Ingenuity

Design is something we can do everyday. I came across this site, Speed Creating, and thought it was not only clever and quirky, but a good reminder that we don't need to always buy solutions. Everyone can design stuff. It's not an exclusive club.

A former co-worker once said: "I can find design in anything I do from how to stack clean plates to building a wall"

I think we have become very accustomed to always finding solutions at a store. If something breaks in our home, we usually think we have to go buy something to fix it. I propose that we dust off our ingenuity and create solutions that aren't pre-packed. If everyone approaches problems as a opportunity for a "design," then I wonder how our solutions can change.

Cloth With A Story

I came across Spirit Coth blog the other day which mesmerized me with the beautiful photos and richness textiles. The blog itself contains photos of daily life, natural patterns and color inspiration, and documentation of her process. Her textile work reflects a larger story which layer itself into the textiles that could only be expressed through handmade work.
"The basic understanding of your materials is crucial in developing the character and individual style of your craft and the satisfaction that comes with that. . And so I have come to define style as the embodiment of this relationship."

Image courtesy of http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/spirit_cloth/

Following in the Slow Food Footsteps

I recently had the opportunity to talk with the owner of The Bobbin, a sewing and craft lounge in Burlington VT about her business and her perspective on the DIY craft movement. She had this to say about the craft movement:"Personally I think of this movement as similar to the local food movement and where they were at 10 years ago. Now we have have a big consciousness about eating local, buying local, my kids know the names of their farmer, they been to the farm where their veggies are grown. There is that level of awareness that we would really love to see with our clothing."

I agree!

Trailer for ReMade: The Rebirth of the Maker Movement

"There are so many things in our lives that we don't have control over and sometimes we feel like we don't have a say in our lives, but if you can take control over a little bit like growing your own food, or making your own clothes, or your own furniture, you are getting back a little of that control and sense of self ethicacy"

ReMade: The Rebirth of the Maker Movement (1st Trailer) from Electromagnate on Vimeo.

Electromagnate is a group of "hackerspace members" who have set out to share the story of the DIY and maker movement. I just learned of this new documentary project called ReMade focusing on current DIY communities, how these hackers are sharing and educating, and how innovation has changed over history. "The collective work and ideas of the creative people in the
DIY movement are opening a new world of inventiveness and creativity…of making that could very well change the way production occurs on a worldwide scale."

"You start seeing kids learn how to make things and be empowered and instead of thinking 'where am I going to buy that' they think 'uh, i wonder if I can make that'"

Slow Goods: A Movement to Preserve Handmade Products

Slow Goods is a response to the current pace of consumption. Mass production, cheap cost of materials, decreased quality, and increased availability of products has led us into exponential buying frenzy. Sustainability and current consumption aren't friends; a healthy environment can't be purchased.
The "slow" mentality has already begun to take place through the local grassroots foods movement aimed at making better connections between food, environment and community. According to Wikipedia, a sampling of the movement's objectives include: preserving and promoting local and traditional food products, organizing small-scale processing, educating consumers, encouraging ethical buying. This blog seeks to apply these concepts to the product industry.

The title "slow goods" combines the connection to the slow movement with the economic term for products. The use of the word "good" also a wide range of tangible offerings and reflects a more historical and traditional value that the word "product" doesn't. Slow goods aren't aren't mass produced and aren't made with built-in obsolescence. There are stories and people attached to them.

The blog will explore local small scale productions, the value of the DIY movements, and how communities are being organized around common hobbies. It will seek ways that reconnect people with products and add meaning to the way we interact with the objects that surround us to help improve the relationship between consumerism and sustainability.

Photos Credit: Jennifer Hattam http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/trash-improperly-disposed-in-istanbul.php