Uncategorized – Page 18 – Kristen Baumlier

Category: Uncategorized

Redesign the Supermarket

Posted on November 6, 2011November 6, 2011 by Kbaumlier

The magazine and website GOOD which offers articles, commentary, design and videos and comics on culture and society which describes itself as “for people who give a damn.”

Each month the site does a 30-day challenge about how to live better. For June the challenge was to redesign the supermarket . Supermarkets are designed to get you to buy more than you want. The stores spread out staples like milk, eggs, and bananas so that shoppers will end up buying more than they need.

GOOD challenged readers to redesign the supermarket to promote healthy choices and discourage impulse junk-food buying.

The winner, Alison Cross created a grocery store design that has a circular structure, lots of bike racks, shorter aisles, community tables, and an on-site garden.

Check out the winning design and other submissions at the project website –http://www.good.is/tag/redesign-the-supermarket.

IMAGE SOURCES:
Alison Cross
Lyza Danger

LINKS:

GOOD Redesign the Supermarket

Article: Secrets of the Supermarket Layout that Grocery Store Chains Don’t Want You to Realize

Visualizations of Human Activity on Earth

Posted on November 4, 2011November 4, 2011 by Kbaumlier

Anthropogenic landscapes are areas of the Earth’s surface where the presence of humans is changing the ecological patterns of the land. We affect the earth to serve our needs for food, fuel, fiber, timber, shelter, trade and recreation.

Globaïa is an organization whose mission is to foster a consistent and informed participation of citizens in environmental issues by providing visualization information of today’s world and its likely future. The research group generates visual images that indicate the hotspots of human activity.

Their recent project marks the paths of human activity including roadways, railways, internet cables, airway traffic, electricity lines, and underwater data cables. The information is based on data from US government agencies.

The maps are not to scale since wires and cables are not seen in space – but they provide a visual glimpse of the increase of human activity. The images have a unique presence since they do not have labels, a legend, or text.

The image above illustrates the Global Transportation System.
Cities are yellow; roads are green ; ships are blue ; and airlines are white.

Links:

View the maps at http://globaia.org/en/anthropocene/#Maps

About Globaia

The Coffee Shop on a Bicycle: Charries Café

Posted on November 2, 2011November 2, 2011 by Kbaumlier

There has been lots of news about people riding more bikes in Mexico, China, and other countries as a affordable, eco-friendly alternative to driving. The bike can be used for more than transportation – it can be a coffee shop on wheels.

Created by Japanese-born Rie Sawada, Charrie’s Café, which moves around each day, serves hand-brewed coffee as well as Japanese tea.

Her coffee bike debuted in Berlin in Spring at VELOBerlin, one of the biggest bicycle exhibitions in Berlin.

To know where Sawada will be next with her mobile coffee shop, check out her blog or give her a call. (her number is on her site)

Links:

Charrie’s Café Blog

A Little Cool… The Climate Change Exhibit at CMNH

Posted on October 31, 2011November 2, 2011 by Kbaumlier

This weekend I went to the Climate Change exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The exhibit has some interactive exhibits, and lots of printed text information which talks about the changing atmosphere, ice, ocean, and land. – and promotes the idea that climate change is the defining issue of the 21^st century.

The exhibit is organized in a roundabout matter – there was not a clear entry or access point – and I observed other visitors entering and exiting from various points of the exhibit. There are some things that are interesting to see – including a large saltwater tank with coral, a stuffed polar bear who appears to be walking on a giant pile of garbage, and lots of exhibits with buttons to push.

Though I found some of displays interesting, I found the use of text to be overwhelming – it was like walking through a book. I also found the layout of the show to be confusing. I ended up wandering around cruising the exhibits – “power skimming” the text and content. I saw lots of kids climbing on the large windmill wing that was on display, and admiring the large buoy at the front of the show while their parents looked on – but I did not hear many people talking about the content.

The show had a 10 minute movie which featured charts, text, and information – and was inline with the information heavy quality of the show.

One engaging interactive piece of the show is a interactive large ipod-like table – where you can interact with a large touchscreen – and pick topics that you would like to learn more information about – and put in your email to get the information sent to you. This piece was added to the show by CMNH. This was a place that I saw many visitors go to and interact with.

The show overall made me think about the power of art – and how art can engage an audience and communicate a message – and not depend on text as its sole point of engagement.

One of the highlights of the show was a exhibit on a curved wall that used small color strips to show temperature change over time. It had a abstract quality to it – and the wall showed strips that were different values of red and blue – The piece was visually interesting and in a quiet, simple way – showed the climate temperature change through color. The strong visual impact of the piece drew me in to learn more – and I read the information, reviewed the charts and maps, and probably learned the most from this exhibit which was at the back of the show.

When I talked to museum staff about the reaction to the show, they said that many visitors avoid the show – perhaps to avoid the topic, or due to disinterest.

Overall, the show demonstrated the challenge of trying to introduce the controversial topic of climate change and do it in a engaging and informative matter.

Seeing this show for me was a reminder of the power of art to engage and inform an audience – and the potential of metaphor, abstraction, and aesthetics as a tool to get visitors interested in a topic.

Links:

See images and read about the Exhibit at the CMNH website

Online aricle about the exhibit with video clips on Cleveland.com

“Microtecture,” Off the Grid LED Lighting, and the Designers Accord Town Hall Meeting

Posted on October 27, 2011November 2, 2011 by Kbaumlier

Last night I attended the first Designers Accord Town Hall meeting in Cleveland. Hosted by SmartShape Design, CIA, IDSA Northeast Ohio Chapter and AIGA Cleveland Chapter at the Cleveland Institute of Art, the event was intended to create discussion on how design can create positive environmental and social impact in the local community and beyond.

There were several presentations by designers in Cleveland which included David Levine of Wireless Environment ( a company focusing on off the grid LED lighting), King Heiple of Recharge Power (a company which produces products that are for recharging electric cars), PJ Doran, of APOC ( a group which rescues and upcycles good wood from houses) and F*SHO Collective (annual furniture show in the Cleveland area), and Doug Paige, from the Cleveland Institute of Art.

The presentations focused on presenting an overview of what the companies and groups did – and each presenter would end the presentation by framing some key questions for discussion – which were to be discussed in later breakout sessions.

Some of the highlights of the night:

David Levine summary which included the questions, “ What if a light could go on and off the grid – like a laptop? What can be wireless in 2015? What if lights would store up power at night, when the cost of power is cheaper, and go off the grid during the day?”

PJ Doran presented about his current project in microtecture, trying to make small 150-200 square feet living spaces that are affordable, low-maintainance, that have a low impact on the land, and can be moved. His presentation was the most engaging of the night – and he showed several interesting examples of microtecture and presented the question, “How can we create creative sustainable, small living solutions?”

Doug Paige, who I work with at the Cleveland Institute of Art, talked about a current group project he is a part of which is using biomimiciry o create solutions to the challenges of desalination of water. (biomiciry is a process where models, systems and process of nature are examined to solve human problems.) The project addresses the question of, “ How can we crate efficient, modular desalination systems that work with the principles or “rules” of nature?”

This was the first event organized by the Cleveland group of The Designers Accord – which is a global coalition of designers, educators, and business leaders working together to create positive environmental and social impact. The group has a Design Education toolkit that you can view on the site or download as a PDF.

I had to leave before the breakout and discussions began – but the information will be posted online at a later date- on the Designer Accord website – presenting ideas about Cleveland, design, and sustainability and social impact.

LINKS:

The Designers Accord Site

IDSA Northeast Ohio Chapter

AIGA Cleveland Chapter

A Piece of Cleveland (APOC)

F*Sho Cleveland