Designism 2.0: The Final Word In 3 Parts
Posted on 2007-Dec-16 at 04:05
By the time Designism 2.0 drew to a close, the miserable weather outside had cleared up. But with plenty of sushi and Sapporo Beer on hand, most people were in no hurry to leave.

It certainly appears that everyone who attended had a wonderful time, but lets hear from some of the people who helped put this together, to see if it lived up to what they hoped.

First, let's listen in on Brian Collins. We heard the Designism Chair talk about his expectations earlier in this blog. I wonder if they were met or even surpassed? Click right here.


We also managed to corral Mr. Paul Lavoie near the bar. Let's hear what the ADC President has to say. Click right here.


Finally, we also got a word with Ami Brophy, The Art Directors Club's Executive Director. Click right here.


Well that's it from Designism 2.0 at the ADC, here in Midtown Manhattan. I'd like to thank the ADC for having us, and all of you for reading. And even if you weren't there, hopefully you'll be even 1/10th as inspired as the live audience to go out there and make this spinning ball of mud a better place.

Brett & Brandon, signing out.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Designism 2.0 Part 3 - Act
Posted on 2007-Dec-16 at 03:59
Wow. It’s sure going to be difficult to top the tension and energy of the last session, which might’ve been better suited for Madison Square Garden two blocks north. But perhaps the third part of Designism 2.0 was a perfect way to follow the Michael Wolff vs. Everybody Else debate. With all that passion coming through on all sides of the discussion, this was a perfect time to act.

Ami Brophy, Executive Director of the Art Directors Club, took to the podium to announce various initiatives in place for anybody willing and eager to make a change in our world. She spoke passionately about an undertaking by event sponsor Sappi Fine Paper entitled Ideas That Matter. Founded in 1999, Ideas That Matter issues monetary grants to designers of all kinds to help them achieve amazing creative results on non-profit work very close to their hearts.

Ami also invited Dan Perlet of Corbis to talk about what the stock photography powerhouse is doing to encourage others (like you and I) to use our talents to bring about social change. One such tool that Corbis provides comes from its famous Bettmann Collection. I’m sure you most of you know it as the Corbis archive with lots of old photos. Yes, it’s a big collection — over 11 million photos and growing — and restoring, digitizing and preserving these photos is a massive undertaking. But did you know that the images in the Bettmann Collection could be licensed at no charge when being used for non-profit work? That’s certainly something to think about, whether you’re putting together a PSA or working on a project destined to change the world.

Dan also spoke about the Corbis Creativity For Social Justice Award, one of the many categories in the fast approaching ADC Awards. This accolade celebrates the very best in pro bono public service/non-profit/education work. If you’re already submitting work to the ADC Awards in the applicable categories, there is no additional fee to enter it into this Corbis Award. The winner of the award not only takes home a shiny Gold Cube, but the cause or organization featured in the winning piece receives a $20,000 donation from Corbis.


We also heard from Ami Dar, Executive Director of Action Without Borders. AWB and its website idealist.org can best be described as a meeting place for people who wish to do good in this world. The website features countless initiatives from around the world, all looking for volunteers to get involved. You can even post your “resume” so that when a project you feel particularly passionate about comes along, you’ll be the first to know.

Action Without Borders and idealist.org primarily deal with volunteers doing physical tasks, from rebuilding communities damaged by earthquakes to helping in a homeless shelter in your own neighborhood. However the Art Directors Club and AWB are pleased to announce a new initiative in the works that will pair non-profit organizations with designers and ad people wanting to lend their talents to worthy causes. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks for… Designism Social.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. A Very Heated Q&A
Posted on 2007-Dec-16 at 02:50
Well, this might be the most interesting (and heated) Q&A session I have ever attended. Who knew us artsy types could get do heated?!

“The problem with using design as a disruptive force is that everyone uses design as a disruptive force. So how do you break through the clutter? Someone figures it out, everyone copies, and you have to reinvent again. Using design to disrupt design. On an economic value its inflated and therefore devalued.”

“Design is dead.”

