+ 29.05.2014

CROWDFUNDING

   Crowdfunding is the collection of finance from backers to fund an initiative and usually occurs on Internet platforms. The initiatives can be nonprofit campaigns, political campaigns, charity, commercial or a financial campaign for a startup company. The crowdfunding has three parts - the people or organizations that propose an idea to be funded, the people who support the proposal, and the platform or organization which brings together the offerer and the crowd.

Types of crowdfunding:

Reward-based crowfunding

Equity-based crowfunding

Donation-based crowfunding

Credit-based crowfunding

History

   Crowdfunding origins from larger concept of crowdsourcing, which idea is about individual reaching a goal by recveiving and leveraging small contributions from many parties. The first site using crowdfunding method was CyverBeg.com in 2004. 

   Earlier example of a non-digital crowdfunding was from 1884 for the pedestal of Statue of Liberty. More than 125 000 people contributed over 100 000 in six months.

   Since 2009, the amount of money contributed to the projects have more than doubled each year. In 2012, more than 1 billion individual campaigns were established globally. Since 2013, there's an option to insert a fully functional crowdfunding service to a branded website. The crowdfunding as service platform is known as FundRazr.

   A report from May 2014 shows that during March 2014, more than 60 000 dollars were raised on an hourly basis via global crowdfunding initiatives, and 442 campaigns were launched daily.

   Kickstarter is one of the best known crowdfunding platforms. Some of the amazing fundings: musician Amanda Palmer managed to rize 1,2 million dollars in june 2012 to make a new album and art book; writer Zach Braff raised 3,1 million dollars in may 2013 to create a feature film Wish I Was Here, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; Kano technolofy company raised 1,5 million dollars in december 2013 to create a computer and coding kit for all ages, which kids will be able to use for learning computer coding.

Controversy

   The people support some certain idea the offerer is proposing, but they don't really know what their money will be used for. For example, musician Palmer raised over million dollars, but invited other musicians to play on the stage with her for a warm hug, and no monetary compensation, because the fundraising project was for the studio album and videos etc. But in a week Palmer claimed that the management  team had directed more money into tour budget, and the other musicians will be paid aswell. 

Benefits and risks

• Benefits for the creator

   Crowdfunding campaigns provide producers with a number of benefits, beyond the strict financial gains. The following are non financial benefits of crowdfunding. Some of the benefits would be: a compelling project can raise a producer's profile and provide a boost to their reputation; in either successful or unsuccessful campaign, the platform offers good marketing - project initiators can show there is an audience and market for their project, or they get good feedback about the product; crowd funding creates a forum where project initiators can engage with their audiences and keep them updated about how work is going; offering pre-release access to content or the opportunity to beta-test content to project backers as a part of the funding incentives provides the project initiators with instant access to good market testing feedback.
   The proponents claim that crowdfunding lets good ideas, which don't fit into the pattern required by typical financiers to break through and attract cash through preferance of the crowd. If the needed fund is raised, the enterprises can feel secure about beginning the project, as the initial seed funding exists along with the consumers, who also grant word to mouth promotion of the project. Another effect is that groups produce quite accurate prediction about market outcomes, placing financial backing behind ventures likely to succeed.

   Supporters of crowdfunding say that with the activity, the outcome of funding can be increased much higher, which would turn into available venture capital. Another benefit of the crowdfunding is that the companies recieving the funding stay in control of their operations, as voting rights and ownership doesn't change with crowdfunding. 

• Risks and barriers for the creator

Crowdfunding also comes with some potential risks: 
- failure to meet campaign goals or to generate interest result in a public failure. Reaching financial goals and successfully gathering substantial public support but being unable to deliver on a project for some reason can severely negatively impact ones reputation;
- many Interactive Digital Media developers and content producers are reluctant to publicly announce the details of a project before production due to concerns about idea theft and protecting their IP from plagiarism;
- there is a risk that if the same network of supporters is reached out to multiple times, that network will eventually cease to supply necessary support;
- concern among supporters that without a regulatory framework, the likelihood of a scam of abuse of funds is high. The concern may become a barrier to public engagement;
- crowdfunding draws a crowd: investors and other interested observers who follow the progress, or lack of progress, of a project. Sometimes it proves easier to raise the money for a project than to make the project a success. Managing communications with a large number of possibly disappointed investors and supporters can be a substantial, and potentially diverting, task.

