SAGMEISTER IN PICNIC
SAGMEISTER- talking about socially responsible design, creating actions, events to promote information about the military spending in the US. He talks at Picnic about: Things that I have learnt in my life so-far plus other things. Parts of this lecture can be seen on Tedtalks but some parts are new. Interesting images of spiders-web type design for example.
December 20, 2007
Posted in: DESIGN 
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MISS LANDMINE
I am not sure what to say! This is working against the stereo-typical beauty ideal and the pictures are beautiful. But I have to admit how bored I am with the concept of beauty contests iterating the cliche that every woman´s dream is to be beautiful. Take a look! Miss Landmine
November 20, 2007
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HACKING AND SECURITY
What is a hacker? Is it a bad person? Not really. Is it someone that cheats? I guess so, but how? Answer: by knowing the systems that he/she is dealing with, looking out for new possibilities, new avenues, methods that are not allowed by the rules. But, that is design-methodology! We look out for the possibilities beyond what has been determined, and why? Because we are supposed to work on problem definitions while looking out for tasks. What is there to hack? Answer: electronic stuff. And today, lots of it because almost all products are computers. In last months Intersections07 conference the British product designer Richard Seymour from Seymourpowell-design said: “I AM A CORPORATE ELECTRICIAN!” Last year a friend was passing by our copier in KHiO, stopped and said: “This copier has a bluetooth!” Took out his phone and fiddled for a while until the copier printed out a picture from his phone. No wires, no password, no problem. He could have used up our paper and toner if he wanted to. Our system in the copier had no defence system. He could probably communicate to our toaster, microwave etc. I guess this is no news to all of you ‘switched-on’ people out there, browsing over web, picking up blogs and soundbites and videos. But this podcast that I have been watching is revealing stuff to me. Pablos Holman – is a an inventor, futurist, IT security expert, blogger – and a notorious hacker and innovator showing some tricks of the hacker and that the world is not so ok. It is amazing what the hackers can do. All products today are computers. Product manufacturers have no update processes for their products. In the interesting podcast Pablos as a hacker explains the world of products. He says: “I am over worrying that there is no security out there.” “There is none.” Logging into bluetooth, rfid, wifi, gsm, gps – all give signals about our movements. All tools are now computers, our clothes have embedded rfid’s. — I recommend the podcast namedImplementing Science Fiction + Future Technology Trends + Education through Social Play – especially the first 30 minutes when Pablos discusses. He says: “You have to spend a hell of a lot of time finding out what is possible, this something companies are not good at. Hackers are good at that” There are more podcasts and info on the PICNIC07
November 20, 2007
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An interesting way to use design skills
A few weeks ago we went to Newcastle to see the final exhibition of the very interesting project Dott 07 (Design of the Times). Its a project run by the British Design Council, looking at how design can take part in developing more sustainable ways of living. Designers worked with the communities in North East England for a whole year on the question, how a life in a sustainable region could be? The project focused on the grassroots, looking at real people’s life and how it is possible to find real people-centered solutions. Five aspects of daily life were in focus: Movement, Health, Food, School and Energy. All kinds of community projects, events and exhibitions resulted from the project. Low Carb Lane was a project with a focus on how energy efficiency might be accessible, desirable and affordable for all – rich or poor, owners and renters alike. One of the project leaders in it was the English/Norwegian design office liveIwork. Because energy is invisible it is difficult for people to understand energy-consumption and implications to their energy bills and the environment. So, one of the things LiveIwork created and designed was a real time home energy dashboard, split up in categories for people to understand how they are using energy. And thus give possibility for people to make a strategy of how to save energy. A most interesting project! There were also projects on healt issues like alzheimer and sexual health, local food production, kids working with designers on how to reduce the carbon footprint of their school and lots more. I recommend the Dott website to read about various projects. – The Dott project leader was John Thackara, author of the ‘must read’ book In the Bubble and director of the doors of perception web, one of the most interesting on design, innovation and sustainability. The work of the British Design Council is worth looking at for other countries. Their believe in the use of design in every aspect of society is important. Not just in the more obvious business side where they have researched that companies using design by far outperform the other, but also in using design in all kinds of society projects.