These words were spoken by renowned Vanity Fair columnist Mr. Michael Wolff, It seems as if he was supposed to be on the panel, but he only appeared for the Q&A - and mainly to rip all the panelists a new one. The “King of NYC Media” according to the New Yorker Magazine, Mr Wolff makes a living making critiques such as these. But this one is particularly harsh.


After dismissing the ADC exhibit as “seen it all before,” Mr. Wolff moved on to the Dove campaign. “There’s no statement of honesty or truth or even anything novel there. So what are we doing here? I’m kind of a little flabbergasted that this is the state of discussion. the state of advancement.”

Before Mr. Wolff was about to get lynched by the audience, Milton Glaser chimed in. “I’m gonna disagree with you a little bit.” After a healthy round of applause, he continued, “New is hard. You have to do things within the traditions that you have established so that the readers and viewers will understand.”

So the sociopolitical poster and the :30 spot (or :90 second viral spot) aren’t dead? Who’s going to take this argument from rhetoric to proof?

Ah, it’s Janet Kestin. According to her, the Dove stuff works. Shrinks are showing the ads to patients who are commenting on the profound effect the spots have had on their lives. Janet receives multitudes of letters from women all over, thanking her for her work. “Real people don’t realize that what goes on in “Evolution” actually happens. It was enlightening.”

Well, real people aren’t the ones complaining. A woman in the audience stood up and proclaimed that “you didn’t show and fat or ugly people!”

You can’t please everyone. And Janet’s complacent silence for the rest of the session shows that she understands that - and that it’s okay.

Another audience member, an 18 year old design student, stood up to say that Design isn’t dead for him. He’s still young and his eyes are fresh and not yet jaded. These images have profound effects on him.

While silent for most of the Q&A, Liz Resnick probably felt the most proud. It is her work, teaching students to use design to say something of importance, that keeps the dream alive for 18 year old students, makes debates like this happen, and provides the foundation for the ADC’s mission of furthering design and communications. No one has all the answers, but according to Milton Glaser, “To a large extent, all you can do is raise consciousness.”

1 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. Janet Kestin
Posted on 2007-Dec-16 at 02:40
“I am an ad person - and this room is a humbling place to be.”

The previous presenters certainly struck some fear in the hearts of us ad folk. Maybe even made us feel a bit unworthy. But the writer half of Jancy more than did us proud.

Janet Kestin has issues with working in advertising. She always felt she was a little too left winged. But that side of her has helped her to create quite the career.

“The only power I had to do anything useful in the world was to say ‘no.’ I won’t work on XYZ.” While that alone is ballsy in our do-or-die business, there’s always the fall back option of doing “good” on your own time, looking for charity work to sooth your soul. However, though her client Dove, has found away to do this and still bill those hours towards her day-job at Ogilvy.

Ihaveanidea frequenters already know the Dove story. It’s of much debate on the forum and in our industry as a whole. There’s no need to go over what we’ve all heard time and time again. However, something that is rarely talked about is the actual Campaign for Real Beauty that her work advertises. A program that is actually doing quite well.

The fund, which isn’t really a fund, provides resources (instead of money) that help young girls with self-esteem issues. Educational programs in schools have been created, as well as church initiatives and family counseling resources. Issues from beauty to self-worth to eating disorders are discussed, and young girls and women alike are feeling the positive benefits of the campaign.

Now that’s design (or, advertising?) put to good use.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. Milton Glaser.
Posted on 2007-Dec-16 at 02:09
“ The main design problem, and all the socially motivated projects, is how do you get into the mainstream of consciousness so that they have some effect.”

Wise words from a smart man. Milton Glaser, instructor at the School of the Visual Arts and founder of Milton Glazer Inc, knows that art does not live in a bubble. Or, rather, shouldn’t. But in order to make that happen, some money is involved. You “either have to be supported by an institution or some individual who cares.”

Wait. Are we talking about advertising? Not so fast.

