Content! Content! Content!

We're looking for YOUR content. Anything from comments on what you enjoy, to what shows get your gears churning, to what presenters say things that you actually like? Tell us what you enjoy or don't!

Comments will be much appreciated.

Cheeeers.

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Sustainable Design Forum

This Friday the 27th, the DCA will host the Sustainable Design Forum. Unbox along with five other speakers will be contributing to the discussions. It would be really great to see as many of you there as possible, and it should be a very interesting night.

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Welcome Unbox's New Member...

...Timothy Pryde!

Due to his outstanding contribution over the duration of the Microsoft brief, and how well he's gelled into Unbox, we're delighted to announce that Timmy will working with us on a more permanent basis. Congrats dude! Looking forward to having you on board.

More of Tim at http://www.timpryde.blogspot.com

Cheeers.

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World Clock

I recently listened to Tim Brown, CEO of Ideo, give a talk on Design Thinking. He briefly explained something called "WorldClock", so I gave it a look.

Give it a look.

WorldClock

Also, give EarthClock a look.

EarthClock

Questions and comments welcome.

Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip

Last Tuesday, Unbox attended a workshop ran by Hamid van Koten, entitled, "Sustainability: What Students Want?". The workshop was brought on by the Teaching and Learning forum that was held last month, and consisted of some awareness activities, feedback on what we as students actually wanted, and some free food courtesy of O'Brien's sandwich bar! Unfortunately, this isn't what I'm blogging today. For a really good write up on what went on on Tuesday, check out Struan Pendrich's blog post at http://resigndesign.blogspot.com, where he goes over everything that went on that day. Yes, he even includes the results of Hamid's heavily anticipated 'Eco Race'.

Today, I'm posting the video that Hamid decided to kick this workshop off with, Leo Murray - a graduate of RCA's, "Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip". His vivid interpretation of the messy situation we find ourselves in is not only eye-opening, but is also extremely hard hitting and relevant to designers, tutors, and everyone else charged with the crimes of destroying our planet. Opening up with the line, "This really isn’t about polar bears any more. At this very moment, the fate of civilization itself hangs in the balance", it is clear to see Murray's intentions, and throughout the animation, you find yourself torn between the despair of "these extraordinary times", and the excitement of being part of the solution.

"Wake Up, Freak Out - the Get a Grip" is an excellent depiction of climate change and the times that we live in. Obviously, with everything you read and watch, you should take it with a pinch of salt, as he does push the theory on a little, but i'll let you see that for yourself.

A PDF of the script with other useful links, etc, can be found here - http://wakeupfreakout.org/script.pdf and for some more general information on the project itself, check out http://wakeupfreakout.org.

Enjoy!

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip

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Sustainability, Opinion, Apology,

Recently, there's been a noticeable increase in the interest of sustainability (within my peers). This could be due to a combination of a number of things, the fact that in our Design Studies classes we are discussing the book Cradle to Cradle, or that last semester our fellow student Chris McNichol created the quite outstanding "Cardboard Radio", which seemed to get people thinking about how their products could be sustainable.

Anyway this is drifting from my point, it being that with this added interest in going green, it seems to have caused a slight rift in the harmony of the class.

This came to my attention on Thursday, after we had been given a pretty damn interesting talk from 4th year Product Designers Fergus, Matthew and Tom. Within it, I felt there was a really valid and critical point made by Tom. He simply stated that sustainability is currently a fashion statement.

Personally, I couldn't agree more with this, but don't get me wrong, I am all for sustainable living and thinking, I just think some people are going about it in the completely wrong way. Currently we seem to have a really critical system in place, where everything is valued on economical viability. Now some people agree with this, and state that without thinking this way, how else are we going to save the planet? Others think this over-analyzation is ridiculous. It doesn't take a genius to see that these views conflict.

My personal opinion? I agree that we need to think about sustainability, it's an exciting area and holds so many amazing possibilities; especially biomimicry. However, I feel I need to stress that I think people are jumping on this sustainability bandwagon, and forcing it upon themselves. It feels like it's the flavour of the month and people are simply talking about it because it's popular.

