Work to promote smart growth. That’s the gist. Smart growth. As opposed to growth that is not smart. I.E. dumb, silly or foolish growth, looking backwards, or regressing. That is the heart of sustainability and where it’s taking us.

With 6+ billion people on the planet and a projected 10 billion possible by mid-century we will need plenty of growing, building, and progressing if we’re going to deal with the many issues we have now and will have in the future. If we’re going to get away from the American style of 4 extra planet living, we need to be smart about it.

We’re on the brink. Not of death and destruction, but of a new, smart revolution, and it’s feeling pretty good. (more…)

at firebelly design authenticity meets sustainability. it’s good design for good reason.

this inspiring team of designers is out there, using creativity to make a difference, to make things better. with camp firebelly and reason to give, their environmental consciousness, appreciation for cultural diversity and a sense of responsibility as designers, it’s obvious that it is possible to have a positive impact and make a living doing it. there definitely needs to be more “small studios with big hearts.” -jk-

yes. it’s okay. doing good, being a do-gooder. it’s a good thing. in fact, it’s crucially necessary. despite what ayn rand and other self-interest, greed-is-good proponents have to say on the subject. i think we all can see that being a rich jerk who cares nothing about anything but his or her own self is no way to run an economy, or a community.

in his new book, david berman calls the future of civilization our common design project. today, everybody is a designer, and in this time of unprecedented environmental, social, and economic crises, designers choose what their young profession will be about: inventing deceptions that encourage overconsumption — or helping repair the world.

so, continue on not really thinking about it.

-or-

take the do good pledge:
1. I will be true to my profession.
2. I will be true to myself.
3. I will spend at least 10% of my professional time helping repair the world. -jk-

Project M is an intensive summer program designed to inspire young graphic designers, writers, photographers and other creative people that their work can have a positive and significant impact on the world. Thinking wrong: generating a huge number of possibilities, before selecting or executing, based on the assumption that creativity, invention and innovation are good things.

an interview with John Bielenberg by Steven Heller -jk-

everything is propaganda. this just happens to be from the side of the oppressed.

land, bread, housing, educaton, clothing, justice and peace: the demands of the black panther party. a movement armed with a visual language that crafted a powerful voice of resistance both menacing and beautiful. the imagery depicted by panther artist emory douglas was the view from the struggle. and the vision for what a brighter tomorrow could look like for poor communities long neglected, discriminated against, and treated as second class by a system claiming to be built on equality and justice. these images speak from strength, for collective action.

roz payne of newsreel films came to lincoln for the blacks in film festival to discuss the black panther party and the documentary films made to give voice to the movement. grainy, black and white footage told the side of the story of those used to being beat into submission and now finding a united force for their own positive resistance (health clinics, school breakfast programs, protection from police brutality).

along with the film festival, ben jones of anti-oppression art hosted a pushpin exhibit of historical flyers, fbi documents and imagery from the party. i was requested to participate in the exhibition and created a series of posters (thick black toner on cover weight stock) from the perspective of the poor, the immigrant, the worker, those feeling the deep pain of a profit-centered health system, those struggling for equality, and those who just want the shelling to stop. -jk-

Gallery5 and There Once was a Rebellion presents Repressed IV: May Day, an art exhibition on workers’ rights. In conjunction with Repressed IV, at the Lucent Phoenix, work from Power To The Poster will be on display in this Richmond, Virginia gallery from May 1 through May 22. All the details.

description: May 1st, International Worker’s Day, celebrates an ongoing, worldwide workers’ struggle. This struggle is still relevant today with issues such as: migrant workers’ rights, women’s equal pay for equal work, sweatshop labor, economic hit men, economic imperialism and outsourcing. People travel to places far from home and their comfort zone to show solidarity with an international struggle for the right to be treated humanly in a collapsing system. This exhibition will be a celebration of workers’ rights through art, education and action.

