What defines a fashionable item? What is the magic ingredient that spices up an ordinary textile object to become the object of desire and mass recognition? And when exactly does that moment happen? What does it take to reach the status of an icon? The most general, widest and most truthful answer is the context. [...]

Originally from OpenWear Blog by Nataša Peršuh reBlogged on Jun 4, 2010, 5:37PM

One of the main task of Openwear community is to create a series of capsule fashion collections of clothing and accessories which will promote sustainability as a social, ecological and economical way of thinking, knowledge sharing, distributed production, collaboration of people from different backgrounds. Each collection will consist of a limited number of prototyped pieces; items, supported by what we call LookMaps, multimedia objects which will be conceptualized and realized to inspire local micro producer, diy makers, tailors to produce and sell those garments under Openwear open source brand.

Originally from OpenWear Blog by Zoe Romano reBlogged on Jun 10, 2010, 2:31PM

"His foremost capacity is the ability to become in the tension between power and impotence, between world and life, between human and thing. He is connected and incomplete/prosthetic in his continuous discontinuity, unique in his infinite prolongation of the world." (Burø & Koefoed in Consume Magazine, Summer 2010, forthcoming) Next week, I will be walking in the streets of Cairo, talking to other thinkers about the relations between masculinity and community (NLIK) (hence the very philosophical words above). Here, I plan to stress several specific aspects, one of them being changes (or lack of changes) in the relation between men, fashion and ways of life. So here are a few thoughts on this topic, to get response and feedback from people who surely know much more about fashion than I do.

Originally from OpenWear Blog by oleg reBlogged on Jun 21, 2010, 9:11AM

This interview was originally published on Digimag. I post it on Openwear because the topics are pretty much the same. Thanks to Massimo Menichinelli (openp2pdesign.org) and Marco Mancuso (digicult). OPEN PEER-TO-PEER DESIGN MASSIMO MENICHINELLI, PARTECIPATED FUTURE Txt: Bertam Niessen / Eng: Henriette Vittadini

Originally from OpenWear Blog by Bertram Niessen reBlogged on Jun 1, 2010, 4:24PM

There is something about this action i would like to see developing in our project as well. Maybe the connection is not immediately obvious. let me explain how i see it: it is the use of clothing, sure- particular and special in this case, but clothing it is. The whole action is very intelligent. To me artistic in the effect of a public intervention with a special lightness that is rare in such projects. It's very humorous and it changes perspectives of the people involved in the situation. It shows the power of context when thinking about clothing. It makes us feel good. I am sure, even the golf players had to had a laugh when they were having a drink after the match. I am not sure how you feel, but me, id like to do something similar. For fun.

Originally from OpenWear Blog by oliver reBlogged on Jun 17, 2010, 8:03AM

"The consumer's new clothes" is the title of a little book (100pp. €4.5, Altraeconomia Edizioni) I stumbled upon during last Fa' la cosa giusta (Do the right thing), Milan's annual fair of sustainable lifestyles and ethical consumerism. In the book, you can read not only about the stories and the mechanisms hidden behind garment production, but also about possible local/fair/eco alternatives in Italy. It becomes clear how fashion is a paradigmatic example of our social mode of development.

Originally from OpenWear Blog by Zoe Romano reBlogged on Jun 8, 2010, 11:04AM

Originally from OpenWear Blog by Bertram Niessen reBlogged on Jun 15, 2010, 9:56AM

There is one thing beneath the culture of sharing and participation which inspires me most – the notion of the gift and gift exchange. A gift can be many things but a real one is always accompanied by emotions both when received it or when given. That is why they create bonds and relationship between people and they invite reciprocity. Lewis Hyde in his wonderful book (a must) The Gift – Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property describes how ideas and products can spread in a group – from a simple, atomic connection between individuals to the more complicated organization of communities...

Originally from OpenWear Blog by maja reBlogged on Jun 2, 2010, 9:17AM

Johanna Blakely, interested on the impact of intellectual property rights on innovation, explains in a very clear way in this video what are the virtues of copying in fashion and why the absence of copyright protection for garments is not a matter of generosity: business volumes increase when trends disseminate faster.

Originally from OpenWear Blog by Zoe Romano reBlogged on Jun 1, 2010, 7:02AM

The uniform has always been considered to be utilitarian but Sheena Matheiken has proved that it can be extremely inspirational and creative. She decided to wear the same dress, the famous little black one, for a whole year. You may find it boring but it was the contrary. Every day she reinvented the dress with [...]

Originally from OpenWear Blog by neli reBlogged on Jun 21, 2010, 2:00PM

Flow Lamp. A self-powered lamp post for illuminating public spaces in developing countries, this bamboo wind turbine charges LEDs, and is both cheap and recyclable. What started out as a graduate thesis will be going into production soon.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Mar 16, 2010, 2:53AM

When Fear Turns Graphic. “Switzerland stunned many Europeans, including not a few Swiss, when near the end of last year the country, by referendum, banned the building of minarets... A poster was widely cited as having galvanized votes for the Swiss measure but was also blamed for exacerbating hostility toward immigrants and instigating a media and legal circus.”

