Design Ignites Change - News

Join Future Project in Iceland this June

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:50:16 +0000

Future Project Expedition, a new vision of Project M, is currently launching its first project abroad.

FPX: Iceland will be a two-week moving workshop in Iceland consisting of 10–12 cyclists, designers, doers, and inventors. The team will ride approximately 250 miles from Akureyri to Reykjavik starting June 13th. The ride will be roughly eight days long, with five days in the saddle, averaging 50 miles a day.

After arriving in Reykjavik, the team will spend its remaining six days prototyping project ideas, and possibly forming a new self-sustaining enterprise. FPX: Iceland is a demonstration of human capability–to initiate positive change, to connect people, ideas, and resources, and to share personal stories of resilience.

Now accepting applications so click here!

Program Spotlight: Social Design at MICA

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:19:04 +0000

At Design Ignites Change we profile participating college and university design programs that are integrating a socially responsible agenda into their curriculum and dedicate resources to support students as they use their creativity to make a positive impact in communities around the world. The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) currently has several programs that are leading the field in social design education.

"Commitment Required: The Social Design Job Market" Event Recap

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:43:48 +0000

Impact! Design for Social Change – a School of Visual Arts, six-week summer intensive – affiliated with Design Ignites Change, recently hosted an event called “Commitment Required: The Social Design Job Market.” The sold-out presentation and panel discussion moderated by Mark Randall, a Worldstudio principal, received an extremely enthusiastic response from students and creative professionals in the social design field. Offering insight into this rapidly expanding job market, the speakers shared their experience from the perspective of various sectors of the industry:

» Martin Kace, Founder of Empax, spoke about non-profits and NGO’s
» David Gibson, Founder of Two Twelve, spoke about civic design
» Jason Rzepka, VP of Public Affairs at MTV, spoke about corporate social responsibility
» Lara Galinsky, Senior Vice President at Echoing Green, spoke about social entrepreneurship and social enterprise

This diverse group of speakers gave a well-rounded overview of how designers today can meaningfully engage in work that makes a positive impact on society and actually make a living at the same time. The event was filmed and the free video is now available for download from iTunes U for those interested in this topic but who were not able to attend.

A Design Ignites Change project in the news

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:59:26 +0000

A project featured on Design Ignites Change by talented graphic design student at Academy of Art University, Johnny Selman, has recently received a flurry of press about BBCx365, his stunning and provocative poster project. Find some of the articles through these links:

“Poster-A-Day: A Visual Vitamin,” by Steven Heller on Imprint and Salon

“Johnny Selman designs all the news in a day in BBCx365,” by Perrin Drumm on Core77

One of his illustrations in a recent New York Times article

And, Selman recently won two AIGA San Francisco Cause/Affect awards at the end of 2011.

These posters are bold visual exploration for Selman, but at Design Ignites Change we are focused on impact—how does the implementation of creative solutions affect change and bring justice? We are interested to see who these posters inspire and how they will be empowered to take the next step of making positive actions in a community…

Two Wings Films to debut in film festival

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:35:05 +0000

Design Ignites Change is excited to announce an update about Two Wings, an Implementation Award winner from spring, 2010. Matthew Heckart from the School of Visual Arts was awarded funding that went primarily towards the animation costs of his bold visual campaign advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) international refugees. The animated shorts are completed and will be featured in the Melbourne Queer Film Festival this month. Two Wings partnered with ORAM—Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration—to produce these animations, which chronicle the challenges LGBTI refugees face around the world. The poignant stories shared in these striking films will help to raise awareness for refugees fleeing persecution based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender.

You can view “Marwan’s Story” above and the rest of the films online here!