Designing for Change

I've always felt empowered by what design has the ability to do, and I think it's gaining momentum in our society as a catalyst for improvement to the human condition. Some of the best and brightest have used design to campaign for change . I read in CREATE magazine (Fall 2006, Article by Marc Friedland) a quote from the World Economic Forum that design was named "the zeitgeist of social change". It is no doubt a very potent and powerful tool, especially in the right hands. What I have almost always noticed among the agency juggernauts is that there is a sense of responsibility to improve the world and solve problems through design. It's this kind of progressive thinking that has kept me excited about being a designer — there's infinitely more to it than making "artsy" brochures, business cards, etc... a level of enlightenment is continually awarded through understanding design, and the socio-economic role it plays.

I've collated some resources that debate issues and talk about design as a vehicle for change:

World Changing
http://www.worldchanging.com/

Gluenetwork Bridge (collaborative design effort for world issues — join now free!)
http://bridge.thegluenetwork.com/

Design for Peace
http://www.designforpeace.com/

Designing for Change @ MIT
http://web.mit.edu/dfc/www/

MASSIVE CHANGE (part of Bruce Mau Design)
http://www.massivechange.com/

CABE UK
http://www.cabe.org.uk/

Sydney EcoDesign
http://www.changedesign.org/

Urban EcoloDesign @ WSU (Washington State University)
http://www.campusecology.wsu.edu/page_012.htm

Ecology in Design
http://studentgroups.gsd.harvard.edu/ecology/

Design for Humanity
http://www.designforhumanity.org/

Carpal Tunnel Magazine Collaboration

I was recently invited to do a collaboration for
Carpal Tunnel Magazine — featuring some great artists:

Von
hellovon.com

Lisa
paperbullet.com

Aaron
abidevisuals.com

Angel
angeldamico.com

Check out the magazine here (or click the image)

An abundance of design magazines

I've compiled a list of magazines that feature many different art/design categories ranging from architecture, programming design, information design, traditional art, graffitti, and much more. Most all of these accept submissions for the content of their magazine, some openly to the public and others to a handpicked few. Each link will explain the contents of the magazine along with whether or not they have public or private submissions. Enjoy!


1. Carpal Tunnel Magazine (http://www.carpaltunnelmag.com/)

Covers: Covering fashion, design and art, music and DIY ideas.
Submissions: Open to the public, but you must email them to review your work in advance

2. ILOVEFAKE Magazine (http://www.ilovefake.com/magazine/)

Covers: Sketches, photos, graphic, typography, illustrations, paintings, graffiti, fashion, writing, articles, collages.
Submissions: Open to the public, each issue is themed around a certain criteria, and thus all submissions

3. Encore Magazine (http://magwerk.com/)

Covers: Fashion, Film, Design, Interviews, Upcoming Events / Travel (Encore is probably the most polished and professional online-specific design magazine)
Submissions: Invitation

4. HEAD Magazine (http://www.headmagazine.co.uk/)

Covers: Photography and design (although most of it's selected features revolve around fashion design/illustration and photography)
Submissions: Open to the public

5. Net Diver Magazine (http://www.netdiver.net/)

Covers: All sorts of design / art related topics, really too many too list. This is more of an e-zine than magazine
Submissions: Invitation

6. Crapazine Magazine (http://www.crapazine.com/)

Covers: Design / Lifestyle
Submissions: Open to the public

7. The Royal Magazine / KDU (http://www.theroyalmagazine.com/)

Covers: Design / Art / Fashion / Music / Lifestyle
Submissions: Invitation

8. Faesthetic Magazine (http://www.faesthetic.com/)

Covers: Design / Art
Submissions: Open to the public

9. PRINT Magazine (http://www.printmag.com/)

Covers: Design / Art / Trends / Jobs / Business
Submissions: They are not an online magazine, but they do offer competitions for their internationally published print magazine.

10. ID Magazine (http://www.idonline.com/)

Covers: Design / Art / Trends / Jobs / Business
SubmissionsThey are not an online magazine, but they do offer competitions for their internationally published print magazine.

