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Forgive me for my lack of enthusiasm today about our President Elect. As heartening as such a victory is for America, it is marred by ignorance and leaves me feeling shame for my country at the same time. The election of Barack Obama to our highest office may seem to be the end of one form of bigotry, one form of xenophobic ignorance, but like a smoker who franticly chews gum, or an alcoholic who turns to drugs, we’ve just replaced one addiction with another, one prejudice with another, one form hatred and discrimination with another.
Yesterday, another 3 states banned gay marriage and a fourth denied some of its orphans the chance of a good home by banning the right for gays to adopt.
California’s ‘Yes On Prop 8′ had $25 million dollars donated by the Morman church, to “uphold the sanctity of marriage.”
I still have yet to hear an argument against gay marriage that is not directly tied to religion, and along with such huge support from a church, this is a reduction of everyone’s rights, not just homosexuals. This is church funding government, however much you’d like to deny it.
I am reminded, (and this comparison has been mentioned elsewhere) of the same arguments made against interracial marriage. The “lack of morals”, the “healthy upbringing of the child”.
I think the same people opposing gay marriage would be (and probably still are) the same people protesting interracial marriage, and I think its just as disgusting a group of people as was back then.
So as jubilant and excited as I might feel about the possibilities of the future with a President Obama, my excitement is held in check, realizing that a large portion of our country is treated as second class citizens, with no right to express their love in whatever way they choose.
6 comments. Posted by md in politics, social change on 5 November 2008.
Amazon’s Frustration-Free Packaging
Amazon recently announced “Frustration-Free Packaging” which is recyclable, sans excess packaging materials (hard plastic clamshell casings, plastic bindings, and wire ties) and designed to be shipped in their own boxes without an additional shipping box.
They are working to, essentially, cut out the middle-man and not create the wasteful packaging in the first place.
We work directly with manufacturers to box products in Frustration-Free Packages right off the assembly lines, which reduces the overall amount of packing materials used.
You may not notice Frustration-Free Packaging right away. They point out “this is just the beginning of a multi-year initiative. It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging.” Here’s to the future!
No comments. Posted by tanner in social change on 3 November 2008.
The above image reminds me of the importance of context within design. I honestly believe the general population feels they are looking past the issue of race in this election. However, its another ballgame when you get the opportunity to see Obama in the context of a white man and McCain in the context of a black man.
Mr Miessler wonders “would Obama even be noteworthy if he were white? Would McCain be in the race at all if he were a black 72-year-old”? I know your response; it wouldn’t matter to you because you’re above that kind of thinking. But, I want you to really consider the above renderings before you answer. Think of the candidates and where they stand on issues that matter to you, as you take it in.
Context is incredibly powerful, and this is an extremely good example of that.
Here’s some information on the renderings; from thecoolhunter.net:
Created by creative director - Tor Myhren from Grey NYC, the posters slice through the race issue between candidates - acknowledging that much of this campaign has predictably but stupidly been re-cast as a battle between black and white. Myhren’s powerful imagery rightly implies that this is all just distraction, seeking to refocus our attention onto what really matters - the issues.
1 comment. Posted by tanner in opinion, politics, social change on 2 November 2008.
Today is Blog Action Day. This year the focus is on meaningful blog posts related to Poverty. In doing some research about this post, some of the figures were just absolutely devastating to me. Looking at this chart, and some of the statistics:
80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day.
Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
One of the facts that got to me the most, were the ones about water.
Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometre, but not in their house or yard, consume around 20 litres per day. In the United Kingdom the average person uses more than 50 litres of water a day flushing toilets (where average daily water usage is about 150 liters a day. The highest average water use in the world is in the US, at 600 liters day.)
I thought about it this morning as I was getting a shower, brushing my teeth, rinsing my cereal bowl. Even water to put in my iron when I press my shirt this morning, seemed wasteful, seemed unfair. I don’t think the point of today is to make people feel guilty about what they have, but more so, to make them realize how generally lucky we all are to have the option to take something like that for granted, and then think of ways to allows others such a luxury.
For our part, at least from my point of view, I’d ask that everyone just take 10-15 minutes today, consider these things, and try and find ways to help. Find ways to make things better.
The top image for this post is from Kiva.org, a site that lets people lend money to entrepreneurs in developing countries, helping them remove themselves from poverty through hard work, ideas and innovation. I think its one of the best things to come from the connected world of the internet, and I’d invite you all to take part.
If you’d like to, please post something on your blog today, and link it in the comments here.
More information:
2 comments. Posted by md in social change on 15 October 2008.
Reason 3/30 to vote Obama by Milton Glaser
30 Reasons is a 30-day email and internet campaign to encourage people to vote for Barack Obama.
Our goal is simple: Use design to build a logical, multi-faceted argument for Obama and make it easy to share each reason with another person.
They have enlisted 30 graphic designers to create posters that represent a reason to vote for Obama. Today’s poster comes from Milton Glaser.
Full image after the jump Read more. →
1 comment. Posted by tanner in opinion, politics, poster, social change on 7 October 2008.
Design changes: water transportation made easier
I present to you the Q Drum, a simple example of how design can positively change how we interact with the world.
“The Q Drum eases the task of fetching water for peoples in developing nations. Climate change has required a countless number of people all around the world to travel greater distances to retrieve water for everyday use. The Q Drum allows a child to pull the full capacity of 50 liters of water over flat terrain with comparative ease.”
3 comments. Posted by tanner in innovation, social change on 30 September 2008.
Speaks for itself.
1 comment. Posted by md in social change on 18 September 2008.
Tracking space junk in realtime via Google Earth
I’ve been bewildered lately by the amount of space junk (debris, inactive satellites, active satellites, etc) orbiting Earth. Not only is allowing this junk to remain in orbit irresponsible, it’s beginning to cause serious complications. Read more. →
No comments. Posted by tanner in ridiculous, social change, visualization on 6 September 2008.
Phoenix will be the site of 5 new billboards this week, promoting a separation of church and state, and freedom from religion. This makes it one of the few times I’m glad to be in Phoenix in August.
1 comment. Posted by md in religion, social change, typography on 24 August 2008.
This might seem a bit off topic from our general fare, but I am filing this under “industrial design” or “design for the greater good” or something.
I found this article being talked about when browsing around one of the photography blogs I read (nsfw) and I thought it was an interesting product: a female condom with inner barbs as a rape prevention/deterrent device
Read more. →
1 comment. Posted by md in industrial design, innovation, opinion, social change on 21 August 2008.
