Open Source Ecology
The ultimate in agricultural nerding. Open Source Ecology is a network of farmers and engineers that has been creating an open source, low-cost, high performance technological platform that allows for the easy, DIY fabrication of the 50 different Industrial Machines that it takes to build a sustainable civilization with modern comforts.
Pivot: Jonathan Hoefler
This is a must watch for any design nerd. Type specialist Jonathan Hoefler of the type foundry Hoefler & Frere-Jones covers not only the complexities of designing beautiful typefaces, but more importantly the complexities of making those typefaces appear beautiful on a variety of platforms (newsprint, web, mobile devices, etc.)
The Alabamboo Make & Ride
A group of four cyclists recently descended upon Greensboro, Alabama to build bikes with locally grown bamboo and to ride them across the country making their way to San Francisco. The project is part of a collaboration between Project M, Bamboo Bike Studio, Common Cycles, and a local effort to advance the growth of “Alabamboo” as an agricultural cash crop in the United States.
Check out the photos from the build and follow the ride at RideAlabamboo.com.
Jeff Oeth / Modern Evolution business cards
Here are some new Jeff Oeth Design / Modern Evolution business cards that I recently cranked out. The front is me, the back is the blog.
A few production notes:
- Hand-made, with extra love.
- Inkjet printing on label stock, wrapped around recycled chipboard.
- Printed in small quantities as-needed. Easy to update. No wasted cards.
- Fun-sized (a little shorter than your average card).
Also worth mentioning:
I’m offering special design rates for any projects that emphasize sustainability and social responsibility. That could be a lot of different things. Contact me for more info.
Twitter folks can follow @jeffoeth (the man) and @modevolution (the blog) to stay on top of things. Guaranteed not to clog up your Twit stream. “Quality over quantity” is our motto.
Thanks again to all those who follow along and to those who have supported me over the years. Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated!
Johnson’s Backyard Garden
For whatever reason, the first thing that popped in my head when I saw this design work was a Steve Martin quote from The Jerk:
I’m gonna buy you a diamond so big it’s gonna make you puke.
Of course this identity design for Johnson’s Backyard Garden has nothing to do with buying diamonds. And “puke” probably isn’t the best word to use when you’re talking about the healthy and delicious foods you’d get from an organic vegetable farm. But every once in a while you see someone’s work that’s so impressive, it makes you just a little sick to your stomach.
If JBG’s goal was to compete at farmers markets, all they would have needed is a nice typeface to stand out among the sea of Papyrus. But instead, they were lucky enough to have Austin’s Ryan Rhodes on the job, who clearly went above and beyond. The identity he created would stand out anywhere, even on a blog dedicated to identity design.
I made the lettering using pieces of wood that had been inked and printed. So I tried to do some illustrations or beets and carrots and making the letters JBG with those pieces. It felt right. It reminded me of plotted farm land, or crop circles, or quilts. It was very elementary to a degree, a back to basics, building block exercise for me.
This kind of creative exploration and thorough artistry should be every designer’s goal with every project: Give ‘em something so amazing it’ll make them puke.
More images below…
What we’ve got here is a graphic from the website of French Paper Company highlighting their production of clean, renewable energy. President Jerry French had this to say about the company’s energy:
100 percent of French’s paper production since 1922 has been manufactured with hydroelectricity generated on-site at the French Mill on the bank of the St. Joe River, avoiding the use of fossil fuels and an estimated 700,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Also, unlike many of the big paper conglomerates, French does not buy secondhand ‘green power’ credits from power companies for good PR and environmental certifications. French actually sells surplus kilowatts back to the local power supplier.
Very impressive. Although, it would be great if I could find more info on the paper sources themselves, and which of French’s papers (if any) are FSC-certified.
The folks at AIGA Toledo are putting on a two-day conference to talk about design ethics, sustainability and design education. The event is coming up on May 15-16. They call it response_ability:
How can we (should we?) create students who feel a responsibility to their world? How do we, as educators, instill the capacity for our students to become thinking, ethical designers?
Puma’s new shoebag
When you think of a typical shoebox, you probably don’t think of something that’s an environmental problem. I mean, it’s cardboard for Pete’s sake. But that didn’t stop Puma from teaming up with Yves Béhar’s design studio to rethink the way shoes are packaged. This is what they came up with…
