Voting By Design

The New York Times has posted an interactive graphic on how election ballots could be improved with better graphic design. The suggestions were provided by the AIGA based on the United States Election Assistance Commission's recently released ballot design guidelines. See the before and after images HERE.

Thanks Jeff!

Stencil Activism

Just Seeds has recently released the second volume of their Cut and Paint series. This very affordable limited edition zine features tons of copyright free spray paint stencils to cut out and use yourself as well as a "how to" guide. Order your copy of Cut and Paint #2 HERE. And if you can't wait to get stenciling, you can download dozens of older templates for free HERE.
















via The Groundswell Blog

News Roundup

From the Christian Science Monitor:

First bicyclist union in Canada.

"Borrow a Muslim" from a living library.

Environmentally conscious reason to "Just Say No".

From the Gaurdian:

Genetically modified crops will not solve food crisis.

From Ode Magazine:

Former nun takes on Ecuadorian gang and wins.

Carbon farming fights global warming.

From Mother Jones:

Can greed be green?

The Power of Signatures

Beautiful animation from Amnesty International...



Thanks Diego!

Socially Responsible Credit Cards?

Say what you want about the evils of credit cards, many people can't avoid them. So if you can't afford to live without them why not do some good (or at least less bad) when you "charge it"? Co-op America's Real Money article "Responsible Credit Cards" lists the banks to avoid getting credit cards from for a variety of environmental/social reasons as well as cards from groups that are trying to do some good with the fees they collect.

Get the details HERE.

Social Action Widget

The folks at the Social Actions Blog have created a nifty new widget in the style of AdWords advertising. It searches for keywords on the site on which it is placed and gives links to related campaigns from 20 social action groups. Find out more HERE or get the code HERE.




via Osocio

Chinese Anti-Branding Efforts

The Wall Street Journal reports on attempts by the Olympics organizers in China to strictly enforce sponsorship rules:

"To ensure that only the companies that pay millions of dollars to be official Olympic sponsors enjoy the benefits of exposure in Olympic venues, organizers have covered the trademarks of nonsponsors with thousands of little swatches of tape.

In media centers, dormitories and arena bathrooms, pieces of tape cover logos of fire extinguishers, light switches, thermostats, bedroom night tables, soap dispensers and urinals. The Taiden Industrial translation headsets in a large conference room have had their logos covered, as have the American Standard faucets in the bathrooms nearby, and the ThyssenKrupp escalators down the hall."

Read the entire article HERE.

Thanks Megan!

This interview is brought to you by...

Author Lucas Conley "discusses" branding with Stephen Colbert on a recent episode...



via The Anti-Advertising Agency

Did you eat your Raisin Brhams today?

Love this commercial parody promoting arts education from Americans for the Arts...



via Osocio

Recyled Plastic Laptop Sleeve

Just had to show off my lovely new custom laptop sleeve made from fused plastic bags by Bekah Worley. Not only is her work both beautiful and environmentally friendly, but it's really affordable too! Check out her blog Recycling Is Rad and see more of her stuff for sale on her Etsy page.

Do you have Change For A Ten?

ART 180 is a Richmond, Virginia based non-profit that works to connect children in difficult circumstances to the self-expressive power of art. As part of their ongoing fundraising efforts they have created the Change For A Ten campaign. They are encouraging folks to create a ten dollar bill that expresses their vision for positive change in their community and send it along with an actual $10 donation. The resulting pieces are being displayed on their blog and will be eventually show in an exhibition at Virginia Commonwealth University's advertising department Brand Center. There's even a competition specifically for creative students/professionals (PDF).

Find out more about Change For A Ten and get a template to make your own submission HERE.

Signs of Change, NYC: Sept 20 - Nov 22

Josh MacPhee of Just Seeds has co-curated Signs of Change an exhibition with Dara Greenwald chronicling 50 years of activist art which opens September 20th at Exit Art gallery in NYC. It will feature 600 posters, prints, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and other ephemera from over 30 countries. Along with the exhibition there will be a series of related events, including film/video screenings. Details can be found HERE. And eventually on the show site (which is still under construction) HERE.

I Met The Walrus

"In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack"

Blog Action Day: October 15th

The second annual Blog Action Day is fast approaching. This year the topic is Poverty. The folks behind the campaign are hoping to harness the power of blogging to get a global dialogue on big issues. Bloggers are encouraged to sign up on the Blog Action Day site and then make a poverty related post on October 15th (and even donate that day's ad revenue to a related charity).


Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Free Browser for Autistic Kids

The ZAC Browser is a free web browser designed specifically for the special needs of autistic children. The browser, which is currently only available for PCs, was created by a software designer for his own autistic grandchild.

