People Recycle More in Green Buildings
Researchers at UBC have studied the recycling behaviour of people who work in green buildings to those who don’t and found that – regardless of their past habits – people…
Design
Just say no to 0%
There’s a thread of an idea around this city that every incumbent city councillor needs disposal in the next election. Well, there are a few good ones, and there are…
Blown Up: Gaming and War
Let’s face it: shooting stuff is fun – in video, that is; but it can also be ethically complicated. Gallery 101’s current exhibition Blown Up: Gaming and War, brings to…
Digital media challenge offers $100,000 for critical work on democracy
A new digital media challenge is looking for creative work that addresses the need to improve democracy in the United States. And as it is with American democracy in practice,…
A Look at Happiness Through Design
The Design Exchange in Toronto has invited Stefan Sagmeister to explore what happiness is all about. The artist has done some great album artwork and is now exploring how to…
If Dr. Seuss books were titled according to their subtexts
While I might be more likely to pick up a book entitled The Psychological Implications of Holiday-Motivated Materialism, I’m not so sure about a five-year-old. You can check out all…
Winning Cleantech by Design
Being able to get across a green product’s essence to consumers and investors is a key that can turn it from a fringe interest to mass market success. Design can…
1984 is blacked out in a graphic tribute to George Orwell
Penguin Books is releasing new editions of George Orwell’s best known books on January 21 to commemorate the inaugural “Orwell Day” — an annual event to celebrate the author and…
Happy holidays from Soviet Russia (and us!)
In the spirit of the holidays, we’d like to share with you this lovely collection of Soviet greeting cards. Enjoy! (There’s more where that come from if you check out…
Girls with guns, boys with blow dryers – Is this gender-neutral toy catalog just a holiday publicity stunt?
Designing a toy catalog — or most any mass-market consumer catalog for that matter — is usually an exercise deeply rooted in the status quo. Top-Toy, the largest toy retailer…
Carbon Visuals illustrates the serious state of climate change
Since 1991, nearly 14,000 peer-reviewed scientific articles have been published on the topic of climate change. Of those, a mere 24 reject human-caused global warming. Despite the overwhelming evidence that…
Designer’s tumbleweed clears land mines
The Mine Kafon, by Afghan designer Massoud Hassani, is designed to be blown across dangerous terrain by the wind, triggering mines as it passes over them.
The imagination, art, and activism of Herman’s House
Last week I attended the Toronto theatrical premiere of Herman’s House, a thought-provoking documentary written and directed by Angad Singh Bhalla. This Canadian film tells the story of an artistic…
Public Access Design pairs artists and advocates on urgent social issues
The Centre for Urban Pedagogy has brought the principle of public-access television to the world of design with a project intended to provide impactful design to community advocates and empower…
Cat from the jungle of your mind.
I’ve been playing in an iPad app called LetterMPress. The touch and manipulation controls are a bit fussy. The printing process is simulated too, and quite delightfully ignores whatever expediencies…
Hacking the border to pieces: technology, poetics, and protest at the speed of dreams – An encounter with Ricardo Dominguez
Ricardo Dominguez (center), with Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0. (Photo by Kinsee Morlan.) It’s a staging that feels, if not inappropriate, then at least a little unconventional: I’m seated in front…
Cats and a fish
Image built with LetterMpress, overly skeuomorphic software, with sometimes awkward and fussy, unresponsive object manipulation. Still, quite beautiful results. Filed under: art, design, digital Tagged: Cats fish letterpress LetterMpress printing…
Masque
Filed under: art, design, digital, drawing Tagged: 100 cats
How Car2Go ruins Car2Go
So let me start by saying, in theory, I LOVE Car2Go. The service has helped prevent me from buying a car and has been indispensable in opening up more of…