Estonian equivalent of Kickstarter:
Hooandja (literally: person who pushes for the swing to move)

Currently one of the main chat topics concerning crowdfunded projects:
Solar roadways - the developer/designer/engineer behind the work is claiming that if all the asphalt in US would be replaced with these solar panels, the country would produce triple the amount of energy needed, and it would be green and cheap!

Link to the Solar Roadways' Indiegogo crowdfunding page - check out for more info!

Explanatory video from the developers:

+ 22.05.2014

SLOW DESIGN

What is Slow Design?

Wikipedia:

   Slow design is a branch of the Slow Movement, which began with the concept of Slow Food, a term coined in contrast to fast food. As with every branch of the Slow Movement, the overarching goal of Slow Design is to promote well being for individuals, society, and the natural environment. Slow Design seeks a holistic approach to designing that takes into consideration a wide range of material and social factors as well as the short and long term impacts of the design.

   Slow Design refers to the goals and approach of the designer, rather than the object of the design.  In this way a Slow Design approach can be used within any design field. The term was probably first coined by Alistair Fuad-Luke in his 2002 paper "Slow Design - a paradigm for living sustainably?", in which Slow Design is seen as the next step in the developement of sustainable design, balancing individual, sociocultural, and environmental needs.

   While Fuad-Luke focused on the design of physical products, the concept can be applied to the design of non-material things such as experiences, processes, services, and organizations. In fact, Slow Design may be seen as a path toward the dematerialization required for long-term sustainability as it takes into account the non-material nature of human well being and happiness.

Summary by Beth Meredith and Eric Storm:

   "Slow Design is a democratic and holistic design approach from creating appropriately tailored solutions for the long-term well being of people and the planet. To this end, Slow Design seeks out positive synergies between the elements in a system, celebrates diversity and regionalism, and cultivates meaningful relationships that add richness to life."

Common qualities of Slow Design:

• Holistic - taking into account as many relevant short and long term factors as possible.
• Sustainable - considering the cradle-to-cradle impacts and reducing harm as much as possible including the precautionary principle.
• Elegant - finding the simplest and most concise solutions that provide the desired results.
• Tailored - creating specific solutions that fir a particular situation.
• Democratic - keeping the process and results accessible to those using and impacted by the design and to non-professionals.
• Adaptable - developing solutions that will continue to work over time or that can be modified as needed.
• Durable - making sure solutions can be maintained over the time while minimizing the need for repairs and replacement.
• Non-toxic - eliminating substances and processes that pollute or are toxic.
• Efficient - minimizing waste of time, labor, energy, and physical resources.
• Distinctive - promoting cultural, social, and environmental uniqueness and diversity.

   Slow design is still a relatively new concept of design thinking, and its implications are yet to be fully developed and defined. It could encolce in the following ways:

• Longer design processes with more time for research, contemplation, real life impact tests, and fine tuning.
• Design for manufacturing with local or regional materials and technologies or design that supports local industries, workshops, and craftspeople.
• Design that takes into account local or regional culture both as a source of inspiration and as an important consideration for the design outcome.
• Design that studies the concept of natural time cycles and incorporates them into design and manufacturing processes.
• Design that looks at longer cycles of human behaviour and sustainability.
• Design that takes into account deeper well being and the findings of positive psychology.

Slow Movement

   The Sow Movement advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonal's restaurant in Piazza di Spanga, Rome in 1986 that sparked the creation of the Slow Food organization. Over time, this developed into a subculture in other areas, such as Cittaslow (Slow Cities), Slow living, Slow Travel, and Slow Design.

