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Category Archives: For the Greater Good
Go Halfsies
A creative approach to tackling a three complex challenges, Halfsies is a simple idea that could gives you the opportunity to help yourself, help the environment and help the hungry at the same time!
To find out more go to www.gohalfsies.com …maybe you can help bring this cool idea to your city.
The Biggest & Best Covered Dish Supper in Savannah
The Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy group recently held their much anticipated annual gathering, and this having been my first experience with them, I’d say the title is well earned. It was an honor to be a part of the festivities in a small way, having designed the invitations and program for the event, and humbling to learn how valuable they are to our community.
Fresh Green Ads
Have you ever noticed how much freshly cleaned sidewalks stand out? They really get your attention, right?
The people at Mister Wilson (the dutch agency responsible for Fresh Green Ads) noticed that too, and came up with a way to use that space in an innovative way, turning it into a platform for new ads.
The previous MO of the advertising world has been to staple, stick and hang pieces of paper or plastic on already existing structures. That means ADDING more waste and visual clutter to an already busy landscape.
Fresh Green Ads is SUBTRACTING color from sidewalks in order to reveal a message that is only readable when it rains…. how awesome is that?!
I’ve tried to get more info on how the process actually works. I’m guessing it might be a sealant, so that water is repelled and doesn’t absorb into the concrete making the spot lighter. I’m not 100% sure, but I guess that’s why it’s a secret: if they keep us guessing, they can get the credit they deserve!
Raincampaign is only one of the methods they use to get the message across. They also create ads in crops, water drops, sand sculptures and sand printing, each of which produces a high-impact piece with minimum environmental costs.
Water Drop Ads
Crop Ads
The 2011 TED Prize Winner Wants You To Be A Part of His Next Project
Does art really have the power to change the world?
Meet the 2011 TED Prize winner, JR, a street artist who is using his art to build bridges between people.
You’re going to want to watch this!!
Sometimes simple ideas can be the most powerful.
Please consider being a part of his next global art project, INSIDE OUT.
Making Stuff Cleaner
If you’re a fan of the PBS show NOVA you may have caught a fascinating episode last night, all about clean energy alternatives and new materials that are planet friendly.
From bio-fuels to fuel cells this show does a great job of breaking down the potential and challenges associated with alternative energy options. And since one of the biggest problems with energy is storage, host David Pogue delved into some very innovative energy storage solutions being developed by entrepreneurs all over the country.
I heart science!
Below is the preview….CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE ENTIRE EPISODE.
(I highly recommend it).
Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.
10.10.10
Since here at Paragon we have a passion for innovative projects that bring people together, we found this project on motionographer.com and decided to share it.
It’s called One Day on Earth (10.10.10) and it’s about filming or taking photographs during a period of 24 hours in every single country in the planet. Now that 10.10.10 has passed, they will be putting together a film that will be available to the whole world (no pun intended) and they have also opened this project to contributions from people like you and me who would like to share something about their own lives with the rest of the world.
Design Ethos Recap
As part of the increasing effort by SCAD to encourage knowledge-sharing around the topic of sustainable design, the college held its 1st Design Ethos conference this past weekend. For an inaugural event they managed to gather a veritable who’s who of the eco-design world with names like John Bielenberg of Project M, Joshua Onysko of Pangea and Eric Benson of renourish to name just a few. The event’s main goal is to,
“bring together design educators and practitioners who are wrestling with these difficult issues in an attempt to help define the next step in graphic design’s continuing evolution.”
This past Saturday I got a chance to take part in one of the panel discussions at entitled “The Triple Bottom Line and the Need for a New Professionalism.”There I had a chance to share some of the challenges and successes we’ve experience working with a range of corporate and non-profit clients and transition ourselves into a more sustainable practice. But the real treat was in the Q&A afterwards when I shared the stage with Brian Dougherty of Celery Design, Cheryl Heller of Heller Communications Design and Linda Doherty of Citizen Studio.
Laptops Needed for a Good Cause
I love the fact that over the years we’ve gotten to know so many generous people who care about making a difference in the lives of others. If I was ever tempted to become completely self-involved, those people would inspire it right out of me. Today I thought I’d share a story about one of them, Malcolm Boyanton.
Malcolm is a friend and colleague based in Seattle who works for a software company, and I noticed recently that he’s been requesting old laptops. I thought I’d get in touch with him to see what was afoot.
Well it turns out that he’d been planning a trip to South America, and after hearing about the earthquake in Chile (and first-hands reports of dire need from his buddy Ariel Stamm who has been there for the past month) he’s decided to make the first part of his trip a philanthropic stop in that country. And he’s doing it by putting his geeky skills to use.
“There are a lot of schools and families without access to any computers. So, when I leave in a few weeks I want to stuff my bag full of supplies and laptops. I’ve got a couple that were donated and then I’ll likely buy a couple more off people I know or craigslist….All laptops will be given out to rural schools with little or no access to computers.”
More Stories of…
Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios have done it again. With 2 new follow ups to their popular movie, The Story of Stuff called The Story of Cap and Trade and, most recently, The Story of Bottled Water.
Design Revolution Road Show Recap
Sure this past Saturday morning was cold and windy, but that was not enough to slow down Project H’s Design Revolution Road Show which cruised into town for the day.
Vintage Airstream that housed the exhibit. Talk about shiny!
I had the pleasure of spending the day with the inspiring folks at the helm: Emily Pilloton, Founder and Executive Director of Project H, along with Matt Miller, Project Architect – two super smart people, who aren’t just talking about making the world a better place…they’re doing something about it.
I won’t rehash previous posts (you can read them here and here).
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