November 18, 2007
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Olof Kolte on sustainability
Friend Olof Kolte was invited to Iceland to give lectures on design and sustainability. The best and most critical magazine in the country took an interview asking Olof about his position on design and sustainability. He says: At your lecture, you spoke about the Internet as the “driving force in the explosion of productivity” in the modern world. Is it a good or an evil from the sustainability standpoint? Back in history, a written word was a means of any activity’s organisation. You can well imagine that at that time writing systems were used to regulate the division of a harvest, or to transfer messages to people, or to announce upcoming events. You could have passed the information to people; you could have educated them, or enabled them, to make use of those opportunities they had not been aware of otherwise. But simply writing has never been as much influential as the Internet: it’s an extremely powerful means of communication. When used in an efficient way, it can encompass an incredible mass of information. I recommend you read the whole interview here:Grapewine If you want to see Olof’s homepage his link is in our list of friends
November 14, 2007
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Dinner in Newcastle
We went for a Chinese in Newcastle while attending the Intersections Conference. The conversation flowed and the red wine flowed with interspersions of great dishes. Allan, one of the contributors of Core77 had to text his wife and lo and behold: his iphone appeared. He said that he had seldom in his life had as much attention. Phone comparisons started, especially beetween the West and the gear of the two Japanese design academics: Hiroshi Imaizumi and Tadanori Nagasawa from Musashino Art University. John Thackara had to have a go as well. Shaky phone-driven images turned out.
November 11, 2007
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STEVE JOBS TELLING STORIES
August 19, 2007
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MAPUTO VISITED FOR THE FIRST TIME
Having interesting time in the Arts Academy in Maputo (ENAV). Looking over and discussing possibilities in development of design and the entrepreneurial activity that the Mozambican people are actually quite clever at. The people here seem to have an inner style sense. Greatly inspiring to see the school, gaining insight into the education and possibilities for an establishment of an academy at university level. Here are some images from my visit.
April 16, 2007
Tags: academy, DESIGN, maputo, mozambique Posted in: AFRICA, DESIGN, ISAC - KHiO, MOZAMBIQUE Comments Closed
MY INTRO SPEECH IN KHIO WHEN I STARTED AS A DEAN
In January 2005 I was asked to make a short introductory talk in KHiO along with the other new deans that had been appointed. Here it is.
“Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than seeing.” Goethe
Seeing the object – almost without thinking.
Although Design is grown out of the marriage between arts and crafts with industry, it has developed into a speciality which carries objectification to its greatest extent. Designers celebrate objects nowadays without much consideration for tradition, locality, history.
Any kind of objects.
- A vacuum cleaner becomes a turtle, an insect, an animal, to please the eye. - One more building is a copy of the square concrete, glass, timber-clad buildings. The same in Oslo, Switzerland, Singapore. - A scantily clad girl is an object for selling a drink, a toy, a trip to Indonesia, a restaurant, a car. - A politician becomes an object during election. Marketed, Designed (without wrinkles) without much meaning.
Design does this job in present society, – very often without content. Without much meaning. It creates and sells dreams. Utopias. The best coffee, the coolest cars, the most advanced computer.
Utopias and dreams.
Thomas Moore, in his book on Utopia, says that man aims for a better valued life and does not wait for God to make it happen. Man adds value to his life, and Design is the servant. During this process Design serves the Design industries. It serves businesses that basically are only interested in profit.
How do we deal with this?
Does Capitalism have any morals? No! – according to Darwin. The survival of the fittest does not have any morals.
Designers are the interface between businesses and society. They must look after the human element in what business does in capitalistic society.
Design is humanism.
Design students are taught very powerful tools to operate with. These are weapons for survival in capitalistic conditions. If we want to support humanism and influence meaningless objectification of present life we must educate those that are in the front line of dream production – the Designers.
Educated Designers, artists, creators, should not be allowed to NOT THINK while they work. We must make sure they THINK, even tough it is not as much fun as seeing – according to Goethe.
How can we do this?
We must OPEN their field of focus. During the past 20-30 years there has been far too much specialization in Design. Actually in any profession. Specification means that we become narrow minded experts at something that only we know how to do. Ignorant of the wider picture.
We must make our students aware of tradition while not making it overwhelm them with bad habits. We must make them aware of old techniques without forcing them to use them. Norway has a great tradition in creating meaningful objects that are inherent in the geographical conditions and historical development. That is to be celebrated in the way a child approaches the world: every day a revelation without limits.
We must open the Design-specialized fields to the arts, drama, dance, politics, industry, commerce, music, film. To open up the work space so that our Design students keep an open mind.
The only way to survive in the current object-capitalistic-conditions is by supporting humanism. To think and operate cross-boundaries supported by an ethical vision.
Capitalism thrives on specialization. On the job specification. The conveyor belt job. How can you think while you got a job on the conveyor belt?
The creative Designer thrives on the possibility of the unexpected rather than the inevitable. The conveyor belt only goes in one direction with a very specific goal ahead.
We must relax the identification of the role while promoting professional and academic competences. A department of Design is an academic reflexive zone. The Designers must learn about standards and norms (the inevitable) while not becoming their slaves. Designers create answers without having problems.
Let us make objects, but with thought, with responsibility. Design should look after the ethical dimension in society. We must look after differences:
- ethnic variation - different age groups - different factions of society - the third world - nature - minority groups - fight too much standardization - cultural inequality
In KHiO we can make an operative model of an open society by taking down barriers of specialization. Then we create open minded THINKING artists and Designers that are not tools for businesses only.
January 8, 2005
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