Remember those days before the Internet? We hardly can.
GOOD points us to a super-cool interactive map by the BBC that shows how Web use has expanded across the globe in the last 12 years.
From GOOD: “In the beginning, it was just the States, Canada, Australia, and (what?) Scandinavia with lots of people online. Today, Africa stands out as the one continent that isn’t wired.”
Check out the graphic: SuperPower: Visualising the internet
Don’t miss Stefan G. Bucher, who speaks on campus Thursday. Author and founder of 344 Design, Bucher is the illustrator responsible for the Daily Monster phenomenon on PBS’s Electric Company. Bucher will talk about how he has built his practice while still indulging in a wide range of creative pursuits.
Stefan G. Bucher Speaks His Mind
Thursday, March 18, 7 pm
L.A. Times Media Center
Hillside Campus
Looking for something to do Saturday? Faculty member Randall Wilson will moderate Modern Outdoor Living, a panel discussion and pop-up exhibition Saturday in Chinatown’s Chung King Plaza. The event is being presented by Shibui Designs, a consortium of artists (including Wilson and alum John Maeda) and craft makers. The event is part of the quarterly Chinatown Art Night.
[Via L.A. Times]
Don’t miss Monday’s Big Picture Lecture Series featuring Sonali Kolhatkar.
Kolhatkar is the host and producer of Uprising, a daily drive-time program on KPFK 90.7 FM, and co-director of the Afghan Women’s Mission, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). She is coauthor of Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence.
Big Picture Lecture Series: Sonali Kolhatkar
Monday, March 15, 1 pm
Ahmanson Auditorium
Bet you haven’t heard of this one before. Professor Peter Robbie’s design thinking class at Dartmouth is using a novel approach to teaching design thinking: improv comedy.
Robbie tells the Dartmouth Engineer: “This class on improv is a tool for brainstorming. I’ve always thought that the quickest and smartest folks at the brainstorming phase of design have been those who do standup and improv. They never say no. They never miss a beat. Improv requires players to accept what they are given, build on the ideas of others, and encourage wild ideas.”
Check out the entire article, it’s a great read.
[Via Core 77]
This year marks the 80th anniversary of Art Center. What was Art Center like in the 1930s? Art Center’s Archives gives us a glimpse into the past with images from a 1931 College catalog.
Check out the photos at the Archives Facebook page, and become a fan while you’re there. There’s already a ton of interesting information there—you don’t want to miss any of it! (And of course, if you haven’t found us on Facebook already, be sure to become a fan of our page as well.)
Can great design films educate as they entertain? Writer Alissa Walker highlights five films from the last year that she thinks told the best design story in 2009.
Walker writes: “The last few years have seen the issues of winning documentaries tie directly into the issues of the day: When An Inconvenient Truth won in 2006 or The Fog of War won in 2003, it almost seemed like the Academy was voting against climate change or yet another Middle Eastern military engagement. This year, it seems that our gastronomical zeitgeist is behind Food, Inc., which is nominated for best documentary. It’s a pretty compelling and well-executed film that I think should probably win. But it makes me think about what an issues-oriented design film would look like—how could a documentary help convey the value and meaning of great design (designing!) to a wider audience?”
Read more, and see clips, at GOOD.
PeopleTowels is celebrating Earth Day with a design contest. And Product Design student Andrew Castro has made it to the finals! Help Andrew become the grand prize winner—vote for his design once a day through March 15. Good luck, Andrew! Vote for him now!
As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty. Some of the latest:
(Photo by Lara Rossignol)
For the past six years Art Center and INSEAD, a top-tier business school with campuses in Singapore and Fontainebleau, France, have participated in an annual study abroad program. Each year, a group of Art Center Product Design students travel to one of INSEAD’s two campuses to collaborate on a creative project with MBA candidates. They also attend graduate-level business courses in finance, marketing, entrepreneurship and various other business subjects.
Every March, INSEAD students and leadership visit Pasadena as part of INSEAD Week at Art Center. To help the visitors better understand the role of design and the design process, they are taken on a five-day tour of Southern California that includes workshops, presentations and visits to corporate studios. The latest batch of participants arrived in Pasadena Thursday, and will be here through Tuesday. They will tour Belkin, Stuart Karten Design, Idea!Lab, RTT and Disney Consumer Products, among many more fun activities. Be sure to welcome them to campus!