Copyright Law and Music

Professor Lawrence Lessig, copyright activist and one of the founders of Creative Commons, was interviewed a few weeks back on the excellent radio public radio program Sound Opinions. You can listen to him discuss copyright law and its effects when applies to the music industry in episode #134 HERE or download an MP3 podcast HERE. Show notes are HERE.

Creative Commons Stock Photos

Compfight is a free online tool which makes the massively overwhelming Flickr pool of images into a source of possible stock photography (or as they say for "comps, inspiration, or research"). By allowing you to search for images by tags or descriptions, that are Creative Commons licensed, you can easily find photos that may be available for use free of charge (with proper credit, check the license first). A great option for small/non-profit clients with low budgets.

SustainAble Book + Interview

SustainAble is an invaluable new practical handbook on environmentally conscious graphic design from Rockport Books. Author Aaris Sherin, has done a fantastic job of compliling the latest information on materials and techniques for designers interested in working with the environment in mind [full disclosure, my company is featured prominenetly, but I really would recommend it regardless]. Not only is the content on point, but the book itself was printed using a range of sustainable methods (a rarity in publishing). Going beyond standard recycled papers, they actually used make-ready sheets for the covers and end papers. The last real handbook on these issues (The Complete Guide To Eco-Friendly Design by Poppy Evans) came out in 1997 and has been out of print for years, so this type of book has been long overdue. Considering the massive increase in interest in going "green" by corporate America, the need for designers knowledgeable about these issues will only continue to grow as well. Kudos to Rockport being the first to fill the void.

Aaris kindly agreed to a mini-interview about the book, so I sent her a few minimalist questions to answer however she interpreted them...

ALR: Why now?
Aaris Sherin: Graphic Designers tend to be concerned about social and environmental issues, and yet many have not idea how to apply this ideology to their professional practice. Increasingly clients are asking for eco-friendly design solutions and many practitioners are tasked with having to learn the relevant problem-solving and technical specifications for environmentally preferable production. To date there really hasn't been a comprehensive resource to go to for this information. My idea was to make a sort of one-stop reference for
those interested in the topic. The book covers topics that include sustainable forestry, basic history and theory, as well as practical information about eco-friendly production materials and techniques. The second half of the book is devoted to case studies that trace how designers approached specific projects with the environment and social systems in mind.

ALR: How?
Aaris Sherin: The book is filled with tips for how to approach design problem solving and production with sustainability in mind. Here are a few of the most basic. 1. Using proper sizes or asking for custom sheets is an easy way to reduce waste 2. Every designer should be able to identify and understand the value of FSC and other third part certifications 3. Eco-friendly paper doesn't always cost more. 4. Creating customized environmental checklists is a great way to bring consistent value to clients

ALR: So what?
Aaris Sherin: I really believe that design has a crucial role to play as we move toward the cultural shift that will need to happen in order to become more sustainable. Graphic design is so often the conduit between manufacturing/services and customers/audiences; as such we can bring value to clients who working with environmental and social consciousness in mind. By making simple changes in the way we work and offering our services to like-minded organizations there is an opportunity to make fantastic, visually arresting work that doesn't have to cost the earth.

ALR: What's next?
Aaris Sherin: There are so many people (many of whom were early adopters) who have created their own resources, libraries, and community groups for teaching and practicing sustainable design. As I talked to people I realized that a lot of them are duplicating each other's work. We really need more resources and more sharing of information so that the next generation isn't tasked with replicating our work.


SustainAble is in stores now and of course available via Powells and Amazon.com.

For Vegetarian Trophy Hunters

I couldn't resist buying one of these lovely laser-cut recycled/recyclable corrugated cardboard puzzle animal head trophies from Cardboard Safari today.

Free Science Art

If you are doing any science related design you need to add the incredible IAN Symbol Libraries to your digital toolbox right now. This massive FREE collection of vector illustrations, which are specifically designed for "enhancing science communication skills", are provided in a variety of formats from The Integration and Application Network of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. In addition to the existing royalty-free library, they also offer a free symbol creation service for anything they're missing and have a library of free hi-res photos available as well. Submissions to the libraries are also encouraged. Find out more or start downloading HERE.

Thanks Mari!

Beware of Pinkwashing

Think Before You Pink is a campaign to promote transparency when it comes to marketing of breast cancer related products. They urge folks to consider supporting the cause by doing something other than just buying more stuff from for profit corporations (many of whom only donate a fraction of the product's cost). They also expose some of the sadly ironic tactics used by marketers desperate to be positively linked to an important cause (test driving cars, whose exhaust are linked to breast cancer for example). Find out more on their site HERE.

Via Micawave