August 6, 2014
Our Summer Reading List, 2014
As dedicated but typically distracted readers, we often wonder what titles our friends and colleagues are reading—and wishing we had the time to take in the books ourselves. Summer gives us an opportunity to play catch up, and a chance to ask around for recommendations. In our continuing tradition of gathering summer reading lists, we consulted several of our inspiring collaborators from the design projects and programs we’ve been involved in over the past year. The polled include our fellow participants in “Implementing Impact! The Business of Social Design,” a one-week workshop on design for social impact, presented by the School of Visual Arts Impact: Design for Social Change program; our partners in <codr>, an app we helped create as part of the 12-Week Prototyping Bootcamp for educators and technologists, presented by EDesign Lab and 4.0 Schools; and our teammates in Design/Relief, the AIGA/NY initiative to help areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.
June 25, 2014
From Scratching to Coding
Li’l Robin’s founder Anke Stohlmann at <codr> presentation, June 5, 2014.
For today’s students, coding is the new literacy: If they don’t know how to code, their job prospects will most certainly be limited in the future. In a YouTube video posted for Computer Science Education Week last December, President Barack Obama asked the U.S. to learn how to code: “If we want America to stay on the cutting edge, we need young Americans to master the tools and technology that will change the way we do just about everything.”
Block-based code (Scratch), left; professional code, right.
Many children are now learning basic coding skills in Scratch, a popular programming environment that teaches the concepts of coding using a simple visual system based on building blocks. But it’s a big leap from Scratch to the “real” programming languages of Javascript, Python and Processing, and it’s hard to know which language to learn next. <codr> is a new app that helps kids “graduate” from Scratch to the more complex text-based programming languages that are used at a professional level. L’il Robin founder Anke Stohlmann collaborated on the creation of the app with the educator Keledy Kenkel and the developers Adam Wooton and Hassan Abdel-Rahman.
May 14, 2014
Connecting People Through Stories
Interactive exhibit by Collective Story at the Border Crossers’ Gala, May 8th, 2014
Telling stories is a time-tested, universal and appealing form of expression that allows people to creatively engage with the world around them. Collective Story is a new project that uses the power of storytelling to start community conversations. Designed as a simple, low-fidelity intervention—an oversized piece of paper posted in a public area—Collective Story invites passersby to begin a dialogue, use their imaginations, or voice their concerns. The approach promotes civic engagement and critical thinking in a collaborative way that also happens to be a lot of fun.
February 13, 2014
Using Placemaking to Revitalize Communities
The Studio of Calligraphy presented by Bakélite, global and solid design, as part of Civic City’s project in Nègrepelisse, September 15, 2013. © La cuisine, Center of Art and Design.
When a community seeks to transform itself in the face of a challenge, it can be difficult to organize a response that satisfies everyone involved and stills feels true to the place. Creative placemaking is an inclusive approach that uses art and design as a catalyst to help communities regenerate themselves. Partners from public, private, non-profit and community sectors collaborate to shape the physical or social character of their town, neighborhood or city. The resulting project may take the form of a cultural activity, the regeneration of buildings or streetscapes, or the development of a new landmark or destination. Often the process involves the creation of a story or narrative that expresses the unique quality of a place, and begins with a simple question: What would you like to change about your community?
December 23, 2013
20 Lessons in Interaction Design
Illustration by Brian Rea, 20 Lessons in Interaction Design
Interaction design is usually thought of as design of interfaces for screen-based applications like iPads, iPhones, websites and social media. While it includes all these things, it is at heart a broader discipline that designs experiences and relationships—between people and technology, people and objects, people and services, and people and people.
The ubiquity of interaction design—and its importance to designers of all kinds—is highlighted in 20 Lessons in Interaction Design: Stories from SVA’s MFA Interaction Design Alumni, a new book Li’l Robin designed for the School of Visual Arts in New York. We collaborated on the project with Liz Danzico, the founding chairperson of the SVA MFA Interaction Design program, and the illustrator Brian Rea. Instead of developing a traditional marketing brochure, Liz wanted to create a special publication that gave readers a look at the design thinking of the program’s graduates and what they’ve learned since they finished school.