   Geir Berthelsen and his creation of The World institute of Slowness presented a vision in 1999 for an entire "Slow Planet" and a need to teach the world the way to Slow. Carl Honoré's 2004 book, "In Praise of Slowness", first explored how the Slow philosophy might be applied in every field of human endeavour and coined the phrase "Slow Movement". The Financial Times said that the book is "to the Slow Movement what Das Kapital is to communism". Honoré describes the Slow Movement thus:

   " It is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail's pace. It's about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It's about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting."

   Professor Guttorm Fløistad summarizes the philosophy, stating:

   "The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. if you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal."

   The Slow Movement is not organized and controlled by a single organization. A fundamental characteristics of the Slow Movement is that it is propounded, and its momentum maintained, by individuals who constitute the expanding global community of Slow. Its popularity has grown considerably since the rise of Slow Food and Cittaslow in Europe, with Slow initiatives spreading as far as Australia and Japan.

Some branches of Slow Movement:

• Cittaslow - movement against homogenization and globalization in cities
• Slow ageing - positive, successful aging; non-medical intervention for potential natural life extension.
• Slow counceling -  understands that many clients are seeking ways to reduce stress and cultivate a more balanced approach to life.
• Slow education - reaction to the overly compacted course content requirements, which many educators find students cannot cover in a single year with sufficient depth;  qualitative measures showing the success of student and teacher.
• Slow fashion - alternative to mass-produced clothing; a unified representation of all the "sustainable", "eco", "green", and "ethical" fashion movements.
• Slow food - seeks to encourage the enjoyment of regional produce, traditional foods, which are often grown organically and to enjoy these foods in the company of others.
• Slow goods - focuses on low production runs, usage of craftspeople within the process and on-shore manufacturing; proponents of this philosophy seek and collaborate with smaller, local supply and service partners.
• Slow photography - artists and photographers retake manual techniques and working methods to work slower, manually and in constant dialogue with the physical materials of the images.
• Slow Travel - suggests that travellers should engage more fully with communities along their route and favouring visits to spots enjoyed by local residents rather than merely following guidebooks. Its advocates and devotees generally look for low-impact travel styles.
• More concepts: Slow art, Slow church, Slow gardening, Slow parenting, Slow science, Slow media, Slow money, Slow technology

Slow Design examples from Estonia

I believe Estonia is a very good country for Slow Design, Slow Fashion and also Slow Goods. The country is so small it's close to impossible to compete with mainstream products in big markets - they will be cheaper or have better quality. So the way to get to people is to become more personal, satisfying the need to be original and distinctive. Limited editions, originality, individual projects - the country has to commit more on design and quality than aim for quantity.

Here are a few examples that popped into my mind right away, but there are tens and maybe even hundreds more, many popping from the moss  like mushrooms after light rain at current moment.

Stella Soomlais leather bags

Handmade tailored shoes - Scheckmann by Sille Sikmann

Karl - Wooden frames individually fitted for each client

+ 12.05.2014

DESIGN LANGUAGE

Introduction

   The object I chose to analyze is a bookcase named Twist me! (2013) from a Slovakian design company Mejd Studio (www.mejdstudio.com). This piece was achieved through cooperation with a Swiss furniture company Vitra (www.vitra.com) during a summer workshop named Lost & found. 

   The design studio Mejd consist of 2 designers, Štefan Nosko and Katarína Beličková. 

- Nosko was born in 1986, started his design studies already in the secondary school, continued by studies in Academy of Fine arts and Design in Bratislava with product design course, finishing bachelor's and master's degree, now following with doctorate, and going to participating in a few exchange programs during studies. He has also taken part of some design events mainly in Slovakia.

- Beličková was born in 1984 and also started her design studies in secondary school. She continued in Technical University of Zvolen, but changed to Academy of Fine arts and Design in Bratislava in a year, where she has bachelor's and master's degree. During the studies she has gone through internships in different areas. She has also participated in design related events mainly in Slovakia and Czech.

   The company situates in Bratislava and is mainly aimed at product design. They aim for creating objects which in addition to functional and aesthetic sites offer some kind of added value in terms of ideas, stories and links to other fields of social life and lives of people in general.