Which brings me to my next point, in our presentation a couple of Mondays ago, we mentioned sustainability. We at Unbox know this didn't go smoothly with our presentation, and know it looked like a rush job added in at the last minute. I found out a couple of days ago, that presentation seemed to have dented our popularity amongst our peers, for the very reason I just mentioned. The "flavour of the month" thought, coupled with the less-than-smooth addition to our presentation led people to believe it was a crude addition in order to gain a little extra credit. All I can say is that it wasn't, but we apologise if it appeared that way.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on what's been written here.

PS. This was not a dig at sustainability thinking, just the way it's portrayed. I would like to get that point across!

ah.

Sustainability Direct Mail & Invite.

Over the last few weeks, I've been looking around our college for students who are pushing sustainability in their own projects. Either through the university set briefs or just in their own personal time. I stumbled upon a 2nd Year Graphics student, Callin Mackintosh's, project on sustainability. He was creating an invite, which was inviting designers to a sustainability conference. I really liked the simple idea and aesthetics of his invite. Take a look.

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P.S. Sorry it's been so long folks.

The Age Of Stupid

The Age Of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking back at Earth wondering why we didn't stop it whilst we had the chance.

I found this trailer for the film, to be released on March 20th 09, on Kate Andrews blog. The trailer looks like it could be a good film, but is it simply that, just a film? I totally agree that the issue of climate change must be brought to the attention of the public, but who today in the Westernised world, where this film will surely be targeting, does not know already. I applaud the director and Spanner Films for attempting to use such a popular, diverse media medium of the cinema to reach the public, but is this really the most effective way? Is this even the right content? I fear that the message in "The Age Of Stupid" could be shelved away in the viewers minds never to be seen again once they leave the cinema. Will it become another interesting, enjoyable film such as "The Day After Tomorrow" and the long list of TV programs along the same lines. Is it all too easy to separate what we see on TV and cinema as being a show or performance, people feel like these are just films like Star Wars or Batman and have no connotations in the real world.

I hope this is not the case, and I suppose even the making of the film shows Sustainability's transition into mainstream culture, but lets not think that telling people how bad things will be over and over will be an effective way of changing how we currently live.

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Creating Concepts and Connections

First thing is to find inspiration from field to cultures other than your own and I mean by design and effortful, purposeful search of inspirations from other fields of cultures and then to dare to explore the connections that you find when you do that. Some of the ideas that you come up with are going to seem a bit crazy or at least weird. Don’t kick them out of your head just yet. Let them sit there for a while and then get rid of them but let them sit there for a while. Just allow yourself to explore the connection a little bit further than you normally would have. That way you might come up with something that sticks and that could create something that’s groundbreaking.

-Frans Johansson

This quote is taken from Frans Johansson's presentation at InterSections 07, 'Innovation at the Intersection of Discipline and Culture'.

It reminded me of how we created concept ideas at early stages of this Microsoft project. After a long time deliberating and creating what resulted in very few ideas, we came up with the idea of creating a 'Wouldn't It Be Cool If...' board. On this board we noted down not concepts but ideas that we thought would be 'cool' in relation to the project. Ideas included:

• wouldn't if be cool if my Grandpa could still fly a plane
• wouldn't if be cool if people learnt from my Granny instead of telling her what to do
• wouldn't if be cool if my Granddad and i shared similar interests
• wouldn't if be cool if my Grandpa could beat me at computer games
• wouldn't if be cool if i could understand what it was like to live untill i was 78
  
• wouldn't if be cool if my Gran could meet new people all over the world
• wouldn't if be cool if i knew what it was like to raise my parents

We put this list up on the wall and got other people to contribute to it including people from other disciplines, groups in our class and lecturers. We found it really helpfull to come up with these new ideas because it allowed us to step away from the confines of the brief and just have fun exploring what could be done. Some ideas were a bit less sensible than other but were included them nonetheless into our list of concepts.

The real task came when we had to tie our ideas back to the brief. This was an interesting process because through making connections with the brief we saw ways that the more quirky ideas could be adapted and changed to suit it. Some of our more sensible ideas were lost and so on untill we ended up with our final concept.

