Defiant Imagination

Ideas that Matter

I just found out about this grant program organized by paper and pulp group Sappi, Ideas that Matter. The program has been helping to fund communication material supporting charitable activities, and is open to individual designers, agencies, in-house design departments and students.

“Since 1999, Ideas that Matter has funded over 500 nonprofit projects, contributing $11 million worldwide to causes that enhance our lives, our communities and our planet. Sappi believes that the creative ideas of designers can have an impact beyond the aesthetic and that those ideas can be a powerful force for social good. Working together with our customers, we aim to make a difference.”

The deadline for this year’s contest is July 15th. More info on the program’s website: http://www.na.sappi.com/ideasthatmatterNA

What your PC will look like

The 2007-2008 Next-Gen PC Design Competition results are out. Once again, the candidates of this contest organized by Microsoft had to come up with their vision of a futurist PC, which would be designed for a specific application. The results are diverse and target all sorts of fields, from the office to childhood education and fantasy games. One has even been designed especially for online social networking purposes.

The first and second prizes were awarded to collaboration-oriented projects: the Napkin PC targets creative professionals who need a way to share their ideas, while WITHUS acts as a tool of socialization for preschool kids.

I love all these ideas, but wouldn’t they be better used with a Linux OS?

Celebrities design

You’ve probably heard about it already, Brad Pitt will join a team of architects to design the plans of an ecologically-sensitive 800-rooms luxury hotel in Dubai. Pitt has always been interested in architecture and is currently working on a housing project in New Orleans to relocate victims of Katrina.

And singer/producer Pharell Williams designed his first chair in collaboration with French designers Domeau & Pérès. Named “Perspective,” the glossy chair distinguishes itself by its legs, which represent a pair of a man’s leg behind a pair of a woman’s, suggesting a sexual act. The chair, available in four colors, will be exposed and sold in a Parisian gallery (Emmanuel Perrotin) from October 21, 2008 to January 10, 2009. (Source: Men’s Up.)

Design Can Change

An article published in today’s Life Style section of the Globe and Mail presents Design Can Change, a campaign launched by Vancouver designer Eric Karjaluoto. Following the principles explained by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point — social epidemics are better spread by small well-connected and influential groups — he launched his website to push designers around the world to adopt green practices in their work.

On Design Can Change’s website, designers can get information on how to adopt more environment-friendly practices, sign a pledge for a sustainable design, and get involved in a community of designers sharing the same preoccupations.

100-mile design

After the 100-mile diet, please welcome the 100-mile design. This Saturday’s Globe and Mail edition talks about Canada-made luxurious furniture that we can be proud of and buy without having to worry about our carbon footprint. Maybe next week they’ll explain how to get local furniture when you’re on an Ikea budget…

In the same Life Style section, The Globe explains why it’s better to repair old fashion and furniture items instead of replacing them and gives tips on how to do it. You save money, don’t hurt the environment and perfect your vintage style. Then again, the Globe’s advices would be so much more credible if they didn’t keep on giving advice on shopping, a.k.a. buying new and yet unused things, in the rest of the section.

Eco-design

A new showroom in Paris specializes in contemporary furniture made out of recycled materials. Their goal is to associate luxury with ecology. If you speak French you can read this article to know more about Acabas.