   The goal of the workshop Lost & Found was to create a hybrid object of 2 different objects. The participants were supposed to work with traditional folklore items, on the other hand use Vitra's new, but already discarded office furniture. The project in question combined bookbinding plough and metal sheet office rack. In the final piece, in it's side walls there are placed aluminium bearings joint with a wooden nut from the press. By turning the nut, the inner "walls" are brought into motion and this way they can be positioned against one another, creating space for any number of books. 

Analysis
- Level I - formal-aesthetic language. 
   The bookcase is not very big, only having one shelf for books. The main part of the bookcase is in the shape of a horizontal cuboid open to the side. The material for the sides, top and back area is metal, which s painted matte white. The bottom seems to be of wood, or MDF board, also white. The sides of the metal part are perforated with small circular pattern, which lets smooth light get into the bookcase from the sides. The bookcase has 4 legs, which are not on the corner of the case, and not vertical, but spread out from the center of the case. The legs appear wooden, coloured matte white aswell, and the shape is not tubular, but seems to be hexagonal.
   Of course, the most attention catching part is the wooden screw, contrasting with it's natural look, while the rest is covered in matte lightness. The screw element has two identical sides, mirroring from the imaginable central vertical line. The screw consist of the threaded rod, nut with elongated sides for easy handling, and the central plates against what the books will rest. The whole screw is wooden, with used look accentuated by small holes seeming to be caused by natural activity. The size of the screw is rather surprising compared to the rest of the bookcase, which is rather small.

- Level II - the sign/ indication functions. 
  When I first saw the piece of furniture, not knowing the background story, my first impression was that it's a huge nutcracker. For using the bookshelf, the user is expected to put the wanted amount of books in the center, between two wooden plates, and then turn the handles of the nuts on both sides to approximate the plates until they will hold up the books. This pressing action reminds of screwed nutcracker or even a torture bench. The bookcase does not have any door to hide what's in it, leaving and impression that when the object in the center gets squeezed, we cannot look away, cannot hide it, cannot ignore what's happening. The books in the center leave us with tension, because there seems to be forces fighting all the time and we want to know if the cracker will break, or the books will be squeezed empty of knowledge.
   The piece is certainly meant for indoors use, as bare wooden parts won't be resistant to weather conditions. I see that because of the shape of the legs, the bookcase stands on tips of hexagonal pencils. Another characteristic is that the screw will stick out more and more as books will be added, so the user may decide to just showcase the currently important writings. I can see the bookcase being used as a bedside table, due to it's size; the height of the top seems to be suitable for a nightlight and a few necessities.
   
- Level III - symbolic level. 
   The name of the piece, Twist me!, is very strongly connected with the way it's supposed to be used - twisted. The exclamation mark is turning the invitation of trying it out almost into a command. Such reference can make us wonder how much we are influenced by the way we are addressed, and if some things we think we're doing willingly are actually our own will, or rather the need to please and fit into the situation (partly referring to Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures). 
   While analyzing the piece, I started to see as if the screw is squeezing books together, it's also squeezing knowledge together. And with that act, this bookcase reminds of a persons head, because in brain, also an amazing amount of knowledge is squeezed together in a small area. Specially if the person who has the bookcase exhibits writings he has read and finds important, the knowledge from the books are squeezed into that persons head. 
   Another thing about the bookcase would be the screw, the size of it, and the questionableness of need to use it overall. The fact that the screw is there is like a fantasy, a dream, leaving the user into an Alice in Wonderland-like position. Why to use it? Next to that, the most characteristic part of the piece is the screw. The rest is blended with matte white, turning it into timeless lightness. The  screw is obviously worn, and the small holes in the wood indicate the honorable age of the element. But after finding out that the project was a hybrid with a bookbinding plough, I believe the meaning of the product became a lot clearer and obvious.

Conclusion
   As I had not previously paid attention to the aim of the project for that the piece was made, I had developed my own idea about the reasons behind the piece. Nonetheless, the bookcase will continue to be in my interest list as a very peculiar piece to enjoy.