Design 21 Contest Giveaway
GOOD readers, our friends at Design 21's Social Design Network (read about them here) want to pose a challenge to you. They want to know how you define social design. It's very simple and very broad. Let us know what you think in the comments. The first 25 commenters will get a GOOD t-shirt and a stainless steel Allumonde ring from Design 21. Make sure you've included your real email with your GOOD profile, or we won't be able to contact you to give you your prize.
Define social design. Have a go at it.
Posted on April 19, 2007 by - Morgan Clendaniel
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1 vote
Social Design is...
Social Design to me is design for everyone. It can be graffiti or even a simple "No Parking" sign or even the signs on a restroom door. It is design that we just absorb into our life with out even knowing it.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by johnHoysa
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Social Design
In my opinion, it's design that's shaped by society and its collective consciousness, rather than design with the intention of shaping society (and that collective consciousness) to its mold.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by caroline
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Social Design
The GNU GPL is an example of perfect social design. It requires anyone who modifies GPL code to share their modifications with the community.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by papyromancer
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3 votes
Social Design
Social design is giving means for community development and interaction.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by nem0
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Social Design
Social design is design with the society in mind. Social design would be more reflective of everyone in the community, and the diversity and commonalities of our collective realities.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by msekhar
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sd
Social design exists as the context of the everyday, the everyone and the everywhere; it is tangible groupthink.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by eakspeasy
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2 votes
Respect
For me, respect is really the key to social design. By respect, I mean respect for other humans, respect for the environment, respect for your surroundings, respect in essentially any way that the word can be used. While Design is often concerned with its target audience, rarely is anything else considered. It would never be possible to consider all of the ramifications of a design, but social design should strive to examine as many as possible.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by TshirtFiend
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2 votes
Social Design is...
those things we create that consider issues beyond the bottom line. It is design with attention paid to environmental impact, labor practices, and the common good. Social design isn't extravagant, it is just enough, it is witty, fun, and practical. It encourages a response through how it looks or how it is used. It promotes community rather than further detatchment from the world around us.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by pdbird
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Social Design is Social Progress
Social Design is progressive. It is the result of forward thinking and the physical manifestation of the ideal that social change is possible. Everyone with a home makes choices about its contents. These choices represent one's values. Having the option to elect for social change rather than tradition is Social Design's goal, which enables us to embark on social change right in our own backyard.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by jtg2001
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Social Design
To me, Social Design is the intention and goal of a group to influence a community in a certain way. It is proactive, progressive and hopefully positive. Social Design has the power to make change.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by jomoray
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Social Design Should Engage
Social design, especially the one found in an urban environment, should reflect complexities of a social context in which it exists. This design should include some common human values, present innovative and provocative ideas, and also retain a certain amount of ambiguity and flexibility that would allow it to evolve and exist in future social contexts. Social design should also strive to engage and include, rather than simplify, specialize, and exclude. Although this kind of design would create certain “conflicts”, the final result would actually be socially valuable. The interaction between opposite “interests” would encourage dialog and negotiation, and this process and participation would enable this design to become socially relevant
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by beba
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Social Design
Communication laid in function
Soaked in Inspiration
Caught in fleeting glimpses
Collective Chemistry noted by the
Rise and Fall of Fads
Social Design—
Understood, but best had Understated.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by Suncaster
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Notes On Social Design (From a Non-Designer)
After writing the title and brainstorming some thoughts on social design, I realized that perhaps I too am (or could be) a social designer (sans any formal training). That being said,
Here are my notes on social design:
thought-provoking,
proper perspective,
intelligent,
challenges assumptions, provoking of double-takes, resource-moderate (not resource-intensive),
with intention,
more than a modicum of forethought to its externality costs,
of value to society (not only a select few),
fun (whimsical at times)...
We are (or have the ability to be) so much smarter than the majority of what human beings design, but the gravity of the regression to the mean pulls us toward mediocrity.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by dmill
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2 votes
Social Design
Social design brings people together, hopefully for the greater good, but this is not always the case. By taking the extra step when designing the things that make up our world, we can influence society as a whole for the better, and anyone and everyone will benefit.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by pd360
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1 vote
Social Design isn't free
SDN21, the company sponsoring this excercize actually hired me design their website icons. They are nice people but rankly, they don't fully understand how design can work to benefit society. They paid my nominal kill fee and we parted ways amicably but I'm skepticle of what SDN's true motives are. To party with Mathew Modine? Thats social, but its not design. I wish you all the best.
Posted on April 19, 2007 — by felixzfelixsockw
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Social Design
Social design is taking classic design ideas and problem solving and applying them to more than aesthetic ideals. Design is just taking a problem, and solving it as simply as possible. So for designers to take their time and present solutions to deeper problems, thats social design. Design that will shape how we live our lives more directly than a cleverly designed end table. Modular housing that is easy and cheap to manufacture, an easy to use water purifier that is run without electricity for areas that need it desperately. Those are examples of social design.
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by rroycema
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2 votes
Social Design
When someone alters his or her behavior in a positive way in response to any deliberate message that ultimately could benefit the greater good, that is social design. The message could be a poster, campaign, product, or a modified environment, etc. but it provokes and challenges people to think beyond themselves.
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by orangina
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1 vote
Social Design is...
building community and empowering users!
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by rebeccafyi
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Social design
Design by groups of people for groups of people. Designing for cultural fit.
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by jmungar
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social design
When the air gets cold, water turns to ice. There is no such thing as empty space. Shape it and re-shape it and tell me excatly what you want me to see. Or let me figure it out on my own.
