Oftentimes when I come across a cool movement or product I like to highlight it on my blog. Look back and you’ll see that much of what I dissect here is based on hybrids of empathetic design that meet social innovation; products or programs that emphasize the benefits to the consumer as well as his or her community. At the beginning of the month I wrote about Nike Sole, the athletic shoe for amputees, and last week I wrote about Levi’s Water<Less jeans, an eco-friendly piece of denim that’s the same classic pant we know and love but made for environmentally-minded consumers. Continue reading
CHEERS TO AN OLD CLASSIC REMAKING ITSELF IN A VERY MODERN WAY
Levi Jeans to me means classic denim, clean lines and ageless fashion. What doesn’t come immediately to my mind are the words progressive or eco-friendly. Well, I stand corrected! One of Levi’s new products is called Water<Less jeans, which are made with between 28 and 96 percent less water than Levi’s originals. In the manufacturing process thus far, Levi’s has saved 172 million liters of water, according to its website. Continue reading
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INFOGRAPHICS — A NEW LANGUAGE FOR OUR NEW WORLD
If you’re a frequent reader of my blog, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of empathetic design; products and services that are made from the prospective of the user.
What you’re about to read about is something that far too often we think of a merely a service: how we get information. But the information itself is indeed a product as well and too often it’s not designed with the consumer of that information in mind. Usually, the focus is built around what the producer needs to say. But a truly good story – one that really sticks with you – is built to be heard not just stated, and infographics are emerging as a wonderful design constructed for that purpose. The need has never been greater as each day we are introduced to another information aggregation website or application. Listen, I’m a big fan of big information – but sometimes it can be a challenge to keep all of the data straight or pay attention to one story while there are a million others out there equally as deserving of our attention. Continue reading
Filed under Naked Civics
A WHOLE STORY ABOUT A HALF A PAIR OF SHOES
Yes, another shoe story. But just like my recent post on Oliberté, the little shoe maker that could, this story goes deeper than the sole. And this isn’t about some little shoe company, but rather, this inspiring story comes from one of the biggest of them all. Nike, the king of athletic footwear announced a newsworthy product yesterday, and it’s not what eager athletes would necessarily anticipate. In collaboration with Össur, the Icelandic producer of prosthetic technologies, Nike has come up with a new shoe for athletes with prosthetic limbs. That’s right: a shoe for those without a foot. Continue reading
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MICRO MOVEMENTS THROUGH LESS THAN MACRO EATING
Once again, GOOD Magazine has introduced me to a mouth-watering social innovation. This time it’s about dining out. We’re all quite aware of the fact that restaurant portions have grown significantly over the decades, right? And the result is a barbell of extremes: we are eating way more than is healthy for us or we end up wasting criminal amounts of food in a world where there are way too many that experience food insecurity each day. Continue reading
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TREADING NEW GROUND IN NEW SHOES
We’re all familiar with TOMS Shoes, right? It’s the company launched by Blake Mycoskie’s that hand-delivers a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes purchased. It’s a widely recognized name now, and with good reason. My daughters really dig the shoes and love the underlying story of how they operate even more. But have you ever heard of Oliberté? I hadn’t either, until I read this article in GOOD. Continue reading
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COMPLEXITY BUILT TO BE HEARD … AND UNDERSTOOD
Last month I wrote a blot post called Making the Veggies Taste Like Candy about BrainPOP, an outstanding website and iPad application that makes learning sweet as candy. I did my raving about it, but what I didn’t do was note that it’s a tool for children. It really is fantastic … but not aimed for adult needs. But then, why shouldn’t the grown ups get some brain treats too? Continue reading
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