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Feb 15, 2010, 3:27PM

Fans of this blog, Next Day Flyers got in touch to offer free printing of 1,000 standard business cards to one lucky reader. These are glossy, full color, double-sided and would make a nice subversive palm card for a worthy cause. Next Day will include free ground shipping anywhere in the Continental U.S.

Next Day Flyers is an offset printing company that prints posters, flyers, and door hangers.

To enter, leave a comment here before February 28, 11:59PM EST. You must include your email address (though it will not show up publicly on the site) and you must be 18 or over to enter. On March 1, 2010 one commenter will be selected randomly.

Update 3/1:: Comments are now closed. Congratulations Brian!

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Feb 18, 2010, 3:32PM

Design Against the Death Penalty. The death penalty will be the next focus of Poster for Tomorrow, an international, collaborative poster project. The project will culminate on October 10, 2010, the world day against the death penalty coordinated by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Posters are intended to be used by campaigners around the world and will be chosen in part for their reproducibility. The call for entries will open on April 10 with posters due in June. The project is run by 4tomorrow an independent, non-profit organization based in Paris that promotes active citizenship through the medium of design.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Feb 25, 2010, 6:12PM

China Bans Roman-Letter Acronyms. More on typography and nationalism: Victor Mair looks at implications of the memo, possibily orginating in the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, advising to broadcasters in the PRC to stop using popular English-based acronyms such as NBA, WTO and GDP.

Related: see his fascinating post on the invasion of China and Taiwan by the roman letter Q.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Apr 22, 2010, 3:51AM

Very funny meta-newscast breaking down the style of truth in TV journalism:

With nearly a million and a half views, you may have already seen it. But it’s news to me so I thought I’d share.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Mar 16, 2010, 3:18AM

“Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.”

Great quote from Angela Davis via Feministing. I tracked it down to Davis’s 1990 book of essays Women, Culture and Politics. Though oddly enough, when searching for the source I found a lot of websites attribute the quote to Salvador Dali. Which changes the meaning a bit. Or at the least the implied tactics.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Apr 12, 2010, 4:18AM

Green Patriot Posters. A call for poster designs to be included in a forthcoming book on contemporary graphic design promoting sustainability and the fight against climate change. Deadline is March 27th!

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Mar 16, 2010, 2:41AM

re:Active Magazine. A nonprofit arts-education program introducing underserved youth in Portland, OR to the power of design and storytelling by publishing a theme-based, expressive magazine about issues affecting youth worldwide. Youth are given on-the-job training in writing, art and graphic design.

Another great project for my list of design non-profits.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Apr 1, 2010, 5:58PM

Always Wear Your Seatbelt. Stunning short video from the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership. The whole ad is one a simple, slightly surreal scene, but touches a deep, emotional place — a similar place to the recent Google ad, another simple, powerful video that’s surreal in its own way. Nicely done. (Via)

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Feb 19, 2010, 5:15AM

Congo Comics and Photos. “In our attempt to bring this story [about the war in eastern Congo to access gold deposits] to the attention of these international gold traders, Human Rights Watch and I worked together to create an exhibit of my mining photographs in Geneva, Switzerland, where Metalor Technologies, one of the leading gold mining companies, has its corporate offices. We invited to the exhibit’s opening night gold buyers and mining company executives as well as financiers, stockholders and journalists. Immediately after seeing this exhibit, Metalor Technologies halted its purchases of Congolese gold.…

At about the time I was teaching these young students, I was collaborating with a comic artist, Paul O’Connell, on an article for Ctrl.Alt.Shift. Our partnership revolved around the idea of us combining our various skills to create new ways of delivering messages. What this meant is that Paul took my photographs from places like the Congo and transformed them into a comic strip to tell the story to a different audience.” (via)

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Apr 27, 2010, 3:14AM

Job Loss to Recovery. The Obama administration has posted an infographic to bolster claims that a year after its signing, the Recovery Act is working wonders. I get the point, but the y-axis label is confusing: wouldn’t negative job loss be the same as job creation? Regardless, I had a different picture of the recovery.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Feb 17, 2010, 5:18PM

High street 'revived' by fake shop front. “Fake businesses are to be used to lessen the impact of the recession on high streets in North Tyneside. With 140 empty shops in the borough, council bosses think they have come up with a unique way of ensuring shopping areas remain as vibrant as possible. The first empty shop unit to be given a makeover with a ‘flat pack’ shop front is in Whitley Bay.” (via)

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Apr 27, 2010, 2:13AM

Artist Unknown. Via.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Feb 14, 2010, 4:33PM

How does one make design for social change sustainable and scalable? To build a replicable model and an enduring momentum?

As someone who’s worked with non-profits for many years, I’ve occasionally thought about perhaps starting one of my own as a way of institutionalizing some of my activism and work, ideas, research and outreach.

You might be surprised to learn that the largest charity in the world is not run by Bill and Melinda Gates, but is one that promotes and supports innovation in the field of architectural and interior design. That’s the Stichting INGKA Foundation, the Dutch Foundation that owns IKEA.