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by bryanstampy
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Social Design
Design which promotes the betterment of society as a whole - it's people, it's environment, it's culture
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by cloudform
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Social Design Defined
Social: characterized by friendly companionship…with others or in a community
Design: to plan or sketch for work to be executed…to plan and fashion artistically or skillfully.
Social Design is a plan executed for a community. Its intention and purpose is for the greater good of its audience.
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by korenca
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social design
Social Design will help change something for the better. I believe that even the smallest design will change a larger picture, and that is great.
Posted on April 20, 2007 — by photogal
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1 vote
Social Design
I can define it from two directions: the first, starting with 'social,' woudl do for design what digg does for 'social news' or del.icio.us' does for 'social bookmarking.' Social design would mean design collaboration on a massive scale, generated by ordinary people, who acting in concert are smarter than any one individual.
I could also see 'social design' ass being defined from the other direction, starting from an individual designer using his or her skill to express a social conscience, making an impact on society through the pwoer of graphics and text.
Either way, I think what Design21 is doing is incredibly cool, and I'm happy that they've partnered with GOOD.
Posted on April 21, 2007 — by caveatscriptor
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Socially Designing...
Social Design is when you design anything with the good of people in mind. It can benefit people by providing them with awarness. It is about being creative in order to assist in issues that negatively affect peoples lives. That is what I think socila design is.
Posted on April 21, 2007 — by ethanbodnar
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Social De Sign
Sign of the times this Social De Sign.
in the old days, our everyday lives provided our physical workouts and social networking...now that we are one with our machines 4 to 20 hours a day, we need to deSign our Social lives and ensure our Humanity, Heart and Soul are highly prioritized signs of our existence. Built into this design is empowerment of our beliefs encouraging our positive actions for we *do* make a difference.
Posted on April 21, 2007 — by Goody9shoes
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Social Design is Responsibility
(I realize that I am post #27 and will not get cool free stuff, like a t-shirt, but lets keep a unconditional conversation going)
Social Design covers all aspects and stages of a design’s life, forcing the designer to be responsible of each one. There must be a balance between materials life, environment, economy, and the user.
Posted on April 30, 2007 — by ZanyGuru
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Music Man
He lives in Alabama, collects radios, names his trees after days of the week, and is listed in the phonebook as M.E. Cancer - Mr. Eyes Cancer. The year a group of college students designed and built a house for him, everyone's life changed. And so it continues today as Music Man impacts those who read about his story or travel to sense his culture. I believe this is one example of Social Design: the bringing about of personal and communal transformation.
Posted on May 2, 2007 — by bethisnice
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Social Design...
means to make a difference in people's life. To help people and change the environment we have to live in. For me that can range from small changes in our daily routines up to life saving projects or developments and every aspect of life in between.
Posted on May 2, 2007 — by betsi09
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Design will Save the World
To begin to articulate Social Design, one must first understand the word design. A design, any design, by its very nature requires a problem, in this case a social problem, or a problem of society.
Design is NOT art, it is not an opinion, or a trend or even an aesthetic. It is an answer to a problem. It is a way of thinking about and contemplating how to solve a problem, and then articulating this in a chosen medium.
In the case of D21, "Social Design" is a way to present the problems of society and the world, into a social network of clever people, to contemplate and solve with their various disciplines.
Whether you believe it or not, it is true that "Design will Save the World"... within all levels of society, thru-out your daily life, and even while brushing your teeth in the morning.
Posted on May 3, 2007 — by buroMERENDA
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my college has no social design major.
social design is a blueprint for the way a community of people could exist. It is a conglomeration of ideas(made by the people) that can make life for all people in a community or nation happier and healthier.
social design opens doors for positive change.
now all we need are some social designers.
Posted on May 4, 2007 — by grazingpirate
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Continuing the conversation
I was just curious if any of the other "first 25" commenters had heard anything about the prize... I was ecstatic to find that my comment snuck in at #24, and as such I can't wait to go out and spread the word about social design (and GOOD magazine) in my spiffy new Allumonde ring and GOOD t-shirt.
The 25th comment was made about three weeks ago, and I definiteyl registered with the right email address, so I just wanted to check back and make sure I didn't miss anything...
It would be pretty sweet if us commenters were sporting our Design21 ring and GOOD shirts this June when Design21's website goes fully functional.
Well, that and I just gotta have a GOOD t-shirt. That's just effing cool.
Well... that said, I'm really glad this discussion has continued past 25 comments. It's interesting to see all of the different ideas about just what constitutes "social design."
Now, if only we could translate this discussion into some sort of concrete practice within the realm of graphic arts... that would be cool. Doing social design about what we think it means to do social design.
A question that, through its very consitution, perpetually answers itself yet remains open to further dialogue...
That, my friends, is the essence of social design. Post-modern graphic design has taken the first steps, in its assumption that the conscious activity of the reader is necessary to consitute meaning in design; reading is interpretation is a creative act.
But now technology has made it possible to break down further remaining barriers, such that the paradigm of graphic arts as one-way, broadcast media, created by a designer for a reader, audience, etc., is no longer the only possibility. What blogging has done for journalism, we can do for design. We're doing now it with electronic and print design, but this is only the the very beginning, the prehistory of social design. With microfactories just around the corner, anything that can be designed, from furniture to jewelry to electronic devices, can be devloped like an open-source software project; working together, we will collaboratively work through the process of conception, design, engineering, testing, and production, and sharing the design data will allow anyone anywhere to produce whatever we have designed.
Today, we are ALL designers!
Posted on May 8, 2007 — by caveatscriptor
1 comment