Opinion: Maria Popova

Death to Design Awards

Awards are awful. Awards breed ego, create false meritocracies and ultimately stymie innovation at every step of the award-granting process — from entry to evaluation to owning the win.

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Case Studies: Ernest Beck

Design and Social Enterprise: A New Model for Case Studies

Placing design within the larger context of real world projects and enterprises is critical for design thinking and solutions to evolve as a methodology and a means for social impact. In business schools, numerous case studies focus on social enterprise management and others on the role of design in business. But not many have considered the role of design in social enterprises. Yale School of Management, in collaboration with Winterhouse Institute, has created a new series of cases focusing on design and social enterprise, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

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Case Studies: Ernest Beck

SELCO: Case Study Synopsis & Teaching Objectives

This case study about SELCO, a solar energy company in India, provides an opportunity to examine the strategy of a business with a social purpose and a heavy reliance on innovative design. This is the first in a new series of cases focusing on design and social enterprise created by Yale School of Management in collaboration with Winterhouse Institute, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

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Essay: Kate Howe

The Insignificance of a Logo (Even When Significant)

On the futility of designing the symbol for a controversial religious organization.

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Essay: Ramsey Ford

What Social Entrepreneurship Can Teach Social Design

As a professor at the University of Cincinnati and a director of a nascent design nonprofit, Design Impact (DI), I'm often approached by young designers asking: What knowledge do I need to get into social design? What skills should I develop that I didn’t learn for my design degree? What social design opportunities are out there? How do I begin?

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Project: Phil Patton

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Electric Car

“Range anxiety” is the fear of running out of juice, and probably the chief obstacle to people's acceptance of electric cars. We don’t like to plan our journeys so carefully. But this pod-like electric car, which has been lurking in the shadows of the more highly publicized Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, may alleviate that concern.

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Essay: Ashish Nangia

The Town That Corbusier Built

Respect for the design of Chandigarh, India, is growing, even as the modernist city is showing wear. But who will care, if access to its most impressive monuments is restricted?

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Opinion: Peter Wolf

Pet Projects

We’re killing 3 to 4 million dogs and cats each year in shelters. Although a wide variety of underserved populations have benefited from the recent design-for-social-change movement, the pet (over)population remains largely ignored.

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Interview: Meena Kadri

Tinkers, Hackers, Farmers, Crafters

Emeka Okafor is a New York–based entrepreneur and blogger who curated the 2007 TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, Tanzania. A reporter on innovations in African design, technology and industry, he aims to spread knowledge and foster partnerships that will lead to bottom-up growth on the African continent. One vehicle for accomplishing this is Okafor’s website Timbuktu Chronicles, which combines news of recent inventions with essays on African design and manufacturing. Another is Maker Faire Africa, an event he launched last year in Accra, Ghana. MFA brings interdisciplinary inventors and crafters together to share knowledge, resources and opportunities. This year's fair will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, August 27–28.

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Observed

AfriGadget's coverage of Maker Faire Africa 2010. Go here for interview with MFA's founder, Emeka Okafor. [JL]

Observed

The finalists for the 2010 Curry Stone Design Prize have been announced: Maya Pedal, which makes machines from used bicycles that perform agricultural and household tasks without gas or electricity; Chilean design firm Elemental, for rethinking public housing in the developing world; and Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), which addresses women's and girls' needs by, for instance, developing feminine hygiene products from locally-sourced banana fiber in Rwanda. [MB]

Observed

David Stairs supports Bruce Nussbaum in ongoing design imperialism controversy. [JL]

Observed

The Applied Brilliance conference, Oct 12-15 in Ojai, CA, is dedicated to transforming ideas into events that serve people. This year’s theme is Revolution and Resilience. Speakers include corporate anthropologist Karen Stephenson, video game designer Jenova Chen, philosopher Mark Kingwell and Griffith Observatory director E.C. Krupp. Go here for more info and to register. [JL]

Gallery: Photo by Susannah Sayler/The Canary Project

Hot Mountain

Susannah Sayler, Glacial Icecap and Permafrost Melting: Cordillera Blanca, Peru, 2008.>>

Observed

The CoolClimate Art Contest "seeks to generate iconic images that address the impact of climate change and spur participation in the climate change debate." Submissions will be judged by Agnes Gund, David Ross, Carrie Mae Weems, Philippe Cousteau, Van Jones, Jackson Browne, and Chevy Chase. Winners will be voted on by the public on Huffington Post. Deadline: Sept. 6. Submit here. [JL]

Gallery: Photo by Greg Constantine

Nubians Then and Now

Greg Constantine, Nubian Homes in Kibera, July 2010.>>

Observed

Time managing editor Richard Stengel defends a disturbing cover image. [JL]

Observed

The Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Barcelona is offering a nine-month masters degree program in sustainable emergency architecture. The program, which is taught in English, is "one of the very few in the world to specialize in post-disaster reconstruction and humanitarian projects." Faculty includes Sergio Palleroni. [JL]

Gallery: Photo by Pieter Hugo

Permanent Error

Pieter Hugo, Untitled, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana 2010.>>

Observed

"Are your Nikes greener than your Adidas?" Phil Patton on the newly developed Eco Index measuring the environmental and human-rights impact of apparel brands. [JL]

Observed

Allison Arieff channels ideas for improving Long Island's suburbs. [JL]

Observed

Why you should be depressed (today) about global climate change. And what you can do to lift the gloom. [JL]

Gallery: Patrick Chappatte

Study in Contrasts

"Soccer Celebration in Africa," published in NZZ am Sonntag (Zurich), June 13, 2010.>>

Gallery: Mike Sinclair

Midway at the Oasis

Midway, Neshoba County Fair, Philadelphia, Mississippi, 1990.>>

Gallery: Julie Lasky

Protect Me from What I Want

In 2002, a slim Asian-Canadian New Yorker in his twenties, who often gave the impression of being the most negligible person in a room, approached the artist Jenny Holzer at a Manhattan gallery and asked her to inscribe a message on his forearm. >>

Gallery: Elizabeth Helman Minchilli, Annie Schlechter

Rome Sustainable Food Project

For over two decades, chef, author and founder of Chez Panisse, Alice Waters has been working tirelessly to change the way we eat in America. Four years ago, she sent chef Mona Talbott to put her words into action at the American Academy in Rome. >>