Mr. Glaser, like Ms. Reznick, is all for sociopolitical change. He has helped to realize projects to raise awareness about the crisis in Darfur and the tragedies in Iraq. His most recent project, “The 100 Neediest Cases,” is a postcard campaign sent to politicians that chronicle a hundred stories of Iraqis who have been under distress due to the war. While 40,000 Iraqis flee their homes each month, this idea is an attempt to make this easier to digest. A hundred is conceptually easier to wrap your head around than 40,000. A hundred personal stories are more powerful than 40,000 brief mentions.

Well, that sounds like an advertising idea! No? Not sure. Again, Mr. Glaser is a cynic of the advertising industry. But he does question himself and his own motivations. When asked about the self-benefits of doing good, Mr Glaser acknowledged that he must ask himself “Is this just another scam to make me look good?”

Well, it may be. It may not. “But when you suddenly touch the reality of people’s lives, [Mr Glaser] begin[s] to understand the desperation that people are experiencing. I have to say that you begin to experience these thing in a different way.”

Well, we can’t knock him for that.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. Liz Resnick.
Posted on 2007-Dec-16 at 01:23
Liz Resnick believes in Mr. Hendra’s mission - as well of that of the ADC - of using design as a vehicle to make sociopolitical statements. And she’s going straight to the source... the kiddies.



The Graphic Imperative - International Posters for Peace, Social Justice, and the Environment is a collection she co-curates as an instructor at the Massachusetts College of Art. It’s a “select retrospective of forty years of international sociopolitical posters. Themes include dissent, liberation, racism, sexism, human rights, civil rights... these 121 posters endeavor to show the social, political, and aesthetic concerns of many cultures in a single exhibition through delineating themes and contrasting political realities.”

While this traveling exhibition, having gone from LA to Istanbul, has had an impact on people far and wide, Resnick’s own students are getting the biggest impact of all.
Resnick’s class teaches design students to think beyond their art - and to consider the power that art has to communicate. “Teachers need to be mindful that their students live in a free democratic society, so that should gear them to make social change and use that power.”

This year, her students were asked to make a poster that made a statement on whatever they wanted. The images that came out of the assignment were varied and powerful. But are they powerful enough to sell things?

“In my role as a design educator, I believe that I must encourage my student to think beyond the promotion of the selling of goods and services.”

Ok. It’s okay to sell an idea, as long as a good or service isn’t attached. But isn't the Red Cross basically a service? Is a canned food drive not a collection of goods?

It appears that the design world likes to make the blurry line between art and commerce a bit more clear, with design staking a claim to the more righteous side.

We'll see what the following presenters have to say about that.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. Introduction
Posted on 2007-Dec-13 at 06:32

Ladies and gents, Designism 2.0 - Talk has brought in some pretty big power players. We have:

    Liz Resnick - Co–curator of The Graphic Imperative and associate professor, professor of     Communication Design at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

    Janet Kestin - CCO Ogilvy Toronto. Half of Jancy. Nuff said.

    Milton Glaser - one of the most celebrated graphic designers in the US. Opened Milton         Glaser Inc. in 1974 which continues to have great influence in the world of design.

But first we have bestselling author, satirist (think National Lampoon, Spy Magazine and Spitting Image) and actor (Spinal Tap's manager Ian faith in the renowned mockumentary) Tony Hendra giving us a little introduction. But wait - this guy is a writer. And not only that, he keeps throwing words at us. Hate. Republican. Love. Democrats. Awful. Karl Rove. Amazing Nancy Pelosi. What does any of this have to do with design?

“I believe that great design can change people’s lives. Yep. There are a lot of thoughts out there, and most of them are portrayed in words. But design can be a way to simplify the messaging. Design can say, 'We have a secret, that’s why our type size is so tiny.' Or design can effect change."

I’m just going to assume that “design” and “advertising” may be interchangeable in that respect, but we’ll see what the other speakers have to say about that.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Designism 2.0 Part 1 - See
Posted on 2007-Dec-13 at 05:42
After introductions from ADC President and Taxi head honcho Paul Lavoie, the night has begun.

