The Pros And Cons of Pro Bono: Richmond, VA September 30

I'll be facilitating a discussion on the relationship of designers and nonprofits on September 30th as part of the Haustalk monthly design forum in Richmond, Virginia. This free event is open to the public. Designers and folks in the non-profit sector are especially encouraged to participate...

The Pros and Cons of Pro-Bono Work:
A Strategic Approach to Developing Working Relationships With Not-For-Profits

September 30th
7:00 PM
FREE

Gallery5
200 W. Marshall Street
Richmond, VA

Linkage: Art Crimes and Clothing Punishment

The Onion Network is looking for socially conscious design and marketing partners.

Does the gay flag need a makeover?

Getting the word out with mud stencils (image shown).

What to do with reusable bags, when they're used up. Thanks Mim!

A hand-cranked eco-vibrator for the ultimate environmentalist. Thanks Leah!

Would you wear the same dress every day for a year if it was for a good cause? via

Making a barrel monster will get you arrested in North Carolina (image shown) Thanks Carlos!

Who doesn't like free books?

I [heart] [heart]: Free pro-gay marriage stickers from Credo

Get your free "I support gay marriage" sticker from Credo HERE.

Free Posters for Progressives

Design Action Collective and Inkworks Press are offering free poster design & printing to one lucky progressive organization via their Serve The People Poster Project. Deadline for applications is May 1st...

All you have to do is present an idea, and if selected, Design Action will donate $1000 of design, and Inkworks will print 1000 full color, tabloid sized posters for you use as you wish. For free. Simple as that. The application form can be found here.

Get the full details HERE.

via

Power To The Poster - First 100 Days

Power To The Poster, the poster sharing website, has been recently revamped for the first 100 days of the Obama presidency. They're shifting to positive messages and color posters, but all are still available as free 11x17 PDF downloads. Check em out and find out more HERE.

Previously: Rally In Peace

Corporate Font

French font studio SMeltery is offering several free fonts including this alphabet made up entirely of international corporate logos: COnsume More. It's reminiscent of artist Heidi Cody's classic American Alphabet.


Download your copy HERE.


Thanks Stephanie!

Spotted in NYC: I'm glad I'm a vegetarian...

On my last trip to NYC I got to check out Banksy's latest installation: The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill. Open just until the end of October, this unassuming pet store contains a menagerie of animatronic "animals" including slithering hot dogs in buns, swimming fish sticks, a monkey watching monkey porn, a leopard that's not what it seems, an aged Tweety Bird, and more, all surrounded by pet toys and packaged meat products. While the idea of blurring the line between animals as pets/companions VS animals as food/clothing/entertainment is not particularly deep, the fact that the invitingly playful shop is not in a museum and free to the public, means it will most likely have a greater impact than many other attempts to do the same by sincere animal rights activists. It also helps that everything is impeccibly made and moves in an eerily realistic way. The pictures I took really don't do it justice so definitely check out the videos HERE. And be sure to see it in person if you are in the NYC area.

Haustalks: Richmond, VA

Folks in the Richmond, Virginia area should check out Haustalk, a series of free, monthly socially conscious design forms curated by John O'Neil of Thinkhaus Design at Gallery 5.

The upcoming schedule is as follows...

October 22
Living, Working, and Designing Green: Eco Friendly Consciousness, Part 2
Gallery 5, 7:00 PM

Featuring:
Jocelyn Tice, owner of Green Duck
Green Duck Biodegradables is a local company that makes plant-based packaging available to customers who strive to be Green.

Copeland Casati, President of Green Modern Kits
Green Modern Kits is a team of green architects, house kit fabricators, industrial designers, and furniture craftsmen who produce eco friendly affordable green housing and furniture plans.

Scott Kyle, Founder of Full Scale Architecture
Full Scale Architecture believes advanced green is better than good design. It’s great design. It’s not just about aesthetic appeal, but environmental harmony. And it’s not just sustainable, but regenerative.

November 19
Ethnic and Racial Stereotypes In Mass Media
Gallery 5, 7:00 PM

Featuring:
VCU Graphic Design Sophomore Students
A group of students from the VCU Graphic Design Department, School of the Arts, will be presenting their research on how ethnic and racial stereotypes are currently being used in advertising, brands, and other media outlets.

The Conciliation Project
The Conciliation Project is a social justice nonprofit theatre company in Richmond that develops and conducts theatre performances concerning the historical legacy of racism in America. The theatre performers will be discussing their plays and will provide an overview of the history of racism in America.

