Social Design III

I'm off to Malawi tomorrow, to continue working with the women on the craft project. With them I've set up a structure, and we'll make an analysis of what worked and what not. Improvement is the aim, along their wishes and possibilities. I've made a business model of how a social design project can work. The book Material Change by Eve Blossom has been helpful, as well as other research and my previous experience. It's important to aim at individuals as well as the community for both development and poverty alleviation are among the targets. I'm also looking forward to meet them again, exchange and work hard. Each step, however small is a step forward......

Bowerbird Collections | Sibella Court

Here's the review I wrote for Athenaeum about the book 'Life of a Bowerbird' by Sibella Court.
The Bowerbird is a very stylish bird with a great sense for colours, texture and shapes...
But the book is about the phenomenon of collections, how to start, how to display and how simple a collection can be with great visual impact. My review starts with one of the most beautiful museum rooms I know: the Enlightenment Room in the British Museum in London. Stunning and moving..

Inspiration

Inspiration is an ongoing process. Everything can be useful as a source. For design, for a concept, for cooperation, for a process itself. Images, exhibitions, packages, books, articles, objects, samples. It's a great part of work to collect, organise and display. Here are some examples.

Hebridean Life Now and Then

Small Business

These mild spring days we have now make me think of the spring as it was in Chile last November. Slightly warmer there, but what we have now in March is astonishing. While there we went to a nature reserve for a day trip. On our way up we wanted to buy some lunch. We came across these small shops. Real small businesses. Simple, effective and good quality. The bicycle repair man had just one arm, but still he had good enough business. Good enough to live a simple, decent life.
Today I read about the current creativity of the people in Greece to deal with their enormous credit crunch; sharing, buying straight from farmers, reducing purchases. Not that it's easy for them but people can be really resilient. That's the positive sign of the crisis and an inspiration as well, I believe. What do we really need?

Yellow

As Lidewij Edelkoort's Trendtablet is busy to make us believe and be part of: yellow will be the new pink. The increase of yellow in fashion is indeed truly visible. Be it the bright yellow, or the mustardy slightly brownish yellow. Yellow is also a lively colour in nature. So let's go; here are some yellows from a bee-dinner at Retort Art Space recently, from my favourite flower stand on Saturday's Nieuwmarkt organic market, from Malawi, Limburg and Scotland.

Red

Here are some not-so-obvious reds. Ghent, Malawi, Scotland, New York, Enkhuizen, Sheringham.

White

Here are some whites. I've photographed them on Barra, on a ferry in Ireland, in Limburg, on my balcony, in a lighthouse on Mull-of-Kintyre and from my own textile collection.

Blue

Here's the bright contrast of many blues. Sparkling, soft, light, dark. In Enkhuizen, Malawi, Ireland, Scotland, New York.

Brown

Sometimes just colour can be a connecting concept. Colour is so strong, it's everywhere. This is Berlin,Morocco, Amsterdam, London, Chile and Edinburgh. The warm tones, the contrast, the atmosphere....................