want to help save the world? starting making things

I am currently redesigning the next 100 years of the future. Good news, everything turns out pretty well, although there is a rough patch here and there (but you didn't expect everything to be easy, right)?

So what caused everything to work out? Al Gore? Cradle-to-cradle design? Bikes? While all played large parts, the main cause was education. You know, schools and stuff.

Educational leaders looked at the model that is currently in place and laughed at it. "HA" they said. They found it ridiculous that kids are looked down upon for making mistakes, that art and music and dance have all disappeared from a kids curriculum by high school, that young kids are looked at as "troublemakers" for not being able to sit down for an extended period of time (in other words, for being a typical young kid), and that we are still creating graduates for an industrial society that is long gone.

These minds implemented the truth that some live these days—that creativity and Art lead to good things. They help shape the minds that solve problems. And we have some problems that need solving.

So what does that mean for you, the person of 2008? That is easy—start making things. Even if it is just a doodle of a stick person. Rediscover the fun of art and music and dance and all of the other creative pursuits that make life so damn great. Make yourself a tee shirt and wear it around town, smiling ear to ear. Paint a picture and hang it in your den, and when a guest asks who painted it, wait a few seconds then stand on the sofa and sing out "it was I that painted the picture". Help a child with homework by sketching out the problem to make it visual and watch their eyes light up when they realize that math can include pictures.

The more people who practice creativity and Art, the better off we will be. I have no factual evidence to back that assertion up...I just know.

Our society has become used to the cycle of buying things and feeling despair/cynicism about the world at large, that it may seem like the only way to live—but it's not! The problems we are facing are tough, but they aren't insurmountable—they just require a different kind of thinking.

So go forth, grab whatever tools you need (don't worry about an eraser), and get to work. The future is depending on you.

Note: As I wrote this post, the University of Indiana's student radio station (which is pretty great) played a song with a chorus of "make it better". Don't you love it when the world sends you little signs like that?

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.