How coastal communities are adapting to a changing weather
Global warming and the global climate crisis continue to make headlines in news outlets: from increasing floods, to droughts and fires. By the end of the century, global temperatures are expected to increase 4C under the current trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions. 21.5 million people were displaced each year between 2008 and 2016 by some form […]
Measuring the value of design
In the 20th century the role of designers was majorly understood as that of shape-makers, skilled folks who refine the way objects look. Think car-styling, or how the fashion industry delivers new clothing styles every season. Beyond surface and form, design is a skill that creates new products or services. Design has been embraced by […]
Advertising in cities: Learning from Netflix, Intel and Google
When it comes to the visual landscape of cities, advertisements and billboards have played an important role across the world. Take Times Square. It is the world’s most visited place. This New York intersection provides a spectacle to over 300,00 visitors and tourists who pass by everyday.[1] These signs, designed to insert brand names in our minds to increase sales, […]
Book: Spanish edition of Do Good [Design], by David Berman
Haz el bien diseñando, the Spanish edition of Do Good Design, by David Berman, explores the ethical implications of communication design and the role designers play as accomplices in mass media production. The author has decades promoting social responsibility among design professionals and has been influential in the adoption of web accessibility legislation and ethical rules of conduct […]
Progress in poverty reduction
This year marks a halfway point in world poverty reduction. In 2000 a global goal was declared halve extreme poverty by 2015, based on levels present in 1990. This goal was reached in 2010, five years ahead of schedule. By 2030 the new goal set by the majority of countries is to end extreme poverty. […]
Sustainable economic development assessment (SEDA)
Since 1934, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been the single metric used to evaluate countries’ progress. This year, the Boston Consulting Group created a new progress evaluation system called Sustainable Economic Development Assessment (SEDA). Based on 50,000 different types of data points publicly available in areas like health, environmental protection, and freedom of expression, and […]
Exploring the nature of generosity
We often equate a large donation to a cause as a generous act. We praise the funds coming from donors with deep pockets that finally arrive at non-profit organizations that allow them to carry on with their missions. Donors expect to know whether their financial contribution will actually improve people’s lives, thus insist the recipient […]
Designing a gift-based economy
In my effort to keep understanding the concept of a gift-based economy, this time i’m sharing some reflections on Nepun Mehta’s work. I first heard of him last year, when I read about his commencement speech given at the University of Pennsylvania. As of today, it’s been read 176,884 times. You can read it here. […]
The poetry behind caregiving
Recently featured on FastCo Create, I read the great story of Caregifted, an organization that supports caregivers, people who spend decades, if not a lifetime looking after their relatives with some form of disability like autism or Alzheimer’s. These unexpected conditions require family members to re-structure their lives around their relatives’ special needs, often leaving […]
Seeing like a homeless
The story of Mike Williams, recently published on NPR, narrates how a successful inventor became a homeless man in Sacramento. You can read the full story here. Once an inventor of medical technologies, Williams ran into a series of events that saw him lose his house, his car and end up in a dumpster. […]