a thought on education

The work of the 826 organizations has always inspired me. Creating a place where kids can receive help with their homework and be the creative geniuses that they naturally are is vital to education. Just flip through some of their creations and you will understand.

My question: why can't this be replicated inside schools during school time?

Imagine a school that allowed kids a period of the day to be as creative as possible, without fear of grades or judgment. A time in the day where kids can choose to draw, write, paint, create music, program computers, think of new ideas and wild inventions, and read books that weren't handed out by their teachers. Is there one negative to this idea? Think of how much these children would end up finding out about themselves, and what they are capable of, and how all of the more traditional subjects really do tie into their interests. Teachers could use this period as a bridge between what they are teaching, helping to create an engaging connection to their material. Parents could use this to start conversations with their kids about learning and life. And kids could use this to realized just how capable they are, even if their recent spelling test grades suggest otherwise.

Creating a better educational system is not only going to happen through more money for teachers and supplies (although I fully support paying teachers as much as professional athletes). It will happen by rethinking the way kids learn and how we teach them. I think this could be a start.

For more on creativity and education, check out Ken Robinson's talk.

the case for ethnography

Malcolm Gladwell makes it here.

defining design thinking

As my analysis of Tangible Steps for Tomorrow for our Design Ethnography I module (finally) comes to fruition, I find myself waist deep in people—from designers to academics to journalists—trying to define what "design thinking" is.

Although I believe that most definitions go against the principles that design thinking is based on, I did particularly enjoy one attempt. Roger Martin, the Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto put it simply: "design thinking is about creating better things".

It is beautiful in its brevity and power.

For more information on design thinking and how it can be used to improve life, here is a fun video created by a group of students at Stanford's d.school, an article from the New York Times, and the video of Roger Martin mentioned above.

a design manifesto

As I continue to turn the pages of the collection of essays that make up the book Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility, I came across the mention of "First Things First Manifesto 2000", a call for graphic designers to use their power for good.

While the text specifically calls on graphic designers, I think this can be extended to any type of designer. We are all in this together.

If you have the time, also read the original 1964 manifesto from which the 2000 version was adapted from.

fight against plastic bottles

I found the following photo on photographer Chris Jordan's website. It depicts two million plastic bottles, or the number used in the US every five minutes.



Think about that—two million plastic used in five minutes in the US alone. This is a design and mindset problem, and we need to put an end to this wasteful consumption. If you visit the website and view the closer pictures, you'll notice that a majority of them are water bottles. Yes, water, that substance that one can get free from the tap.

Mos Def had it right ten years ago in New World Water:

There are places where TB is common as TV
Cause foreign-based companies go and get greedy
The type of cats who pollute the whole shore line
Have it purified, sell it for a dollar twenty-five

a real horror film

Sure Halloween has past, but you have time for one more horror film, right? Unlike those Jason or Freddy movies, this uses no special effects.

What more evidence is needed that cradle-to-cradle design is absolutely necessary? Still don't know what this is? Here are some videos from the book's co-authors. Fear not, these are good and inspiring.

design thinking vs. public policy

For an upcoming assignment in our Design Ethnography module, I have done quite a bit of research on recommendations that have been made to improve early childhood education. The focal point of this assignment is a report created by the W.K. Kellogg foundation and IDEO, called "Tangible Steps Toward Tomorrow". It is an engaging study, and is the only one I have found so far that uses design thinking to tackle the challenge of enhancing early education—the rest have looked solely to public policy.

The recommendations between the studies are actually quite similar. The real difference lies in what they should look like and how they should be implemented. It is these differences that have me questioning what is more powerful—changes made through design thinking or public policy?

This debate* has recently become personally significant. This past Tuesday we (Americans) elected Barack Obama as our 44th President. The feelings I had while watching the results arrive in his favor are those rare type of feelings that an entire country feels, but can hardly express. Watching in a dorm room in Dundee was especially tough, as I wanted to be part of the excitement in my country (especially after seeing video of people celebrating in the streets of NYC).

The celebrations were fascinating to watch and, besides the history that electing Obama made, the collective happiness of the people was the most moving part of the night. We are a country that, frankly, hasn't had too much to be excited about during the past three (and most likely more) years. When I wrote a note to my parents describing my reaction, I typed the line "While I enjoy living abroad, I am excited to return to my home to start making things better" before I even realized what it meant. Obama, excuse me, President-elect Barack Obama has made America—not the family and friends I have there, but the idea of the country itself—exciting to me once again. It was a feeling that I almost forgot I was capable of.

This is truly powerful, and I believe it can effectively end the "design thinking vs public policy" debate. The enthusiasm generated by President-elect Obama will hopefully create small progressive movements in homes and communities across the country—the feelings of hope and excitement can foster good right in our backyards**. At the same time, we have will have a President that seems dedicated to creating smart and forward-thinking legislation. Essentially, there is the possibility for us to have the best of both worlds.

At least, that is what I hope. And hope may be the best new-found feeling of all.


*I use the word debate, but realize that few, if any, people besides myself are even asking this question. Maybe it is a personal debate. Maybe I just created it so I had an excuse to write about the US election. While I'm at it, here are links to the victory speech (part 1 and part 2)—a must watch for inspiration seekers.

**Yes, I am insinuating that local movements to affect change are similar to design thinking. You may disagree. The definitions of both "design" and "design thinking" are unestablished enough that we can believe they mean different things and both be correct (or incorrect).

reverse design for environmental happiness

While procrastinating this morning, I came across the Solay Running Shoe case study from Boston-based design company Continuum.

First, I love that Continuum continues to explore how design can create positive social changes, especially in the environmental arena.

Second, this type of reverse design—where you take an object that usually ends up sitting in a landfill and improve it so this outcome no longer happens—can be applied everywhere. Every time that you throw something away, the designer in you should ask "how could this object be improved so that it doesn't end up in the trash"?

For some items, like water bottles, the solution may be to eliminate them altogether and use a non-disposable substitute (like this). In others, like the sneaker, a better design will be the solution.

This seems like the first step towards cradle-to-cradle design, and a good practice to start thinking like an environmentally-conscious designer.

Note: If you have some time, read through some of the posts from the No Impact Man blog (linked above, but here it is again). It is truly interesting, and holds tons of good ideas that that majority of us "impact people" can use.