design – Kristen Baumlier

Tag: design

Goedzak (“good bag”) – Bag Design for Upcycling

Posted on May 9, 2013May 13, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Currently in my house, we have a corner of the basement that is dedicated for things that we want to give away, or put out on garbage day, with the hope that someone will take it instead of the items ending up in a landfill. This works well for the larger things that people can see from the road, but what about smaller things that are being thrown out?

A new garbage bag design had been created, called a Goedzak, which can be used for items that are being thrown away but are usable. The way the bag works is that you fill up the bag, and anyone can take the items in the bag. This could include an old vase you don’t want, some pants that don’t fit, or other items that might be useful to someone else.

The bags are easy to spot, with their bright yellow color, and also easy to see what is inside, since half of the bag design is clear. These especially will be useful for individuals living in cities, who do not have driveway or “tree lawn” garbage or dropoff areas like my neighborhood.

The name Goedzak translates in Dutch to “good guy” or “kind soul,” but is a pun on the words “good bag” or “good thing.” The bags were designed by the design team called Waarmakers, which was the result of doing a design research project that explored designing for altruism, and making something to benefit others.

50,000 of the bags will be used as a test project in the Netherlands, in coordination with a second hand store. The bags will be used in one city to start, and will be implemented in up to 20 other Dutch cities as the project develops.

Will the bags be useful, and help encourage reusing things instead of throwing things away? Check out the progress of the project on the project website, or write to the designers at goedzak@waarmakers.nl.

Image Source:
waarmakers.nl/projects/goedzak/

Links:

waarmakers.nl/projects/goedzak/

Superbrushes: Better Than Other Brushes

Posted on April 30, 2013April 30, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Last Friday I attended a launch event by Evan Marcell where he introduced Superbrushes, a set of new Photoshop brushes that he has created for use to paint and create digital images. Marcell created the brushes by taking pictures of textures around Cleveland, editing them, and preparing them as brush files to be loaded into Adobe Photoshop. The abstract brush forms provide a unique shape, texture, and pattern that make it easy to make great images and graphics.

Most of the time we use the standard brushes that come with Photoshop, but Superbrushes introduces a new exciting set of brushes to try. One interesting thing about Superbrushes is that the process of how the brushes were created was through the phenomon of the “butterfly effect,” where one action affects another action. One brush created another brush. This new brush was used to make another brush, and so on. Marcell says that the project and process of reusing a brush to make a new brush was inspired by breakbeat music, where beats are cutup and reused to make new beats.

The goal of the project is to enable artists to make more work, and to appreciate the brush. Marcell writes on the Superbrushes website, “.. artists are possibly the greatest appreciators/would-be art collectors if we didn’t feel obligated to put all of our funds right back into our art. SUPERBRUSHES brushes are beautiful compositions in themselves, enabling artists to fuel their art in appreciation of each gorgeous brush as an artwork in itself.”

At the launch event we were given direction to a webpage where we could download a set of 25 free Superbrushes. We watched a demo of how to install and setup the brushes, which was followed by a live contest – a Superbrushdown, where the audience members who brought laptops, had about 8 minutes to make an image. After the time was up, the group voted by clapping, and I am proud to say that I won(!), and got a prize of the full pack of 125 superbrushes, which usually sells for $20.00 off of the Superbrushes site..

Marcell is working to build a Superbrush community. The website is currently featuring pieces made with Superbrushes on the website. You can download a set of free 5 superbrushes to try, and then submit your image to be featured in the gallery. Why use ordinary brushes when you can use Superbrushes?

Image Source
http://evanmarcell.wix.com/superbrushes
Links:

http://evanmarcell.wix.com/superbrushes

The Disappearing Package – Product Packaging with No Waste

Posted on January 29, 2013February 4, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Ever had a soap wrapped in paper that you could use as soap? A package of garbage bag that is packaged in a bag itself that you could use?

Every year, we throw away 70 million tons of packaging. It is the largest component of what is in our landfills. Each year this is increasing. The Disappearing Package is a Masters Thesis Project by Pratt Institute student Aaron Mickelson that explores how packaging could be not just reduced, but eliminated entirely.

One of the products is a “Tide POD.” This product/package is a sheet of laundry pods stitched together, printed using soap-soluble ink. The POD plastic is, just like in the existing product, water-soluble. Consumers tear off each POD and use one-by-one. With the last POD, the package itself is gone.

Another of his design is the OXO POP Containers, which have the product and marketing details screen-printed directly on to the surface of the container with soap-soluble inks. To get rid of them, the consumer the washes food containers before using and also wipes away the “package.” Currently information is printed on a glossy paper slip held inside the container that is thrown away. This package design gets rid of this extra material while still providing information on the item.