December 17
The Gift of Design: Design It Yourself (DIY)
Gallery 5, 7:00 PM

Gallery 5
200 W. Marshall St.
Richmond, Virginia 23220
Phone: 804 644-0005
gallery 5@gallery5arts.org

Michael Moore's new film is FREE

Michael Moore is releasing his next movie "Slacker Uprising" as a free download starting on September 23rd. The film, is based on his 2004 get out the vote college campus tour. Sign up to download online HERE.

Stencil Activism

Just Seeds has recently released the second volume of their Cut and Paint series. This very affordable limited edition zine features tons of copyright free spray paint stencils to cut out and use yourself as well as a "how to" guide. Order your copy of Cut and Paint #2 HERE. And if you can't wait to get stenciling, you can download dozens of older templates for free HERE.
















via The Groundswell Blog

Free Browser for Autistic Kids

The ZAC Browser is a free web browser designed specifically for the special needs of autistic children. The browser, which is currently only available for PCs, was created by a software designer for his own autistic grandchild.

Copyright Law and Music

Professor Lawrence Lessig, copyright activist and one of the founders of Creative Commons, was interviewed a few weeks back on the excellent radio public radio program Sound Opinions. You can listen to him discuss copyright law and its effects when applies to the music industry in episode #134 HERE or download an MP3 podcast HERE. Show notes are HERE.

Creative Commons Stock Photos

Compfight is a free online tool which makes the massively overwhelming Flickr pool of images into a source of possible stock photography (or as they say for "comps, inspiration, or research"). By allowing you to search for images by tags or descriptions, that are Creative Commons licensed, you can easily find photos that may be available for use free of charge (with proper credit, check the license first). A great option for small/non-profit clients with low budgets.

Free Science Art

If you are doing any science related design you need to add the incredible IAN Symbol Libraries to your digital toolbox right now. This massive FREE collection of vector illustrations, which are specifically designed for "enhancing science communication skills", are provided in a variety of formats from The Integration and Application Network of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. In addition to the existing royalty-free library, they also offer a free symbol creation service for anything they're missing and have a library of free hi-res photos available as well. Submissions to the libraries are also encouraged. Find out more or start downloading HERE.

Thanks Mari!

Not Just Another Protest Song

Another Protest Song asks "What does a 21st century protest song sound like?"
Created by audio activists Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere of NeuroTransmitter, the site encourage musicians to add to a Creative Commons licensed database of political songs and share in the debate of what the power of music can do for today's political climate. Check out recent entries or share your own works HERE.

The State of Green Business

The folks at the environmental business news site GreenBiz.com have created State of Green Business 2008 a free downloadable report on what US companies have done in recent years to reduce their environmental impact. To that end they have tracked progress with a 20 point index including items like: Building Energy Efficiency, Employee Commuting, E-Waste, Paper Use and Recycling, and Toxic Emissions. Get your copy HERE.

DIY Fonts

FontShop, a popular typeface company has embraced the current DIY ethic by creating a free online font creation tool: FontStruct. Not only is it designed for ease of use, but the resulting fonts are then available for free download under a variety of Creative Commons licences! Find out more, get fonts, or make your own HERE.

Google Pedometer

The Google Map Pedometer from WebWalking.com is an nice free tool that turns the car-centric Google Maps into a foot (or bike) friendly resource! The simple interface allows you to make your own path, which it then calculates in miles or kilometers. You can even save your route for future use or to share with others. Try it out HERE.

Thanks Charlie!

Free Guide to Information Design

My friend John at Social Design Notes has created an excellent free resource: Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design. The downloadable PDF booklet contains tips and examples to help advocacy groups better communicate their messages with graphic design. Get the PDF HERE.

Why Bad Ads Happen To Good Causes

Why Bad Ads Happen To Good Causes, the classic work on how to best utilize print advertising for social causes (with plenty of examples of the good and the bad) is now a free downloadable PDF from communications consulting firm A Goodman. This is an invaluable resource for designers and clients alike!

Also available is Why Bad Presentations Happen To Good Causes.

F Microsoft

OpenOffice.org is a FREE multi-lingual open source mulitplatform software package that basically replaces the need for Microsoft products like Word and Excel. It may not be ideal for every work environment (yet), but if you're fed up with the software you have now (and the company that makes it), it's certainly worth checking out. Find out more or just start downloading HERE.