Innovative projects from around the world that demonstrate the power of design to improve lives. A call to action to anyone committed to building a better world. Cameron Sinclair, the founder of Architecture for Humanity, accepts his TED prize and discusses open-source architecture to house the world. Not only brilliant thinking, but bold actions.

I got this book as a gift a couple of years ago from my wife. It’s a moving account of many, many practical solutions to the most urgent needs in the world today. The idea of “designing like you give a damn” is such an important one. Whatever your expertise, the knowledge, technology and resources exist to make this world better, each and every day. But in order for that to happen we have to make a conscious decision to care, to jump in, feet first and say “I’m in, I want to help.” We have to give a damn, and in my journey to get to that point, this book, this thinking, played a critical role. Enjoy. -jk-

get Design Like You Give A Damn
visit Architecture for Humanity

profits are up, people are down, and the symbol for health care in america is burned black — tattered, torn, cracked and crumbling, despite patchwork attempts at reform. ha! the sad fact: we have the most pathetic, inefficient, ruthless health care system on the planet. and we have an ingrained aversion to the -ism we dare not speak and government intervention we claim so feverishly to be the most hideous of outcomes. as it will apparently lead us to a weak, dependent society. and with that, complete moral decay. or something like that.

as a system, the headline reads: just don’t get sick. in the vocabulary of pre-existing conditions, “experimental” surgery, and high risk, the business of health is a highly profitable, money-making machine. it’s a racket. and a disgrace to the idea of life and liberty. while the ever-so-simple-answer of single-payer is mocked in the establishment press and denounced as some great evil.

well maybe, but you tell me another way to create a simple answer to the most budget-crushing question of our time and i’ll be happy to forego my demands. those being: cover everyone, and treat us like people. -jk-

freedom, democracy, media, health care, consumerism, globalization, war, the environment, education, global warming, moral values, community, government, capitalism, iraq, a women’s right to choose, the public air waves, foreign policy, race, infrastructure, defense, civil rights, corporatism, abortion, free speech, genocide, ethanol, human rights, oversight, power, america, nuclear weapons, habeas corpus, the economy, climate change, dissent, shopping, fair housing, cities, energy, food, homosexuality, socialism, guantanamo, immigration, surveillance, corruption, africa, ecology, taxes, russia, recession, responsibility, technology, water, right to bear arms, terrorism, wall street, hope, economic development, children, diversity, culture, imf, net neutrality, alternative energy, judaism, the right to vote, united nations, natural resources, waterboarding, pollution, ethics, psychology, local, science, advertising, conservatism, hate, deforestation, interrogation, venture capital, israel, choice, sweatshops, future generations, activism, fisa, medication, homophobia, transportation, liberty, darfur, union organizing, suburbia, latin america, prisons, church and state, religion, drugs, warrantless, wiretapping, fair trade, labor rights, the middle east, elections, melting ice caps, wto, republican, news, hurricanes, quality of life, hypocrisy, torture, nafta, democrat, history, conservation, celebrity, the west, agriculture, medicare, christianity, coal, carbon emissions, gmos, fascism, independence, hiv/aids, prosperity, politics, retirement, information, equality, oil, social security, ethnicity, palestine, electric vehicles, media consolidation, nature, 9/11, ride your bike, apathy, military industrial complex, the falling dollar, people, homeland security, civil liberties, disaster, propaganda, drought, the middle class, north korea, the national debt, islam, states’ rights, zero waste, industry, iran, gender, human rights, the arts, endangered species, obesity, diplomacy, spirituality, depression, urban planning, china, liberalism, animal rights, heritage, nutrition, empathy, racism, regulation, mass transit, disease, feminism, privatization, the gaza strip, justice, credit, corn, anxiety, violence, dictatorship, checks & balances, impeachment, the human footprint, service, tv, the axis of evil, panic, ethics, veterans, weapons in space, the constitution, war on terror, fuel efficiency, reproductive rights, patriotism, affirmative action, god, business, poverty, transparency, democracy, fear, extremism, freedom…

…because as we see it, something has to.