Even now it has changed so much from what it was (a sort of social service park bench) to what it has become (Molly and Gerry). I am really looking forward to seeing how we can expand our current prototype by combining our ideas with that of the Interactive Media Design Students we are now working with.

Ultimately though it still a working progress though so if you want to see what happens next then watch this space!

-Tim

50 ways to save the planet

At Unbox we believe that sustainability should be as fundamental to design as the function or aesthetics. We brought this point up during our presentation of 'Molly and Gerry' on Monday as part of our ongoing brief for Microsoft.

A number of students mentioned afterwards that it seemed a bit random or even irrelevant to mention it during our presentation and we agreed that it is something that should not need to be mentioned. Unfortunately it is not something as widely considered as it should be in today's industry and economy which is why we felt it necessary to include it.
For our project we hope to keep the issue of sustainability at the forefront thought the development from concept to reality of both Molly and Gerry.

wireandtwine.com have presented a really clear list of 50 examples of ways in which you can save the planet. Many of these methods are not only eco-friendly but also wallet friendly meaning you can save money. This only makes it seem more like common sense to understand sustainability!

-tim

Is Privacy Dead In The Age Of Digital?

As part of the wonderful Saturday night lecture series, Anne Anderson came to talk on the topic of privacy in today's digital environment. It was a really gripping talk that followed on wonderfully from the Unbound talk given by Lauren Currie and Kate Andrews (see previous post).

Anne began her talk with some of her views on how she saw the notion of privacy changing. There is a fine line between privacy and secrecy, and in order for people to feel safe yet free, the right balance must be struck. The UK has the highest number of CCTV cameras in the world, does this make it the most safe? This is a interesting issue. Why are we, as members of this surveillance society, so unconcerned about the number of pervasive ways of gathering information about our lives? Why do we not question what happens to all of the data collected about us each day? Do CCTV cameras really help prevent crime at all? In some instances it has been shown that they do, such as in car thefts in private car parks, but it has been also shown that they do little in the prevention of street crime. In fact, additional street lights have been shown to be more effective against this crime. The benefits of using such technology must be justified in relation to the costs.

Other types of new technology are also playing a part in altering the current view of privacy in society. With the emergence of more and more social networking websites and applications with our data, information about us and our lives is becoming available to a huge number of people, in the private and public domain. Anne commented on the generally poor “privacy policies” these sites often have. They are apparently often updated with new policies without he users consent. People do not often appreciate the true publicity of the content they post on their personal sites. Drunken photos or inappropriate content is clearly visible to anyone, not just the originally intended viewers. This raises a new ethical issue that prospective employers, teachers etc. must face. Should the actions of a person illustrated on their facebook account impact on their chances of getting a job or university place? Anne was unsure if it was morally right to do so, but a member of the audience questioned this by saying that surely these websites were an extension of the public domain, and asked whether Anne would ignore such acts if she saw them in reality in front of her? A very intriguing point.

New technology of course has always been seen as a possible way of invading people's privacy. With the invention of the first cameras, there was public outcry that they would be far too invasive and should be banned immediately. I feel that we are often in too much of a rush to exploit or develop new “cutting edge” technology without fully understanding the implications, or using the current technology really effectively.

Society always dictates how technology is used and its meaning. This can be seen in the invention of MSN Messenger, Text messages and camera phones. Anne talked about the

introduction of the “click” sound on camera phones to try to prevent inappropriate photos being taken. The social view on privacy has radically changed. In 1984, the term Big Brother was seen as suppressive, today people actually want to be watched 24/7 by millions of people! The topic of “sousveilance” was mentioned in line with this. The position of the watcher is now shifting from “The Man” to joe public as there is a greater popularity of public media broadcasting such as YouTube and Wikipedia. Timmothy Pryde asked the question about privacy when people openly post their thoughts etc. on sites such as Twitter. A difficult question to answer, but Anne was interested in this also, and suggested that possibly this was a form of people invading their own privacy, and said that the implications were still unknown.