11. Creative Behavior Magazine (http://www.creativebehavior.com/)

Covers: Design / Illustration / Art
Submissions: Open to the public

12. EYE Magazine (http://www.eyemagazine.com/home.php)

Covers: Graphic design
Submissions: Invitation

13. The International Illustrated (http://www.theinternationalillustrated.com/)

Covers: Illustration, usually around a themed subject
Submissions: Invitation

14. ROOT Magazine (http://www.rootmagazine.org/)

Covers: Design / Illustration / Art
Submissions: Open to the public

15. BIGMAG Magazine (http://www.bigmag.net/bigissue/current.php)

Covers: Art / Photo / Illustration / Design / Production Studios
Submissions: Open to the public

16. Ladies & Gentleman Magazine (http://www.lagmag.com/issue.html)

Covers: Art / Photo / Design / Writing / Interviews / Music
Submissions: Invitation

17. Slash Magazine (http://www.slashmagazine.com/)

Covers: Art / Fashion / Interviews / Design
Submissions: Invitation

18. Honey Eat Your Salad Magazine (http://www.honeyeatyoursalad.org/)

Covers: Design / Illustration
Submissions: Invitation

19. Swindle Magazine (http://www.swindlemagazine.com/)

Covers: Design / Fashion / Lifestyle / Culture / Music
Submissions: Invitation

20. Freshness Magazine (http://freshnessmag.com/v4/)

Covers: Design / Graffitti / Fashion
Submissions: Open to the public

21. PIG Mag (http://www.pigmotel.com/it/mag/)

Covers: Design / Art / Illustration / Fashion / Culture / Internet
Submissions: Invitation / Hand-Selected

22. Nothing Magazine (http://www.nothingmag.com/)

Covers: From Site: "Every month we will feature an illustrator, graphic designer, artist, fashion designer, film-maker, writer, photographer, and somestime just random people"
Submissions: Invitation

23. Empty Magazine (http://www.emptymag.com/)

Covers: Art / Design / Illustration
Submissions: Invitation

24. Less Common Magazine (http://www.lesscommon.com/)

Covers: Art / Design / Illustration / Interviews/ Articles
Submissions: Invitation

25. KUDOS Magazine (http://www.kudosmagazine.com/)

Currently In Development — Stay Tuned!

Rockport Publishing Call For Entries

Rockport Publishing, authors of the most widely known logo annuals, is offering to publish entries for FREE in their newest in the series "Logo and Letterhead Design 10" The winners will not receive a free copy of the book since the entrance fees are waived, but they will receive a 50% discount which is way more than satisfactory. To obtain an order form which must be printed and mailed to the Sussner Design Company, you can visit http://www.rockpub.com/entries.asp?id=33

Good luck! I'll definitely be submitting a few entries.

30 Days of Threadless

Threadless, an online t-shirt company if you haven't heard, is having a "30 days of threadless" holiday sale. You can get custom designed t-shirts for only 10$ As a participant of the threadless t-shirt contests, I can tell you the quality of the t-shirts is top-notch, compared to other online stores. GO check it out! www.threadless.com

Microsoft Interactive Designer

While attending a meeting with special guest Micheal Greenwood ( http://www.creativefactor.com/) I learned a good deal about Microsoft's new product, "Interactive Designer" it promises the ability to create immense 2d and 3d websites, presentations and environments, can handle almost any known extension for importing files, and can work on any platform and any browser, by use of a proprietary plugin. I have mixed feelings about this new product, given the track record of MS. But I do not doubt it completely, and after the presentation I was a bit excited to delve into this product, and at the very least, learn it and offer it as a skillset to employers (in the same way Powerpoint knowledge is a powerful asset to any design portfolio, even though it produces such cheesy graphics and transitions)

I have downloaded the trial, and am going to test it soon enough, so I'll let you know what I find and if I like it, love it or despise it.

Intership!!

I have applied for an internship with FITCH (www.fitch.com) who is a rather large design firm with offices in Seattle, Hong Kong, London, etc (much more) so I'm pretty excited about that. They used to be "The Leonhardt Group" but merged and became a larger company. Fortunately it's just a hop skip and a jump for me to arrive in Seattle from Bothell, so this should be perfect. I sure hope I get it!!!!!!!!