I have more modest ambitions and checking out the prior art, I found there’s no shortage of design-driven non-profit organizations. A search on GuideStar, a database of non-profit organizations, turns up over 5,000 search results matching the term “design.” In my survey of design-centric non-profit organizations here are some I thought were notable. This list is not exhaustive (for instance, it does not include some amazing educational institutions, museums, or documentary projects) and the examples here are all US-based, but take a look.

Originally from Social Design Notes by john reBlogged on Feb 12, 2010, 2:59PM

How do you conceive of the future work to shoot for, and how you'll do it? I invite you to weigh in.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 8, 2010, 4:02PM

In 1943, Margaret Wise Brown, the children’s book author signed a contract with Harper & Brothers to publish The Fathers Are Coming Home.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 27, 2010, 6:17PM

On Places, an excerpt from Delta Urbanism: New Orleans, geographer Richard Campanella's account of the ongoing environmental and political struggles of post-Katrina New Orleans — and why a great American city remains pathetically vulnerable to further catastrophe.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Mar 29, 2010, 6:25PM

On Places, architectural historian Barbara Penner explores Peter Greenaway's digital video installation of Veronese's The Wedding at Cana, the latest in the series "Nine Classic Paintings Revisited," shown at the recent Venice Biennale.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 26, 2010, 6:36PM

Each morning, before starting work, I spend 30 minutes looking for images that are beautiful, funny, absurd and inspiring. Here's TODAY.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 3, 2010, 2:59PM

A team of architecture students and faculty from the University of Maryland has earned one of 20 coveted spots in the elite international U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 Competition.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 22, 2010, 5:20PM

Each morning, before starting work, I spend 30 minutes looking for images that are beautiful, funny, absurd and inspiring. Here's TODAY.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 10, 2010, 2:16PM

On Places, a slideshow of photographer Paho Mann's images of post-consumer detritus — a.k.a. trash — part of a new public art project at a solid waste facility in Phoenix, Arizona.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 22, 2010, 5:19PM

Fifty years ago the National lnstitute of Design was born in Ahmedabad India. It's backbone was a manifesto developed by Charles and Ray Eames.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 5, 2010, 9:16PM

For the past three years, Francois Robert has spent hundreds of hours arranging the bones of a single human skeleton into a series of striking iconic shapes, creating a photographic series he calls "Stop the Violence." The results are beautiful and haunting.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 22, 2010, 3:10PM

In 2008, John Maloof purchased an anonymous body of photographic images at an auction in Chicago. After spending seven months reviewing the images he found the identity of the photographer, her name was Vivian Maier.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Mar 31, 2010, 2:45PM

Davis has asked me to write the introduction to his latest book. I told him I didn't want to write about the usual stuff. He agreed and suggested we go for a walk instead.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 19, 2010, 8:08PM

Interactive designer Jon Kolko launches a school to help designers build economically viable careers working for social betterment.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 27, 2010, 7:50PM

On Places, New Zealand-based design writer Meena Kadri rides the new bus-rapid-transit in Ahmedabad, a system that strives to mix old and new, rich and poor — and even offers yoga classes to the drivers.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 19, 2010, 5:33PM

On Places, Mimi Zeiger reviews MoMA's ambitious new architecture and urban design show, Rising Currents: Projects for New York's Waterfront, which explores how New York Harbor might be adapted in the face of rising sea levels.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 8, 2010, 5:38PM

Is Volkswagen's Fun Theory campaign anything more than a turbocharged marketing stunt?

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 19, 2010, 5:27PM

Brazilian architecture firm StudioMK27 creates a controversial furniture collection based on the designs of construction workers.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 8, 2010, 3:52PM

One does not have to be a poet to write heartbreaking words on a piece of eternal stone. Or perhaps the opposite is true, that all such memorials are lyrical remembrances — that every poem, as TS Eliot once observed, is an epitaph.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 15, 2010, 9:24PM

On Places, landscape architect Denise Hoffman Brandt offers a vivid portrait of the ongoing post-Katrina struggles of one neighborhood, and one household, in New Orleans.  

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 5, 2010, 5:47PM

On Places, Tim Love explores the latest generation of paper architecture being created by under-employed designers — and argues that the current recession offers a real chance to align progressive theory with urban practice.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 13, 2010, 4:10PM

On Places, the second of a two-part essay by Richard Campanella, on the ongoing struggles of New Orleans to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 1, 2010, 5:39PM

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, win the Pritzker Prize and Denise Scott Brown’s “Room at the Top? Sexism and the Star System in Architecture,? becomes a  topic of discussion.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 13, 2010, 3:39PM

What a longtime American-born resident of Japan has learned about his adopted country's ancient practice of sustainability.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Mar 29, 2010, 8:06PM

Review of "Landscapes of Quarantine," Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York. March 9–April 17, 2010.

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Apr 12, 2010, 2:21PM

I want to give full credit to the men and women who were there first, and established some of the most popular, provocative and adorable blogs. But now the launch moment is over. 

Originally from Design Observer: Main Posts reBlogged on Mar 29, 2010, 3:05PM