Michelson created a total of five packaging solutions that reducing packaging waste. The goal is to start a conversation about packaging, and you can check out all of the designs on the project website, and comment or write to him on the site.

Image Source:
http://disappearingpackage.com

Links:

http://disappearingpackage.com

Goodwill: Upcycle Lifestyle Project by designmatters

Posted on January 7, 2013January 15, 2013 by Kbaumlier

A couple of years ago I attended a conference at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and saw a presentation by Mariana Amatullo, who founded the college’s initiative called Designmatters. Designmatters is a professional partnership program, where research collaborations, communication campaigns, exhibitions, and publications are created in order to contribute to creating solutions to critical problems. Some past projects have partnered with the American Red Cross, the City of Lost Angeles, FEMA, the Department of Public Information at the United Nations and other groups.

One project that was done this past summer was called Goodwill: Upcycle lifestyle. The goal of the project was to create a visual and tactile experience for shoppers at Goodwill retail stores that was reflective of Goodwill’s reuse and repurpose model. Students were assigned to use recycled materials such as wood, computer parts, textiles and other industrial items found in Goodwill’s stores, recycling, salvage and processing areas.

Another aspect of the project was to develop ways to leverage Goodwill’s community-strengthening programs. The organization not only provides training and employment services to empower individuals with barriers, but Goodwill’s stores, donation processing centers and donation sites also serve as training grounds to provide supportive work experience and on-the-job training.

Over a period of three months, students worked in the areas of re-branding, upcycling, budgeting, and repurposing materials in order to support Goodwill’s mission.

Some of the outcomes of the project included:

– transforming the store’s existing fixture system with solutions ranging from rolled-up t-shirts arranged on a wall in pixel art-like patterns to seating created out of jeans and woven inner tubes.

– Creating large billowing ribbons of upcycled materials (home-made paper, used VHS movie boxes and t-shirts) that would direct customers within the store, but extend the experience to the stores window displays and into the parking lot.

– Creating modular and mobile do-it-yourself workshops that take place both within stores and that can also extend the Goodwill experience beyond the store to parking lots throughout Orange County.

-Creating a style guide for store themes which would embrace both upcycling and the local culture of individual stores. Some of this rebranding included themes related to Orange County culture including “SoCal Summer,” nautical and rockabilly designs.

– Redesigning the spatial experience for Goodwill of Orange County’s retail stores, with a focus on social responsibility, environmental awareness and making a positive impact on the community.

– exploring the concept of Goodwill teaming up with another well-known brand (in the case of the final presentation, apparel company Vans). The idea involved creating exclusive events, pop-up stores and limited edition merchandise to create buzz for both Goodwill and their collaborators.

Currently the Modular (do-it yourself) Workshop Stations are bing built so that they can be implemented later this year by Goodwill of Orange County.

Pictures from the project can be seen the Designmatters website. Goodwill plans to try out more of the ideas this year – so if you are in Orange County, get ready for Goodwill to have a new look and feel.

Image Source:
www.designmattersatartcenter.org- Goodwill: Upcycle Lifestytle Project

Links:

www.designmattersatartcenter.org- Goodwill: Upcycle Lifestytle Project

Winning Designs of the Where Do You Give? Design Contest at 92YTribeca June 20th

Posted on June 10, 2012July 10, 2012 by Kbaumlier

This Spring the Where Do You Give? National Design Competition asked designers and to translate the Jewish tradition of giving to others, tzedakah‘s meaning into a compelling and contemporary design. The design contest explored ways that in current times people can give to others and how the values behind our giving can inspire us to expand our universe of obligation around where and how we give.

The contest had 3 categories which included Interactive/ Web, “Out-of-the-Box’” and Tzedakah box category. All of the winning entries show creative ways that philanthropy can work in our increasingly interconnected, global, and technologically accelerated world. The winning designs, including my Hand + Heart Game design that was a winter in the Interactive/ Web category will be in a show that will travel across the United States this year.

Next week – on June 20^th at 92YTribeca the show will be exhibited. There also is a panel discussion and event about the current and future state of giving which includes Rebecca Stone of the American Jewish World (AJWS), Karen Pittelman, author of Resource Generation’s Classified: How to Stop Hiding Your Privilege and Use it for Social Change, Ryan Clifford, a judge of the contest and Faculty Director of the MICA Design Coalition. Sasha Feldstein, who works in the department of education and community engagement of AJWS is the facilitator for the event.

If you are in New York next week – get a ticket for the event, and stop by to see the exhibition at 92YTribeca. It might get you thinking about how you give to others.

Links:

Tickets for the June 20th Event at 92YTribeca