If you listened to our brief interview with Brian Collins in the last blog spot, you'll know that the purpose of Designism is to show how designers can use their talents to bring about social change. The first act of the evening showcases young creative people who are doing just that, not for a paycheck but out of passion. Introduced by Kay Sloan, President of Massachusetts College of Art and Design and moderated by Alissa Walker, writer and editor for the popular design website UnBeige, we got to hear from three very talented, socially conscious creatives.


The first panelist was Ellen Sitkin, a designer at IDEO. Inspired by a project involving architects moving into very low income communities, Ellen was part of a similar undertaking, replacing architects with a team of eight idealistic designers. Using their own money, Ellen and her partners spent a month living in a bunk house in a impoverished rural Alabama community. They spent that month getting to know the people of the area, talking with them and learning firsthand about the hardships they endure. This experience was then used to brainstorm for ways to use their design talents to improve the lives of the people they befriended. This lead to Ellen and her partners to put into action a way to raise awareness about the community's drinking water. You can see the efforts of Ellen's project right here.

The second speaker was Andrew Sloat, a designer and film director who started his own project called Drainage Ditch. Andrew's work is quite political, but not in that Che Guevara T-shirt wearing sorta way. Instead, Andrew has used the very words of the US Constitution, from its preambles to its amendments, in a most intriguing way. The words that are meant to hold the United States together are kind of dull, but Andrew has made a number of short films based only on these words, arranging letters in a way that encourages deeper thought this iconic document. To see how Andrew handles the 22 Amendment, take a look here.


Our third speaker certainly drew a lot of attention, due to his disguise of a huge Afro wig and aviator glasses. His name is Ji Lee, and he's a creative over at Droga5.


The reason for the get-up? Our friend Ji is a criminal.

You see, Ji's an ad guy, and like most advertising creatives, he hated the overwhelming majority of ads out in the real world. He was continuously frustrated by clients who were content with doing very low-key work that received little notice, work that wasn't innovative in the least. So he came up with a very subversive idea. He took a few thousand dollars of his own money and printed up a bunch of large stickers shaped like blank cartoon speech bubbles. He took these blank stickers and stuck them on ads all over New York. He left them blank because he was curious to see what others would write in them. Despite more than a handful of tickets for vandalism, Ji's idea grew and grew into what is now known as the Bubble Project. He uploaded the template for his sticker on his website, and now the project is worldwide.

Ji calls it "turning a corporate monologue into a public dialogue." We call it pretty fucking cool.


We snagged Ji before he ran off into the night and got a few words from him. Click right here.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

First, a word from the chair...
Posted on 2007-Dec-13 at 04:35
Before the whole shebang gets underway, I managed to snag Designim's chair, Brian Collins, hoping to get a few words from him. Now Brian might not be the biggest fan of the camera, but he did have some interesting things to say about his inspiration for putting Designism 2.0 together, as well as his expectations for the evening, which you can listen to here.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

Welcome to New York. Today's forecast: BLECCCCHHHH!!!
Posted on 2007-Dec-13 at 04:16
What's that adage about the US Postal Service? Something about "neither rain nor sleet nor snow..." or som'n. Well what happens it the weather is doing all three at once?

Yep, the Big Apple is having some craptastic weather today, but like the postman, that won't deter us from reaching the Art Director's Club for today's Designism event. In fact, we're here already. A little soggy, yes, but we're ready to go.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

ihaveanidea at the ADC's Designism 2.0
Posted on 2007-Dec-9 at 04:13
'Tis the season for crowded malls, mistletoe and for changing the very face of design as we know it. This Thursday (that's the 13th) the Art Director's Club will be hosting Designism 2.0: An Event in Three Parts. It's gonna be a big day, with tons of guest speakers and presentations, all talking about the future of design.

All the details, including the list of speakers and info on how you can attend this afternoon and evening Manhattan spectacle, can be found by clicking on the banner below.

0 comments Post A Comment!

...................................................................................................................

This adblog has been read times

Designism 2.0: The Final Word In 3 Parts
Designism 2.0 Part 3 - Act
Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. A Very Heated Q&A
Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. Janet Kestin
Designism 2.0 Part 2 - Talk. Milton Glaser.

Back to my admin