Anne Anderson concluded her presentation with her personal privacy principles:

1. My default is private

2. No more that what is needed

3. Real penalties for data spillages

4. Informed consent

5. Expectations governed by strict rules

I feel these are some good points to follow to help keep our privacy. If you have any of your own please post them up (if you want to disclose them of course!)

So how do we design for privacy? What are the solutions? I feel that this is a really exciting new niche in design that is yet to be fully explored, and it is our responsibility to consider it.

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Molly and Gerry Prototype

On Monday, Unbox presented our first fully working embedded prototype for our design concept in response to the Microsoft Brief. They were really useful tools in demonstrating the user interaction and experience. Below shows some images of the stages involved in the production of the prototype. We were all really pleased with the final outcome, and hope to further develop the concept and experience.

Making the card model

The breadboard circuit


Working PCB


Final Prototypes

More photos and a video of the interaction will be available soon on www.unboxdesign.co.uk

Company Merger

As part of the Microsoft project we are currently undertaking, Unbox Design will be merging with Listen Inc. to develop our idea of new ways of working for my granny. We are all really looking forward to working with IMD and having the skills they can bring to the project.

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The Studio Unbound: Social Networking and Design Education

Dundee Masters of Design Student Lauren Currie and design writer Kate Andrews gave a really interesting presentation on the power of social networking and what its role in society and education was today.

Lauren and Kate are both extremely savvy social networkers and have been exploiting the tools available to them to generate a global reputation in the design world. Please check out both of their blogs to get some really interesting posts.


The presentation was well attended by both tutors and pupils (Unbox Design of course being present) showing the interest that this topic is currently provoking in the design society.

The talk opened with the quote, “For the designer to become a producer, she must have the skills to begin directing content, by critically navigating the social, aesthetic, and technological systems across which communications flow.” (Ellen Lupton, 1998). This set the scene and led on to the really interesting and thought provoking talk. An example of digital social networking was even incorporated live into the presentation, with Kate commenting live from London via video conferencing, and Jonathan Baldwin regularly updating Twitter with key points.

I found it really interesting how both of the presenters had met online before ever working with each other, and both had many contacts that they regularly talked to online, but who had never, and probably would never meet. Indeed, although Lauren graduated from Product Design last year, I had never met her before other than on her blog. Not really sure what this means, but interesting.

In the talk, it was shown how the computer is no longer just a production tool for the designer, but is providing a crucial new way of fulfilling the necessity of communication we have to perform. Communication with other designers, clients, other disciplines etc. The role and perception of the designer is radically changing. There has been a move away from the traditional idea of the "eureka moment" experienced and more emphasis put on the design process, and realisation of the importance of co-creation and interdisciplinary working.

Another key issue raised was questioning how these social networking tools can be used for education and learning? I personally feel that the structure of education system needs to be altered to be less top down teaching, and increased peer and bottom up learning. Can these tools aid a teacher, or even replace one? Someone once said that if a teacher is able to be replaced by a machine then perhaps they should! This of course commenting on the skills and requirements needed to be a good educator rather than the benefits of computers. Even if these tools can help teachers, surely it hugely depends on the personality and enthusiasm of the teacher and the context. There is a brilliant TED Talk on this topic by Sugata Mitra.

The most interesting point I took from this though was the different generational views not just on the technology used, but on the content. Members of staff who had experienced life in the pre-digital where concerned about the lack of privacy and anonymity that is available. Whereas students felt this to be less of a concern. Once we put something up on the Internet, it becomes available for all to see, and therefore we become available to be judged and scrutinised on our personal lives and thoughts possibly intended only to be seen by certain people. It is a strange thought to be being viewed in other people's photos, or our comments herd by complete strangers. This is surely an area that needs to be developed. Professor Mike Press talked of the need for Grown Up Digital, and the cultural and political differences that made this form of communication unsuitable for some.

In conclusion, a really inspiring talk, and great to see young graduates doing so well-gives us something to aim for!

If you have any thoughts on the use of social networking in society please leave a comment.

To watch the presentation go to http://vimeo.com/3363097 look out for a brief appearance from Unbox at the end.

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