sampling of the posters from 2009…
Washington, DC
Created in the mid-1930s in response to the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration and its Federal Arts Project were focused in part on providing artwork for public buildings while assisting struggling artists. Artists were tasked with creating posters that promoted the landscapes and wildlife of America’s parks. The program ended in 1943, and the largest collection of WPA-era prints—including the images shown above—is now in the U.S. Library of Congress, (link).
I’d posted about WPA posters earlier, here. (story source, thanks to Peggy Cady)
Wolfsburg, Germany
The Volkswagen Type 2, officially known as the Transporter or Kombi (short for Kombinationskraftwagen) and informally as the Bus (US), Camper (UK), Bulli, Kleinbus, microbus, minibus, and sometimes even hippie van, was a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second model, following and initially deriving from VW’s first model, the Type 1 (Beetle).
Some 61 years after its introduction, the Type 2 is still to be seen everywhere (and is still manufactured in Brazil, where last month the 1.5-millionth unit rolled out of the factory). Perhaps it’s because I have many friends with them and that I myself have owned a few (including Bettie Blue, a Type 3 now safely tucked away for the winter) that I seem to encounter these perpetually iconic charmers everywhere I look (both on the roads and throughout popular culture)… thanks to climber friend Gerald Brandt for some of the links/sources of the images shown above (click on images for links to articles and more images).
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New York, USA
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”
Remarkably, less than 5% of the world’s population even knows that the Declaration exists. Do you know your human rights?
To celebrate the milestone 60th anniversary (10 December 2008), designer Seth Brau created an engaging type-based video. Enjoy it, here, and please do what you can to help disseminate the Declaration, an important and timeless treatise for all humankind. You can find over 337 different language versions of the Declaration here.
Courmayeur, Italy
Climbers in the Alps can now spend their nights sleeping in a tube that cantilevers over the edge of a mountain. New Refuge Gervasutti provides an optimal combination of comfort, safety, and respect for the environment. Installed in mid October on the Freboudze glacier (in front of the spectacular East face of the Grandes Jorasses of the Mont Blanc Range) this alpine refuge is now ready for use by mountaineers and climbers.
This innovative survival unit was designed by Italian architects LEAPfactory, who specialise in modular accommodation for extreme environments. The tube was prefabricated off-site and airlifted to the site by helicopters. The living area is lit in the daytime by a big panoramic window facing towards the valley and contains a kitchen, a table, and seating. The sleeping area is equipped with bunk beds and spaces for the storage of gear.
The comfortable wooden interior finish recalls a traditional mountain hut and is intended to make a stay in the module a pleasing and relaxing experience. A red pattern (inspired by the shaved straight stitch of mountain pullovers, to evoke warmth and comfort) decorates the structure’s exterior and aids visibility to climbers and mountaineers approaching from a distance.
Owner: Italian Alpine Club CAI Turin
30 square metres of usable space
6 contact points with the ground
2500 kg. total weight
12 bed spaces
2.5 Kwh of solar energy produced
2 days to install unit
For a full description of New Refuge Gervasutti, including drawings, interior images, links, and full creative credits, visit dezeen.com (Thanks to designer friend Oliver Oike for putting this lovely shelter on my radar).
Santa Fe, New Mexico
(The following is my review of Maggie Macnab’s wonderful new book).
“My father taught me that nature was beautiful, powerful, and mysterious—and always to be respected,” writes author Maggie Macnab. “Nature was the source of all that is and an infinitely creative and patient mentor.” A longtime designer and teacher herself, she delivers the theme of her latest book with eager sincerity: “Nature is the one touchstone all human beings relate and respond to… conscious observation is all it takes… the most reliable, available, and truthful mentor is right outside your door. Nature has an answer for any question you ask if you just relearn how to hear its answer.”
The title of this remarkably captivating design theory book clearly states its purpose, and the book’s structure builds on the author’s premise that “You already know nature in your heart because you are nature… most people simply have a case of modern-day amnesia caused by out-of-sync human systems that we are brought up in.”
Three sections (“Memory: Remembering What We Know; Matter: Understand and Create; and, Motion: The Experience Enhanced”) are broken into nine chapters, each of which clearly lays out key concepts, learning objectives, definitions, and exercises to help put learning into practice (this serves to position the book ideally as an educational primer). Beyond the content of the information-rich 300 pages (a visual feast, with hundreds of intriguing entry-points) innumerable additional resources and external links are provided to further empower the reader.
Maggie writes with a bold confidence born of experience, a deep understanding of her subject matter, and a passion for sharing the “why” behind nature-inspired form. As in her previous book, Decoding Design, she draws from a remarkably wide and unexpectedly varied array of sources—from biomimicry to Jungian analysis, Gestalt psychology, Euclidian geometry, ancient petroglyphs, tessellations, Fibonacci sequences, Wabi-sabi, the grunge movement, and street art—to name but a sampling. Case studies and graphic examples include contributions by the likes of Andy Goldsworthy, Banksy, Erik Spiekerman, Kenya Hara, Milton Glaser, Marian Bantjes, and many, many more. Through it all, she weaves together a persuasive narrative to support the premise that “The appreciation of beauty is universal” and that in almost all instances, human design ingenuity can be traced to “natural” roots.
In her Foreword to the book, Debbie Millman writes “‘Design by Nature’ is a revelation. It is both a book and a bible of sorts: It investigates and illuminates the symbiotic relationships in nature, art, science, economics, philosophy, technology, and design.” It would be difficult for me to improve on this summary—in my view, this book will appeal to anyone interested in understanding our species’ deep connections to nature, and specifically the relationships between nature and designed form-giving of every kind. A must-buy for design students, clearly even the most senior and established of design practitioners (of every ilk) will advance their knowledge by reading it.
My advice: buy this book today at your local bookseller or visit www.designbynaturebook.com
New York, New York
Two days ago, the DOT (Department of Transport) unveiled the first of 216 safety signs featuring colorful artwork and haikus. The signs will be installed at a dozen high-crash locations near cultural institutions and schools citywide, using state money collected from DWI (driving while intoxicated) fines.
The DOT hopes that the “Curbside Haiku” initiative will draw attention to “the critical importance of shared responsibility among all street users to help keep New York City’s streets as safe as they can be.”
The series features 12 designs with accompanying haikus by poet John Morse, each one expressing a different safety message by focusing on one transportation mode. Half of the signs will be hung in pairs, with the image and haiku text appearing; the others feature an image with a QR code on the sign that lets New Yorkers “discover the safety message via their smart phones.” They’ll be displayed from now until next fall at a dozen hubs across the five boroughs…
See more haikus and read more here.
Thanks to my friend JuanMa Sepulveda for the link.
Madrid, Spain
On a tour of Central de Diseño / Mataduro Madrid these two posters caught my eye. The original was designed by Franz Krausz in 1936 and issued by the Tourist Development Association of Palestine. The updated version (below, 2009 I believe) and featuring the Israeli West Bank barrier needs no explanation… I couldn’t fine a designer credit on the serigraph.
Any questions?
Den Haag, Netherlands
My friend Chaz has a show opening the day after tomorrow…
(the feather on the arrow is a bar-code).
Being: The Graphic Design of Chaz Maviyane-Davies
De Affiche Galerij (The Poster Gallery)
Den Haag (The Hague, Netherlands)
Nov 30, 2011 – Feb 27, 2012
