Archive for June, 2009

Going Green for Graphics, Too

Because I am surrounded daily by architects, landscape architects, interior designers and planners I am well aware of the measures being taken to incorporate green elements into the built environment. I sense their dedication to “going green” and decide to investigate steps I can take as a graphic designer to create with less impact.

I recently browsed through the June 2009 issue of PRINT Magazine and discovered some ways to help me get started. An article titled “Greener is Smarter” showcased savvy packaging, ideas on eliminating excess and plenty of resourceful books and websites. Celery Design Collaborative, a firm located in Berkeley and Paris, was referenced throughout the article. The “Eco Tools” section of their website has a link to a Sustainability Scorecard. This unique tool could be considered a graphic designer’s version of the LEED Scorecard. Victory! I no longer feel sustainably inadequate among my peers!

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Tags: Agricultural Waste Fiber, Biopolymers, Celery Design Collaborative, Going Green, LEED Scorecard, Post-consumer Recycled Fiber, PRINT Magazine, Sustainability Scorecard, Vegetable Inks

You Can’t Fake Wabi-Sabi

Wabi-sabi is my new favorite concept (well, not new, really, more like old – it’s something you intrinsically recognize whether you know what it’s called or not).

Apparently, wabi-sabi is that beautiful imperfect aesthetic born of the natural processes of time & wear, like a weathered barnwood table or the crumbling stone façade of an old building.   Transience, authenticity, asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy…  Expert Robyn Griggs explains it well when she describes the wabi-sabi quality as “accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death… It celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind.”

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Tags: etsy, mid century modern, re-surface, robyn griggs, Savannah, sit and read furniture, wabi-sabi

This Old House (Part II)

In the routine of outdoor chores this past week I discovered new guest within my homestead – a family of bunnies and a nesting duck.  I can understand the bunnies living under the shed but can’t seem to understand why the ducks are so far away from the retention pond.  I don’t mind the guest, but the mother duck is making it difficult to mow the lawn in front of the flower bed.

Let me back-up a step and admit that This Old House was one small part of what guided me to the profession of architecture.  When I was younger Dad and I (and eventually my two brothers) would schedule our Saturday around the broadcast time.  I now watch it on WFYI, Indianapolis, Channel 20, either Thursday night or late Saturday morning.

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Tags: Bob Vila, home improvement, Norm Abrams, This Old House, WFYI

Cubs on the Brain!

It is sad, but true, I am a Cubs fan. What would you expect from a kid who grew up 90 minutes from the center of Chicago?

Game One: Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs, Memorial Day night at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

With friends piled into the car, we drove North on I-65 encountering North of Rensselaer, IN one the largest, if not the largest, wind generating farms under construction in the Midwest. We just saw the delivery area and that in itself was quite impressive. As we made it into the ‘The Region’, the Chicago Skyway offered the quickest route into downtown. We made an ‘architectural pit stop’ at Millennium Park to see Renzo Piano’s recently completed Modern Wing to the Chicago Art Institute. A well detailed structure that compliments the existing complex of buildings. The most impressive portion is the pedestrian bridge that connects the Modern Wing to the great lawn of Millennium Park. This also avoids a personal game of ‘Frogger’ across Monroe Street.

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Tags: Chicago Skyway, Daniel Libeskind, Fountain Square, Renzo Piano, Skyline Chili, The Ascent at Roebling’s Bridge, The Great American Ballpark., Wrigley Field

Selgas Cano Makes Me Want to Clean My Desk

Oh my dear, I must confess:  I am getting dangerously close to having the messiest workspace in the office.  I think there are still a few front runners for this prestigious honor, but the endless stacks of paper, teetering rolls of drawings, tangled masses of finish samples, infinite heaps of carpet tiles, and the impossibly overloaded recycling bin at my workspace are bringing me close to the glory.

Never fear, there is always someone messier than you.  That’s what I realized when I heard the world’s messiest office cubicle had been discovered in Colorado (but now that I know they’re out there looking for us – eek, I didn’t know they did that – I might have to tidy up a bit lest I be the next office freak show).

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Tags: iwan baan photography, madrid, selgas cano architects, this aint no disco it's where we work, world’s messiest office cubicle

Higher Ed Navigation – Part 1

After a 12 year stint at a University I have returned to the private sector and find myself comfortably imbedded at RATIO.  There are many, many differences between the public and private sector. None bigger, from my point of view, than the decision-making process.  Like any organization, within the University there are bosses, who have bosses, and so on up the decision making chain.  Where this differs from the private sector is that here individuals are employed on their merits and empowered, all along the chain to make decisions.  Hire good people and get out of the way. Over there, it’s often hire good people and burden their decision-making with process that robs them of initiative. The ability to make a decision and have it stick becomes much harder.  Everything is “reviewable” by someone further up the chain.  Decisions aren’t always based on the merits of a particular solution; they can also be based on prescribed process.  So be it – it took years to get to this point and it will take years to change.   Just be thankful when you run into a project where that’s not the case.

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Tags: Add new tag, decision making, Higher Education, Private Sector