ALR designletter # 2.2
Welcome to the ALR designletter, a semi-regular update on the activities at Another Limited Rebellion design, the world of socially conscious design, and beyond. As always we welcome your comments, suggestions, criticism and praise.
You are on this list because you have worked with, contacted, or have a personal connection to ALR design. The names on this mailing list will never be sold or given away. If you no longer wish to be on this list, just respond with "REMOVE" in the subject section and there will be no hard feelings. Back issues can be found on our web site in the ISSUES section.
ALR news
Two of ALR's recent business card designs are featured in the new book The Best of Business Card Design 5 from Rockport Books. See http://www.rockpub.com/ for more information and visit http://www.alrdesign.com to see the work.
corporate news
Walmart is now officially the world's largest corporation. It is also the most sued private entity in America (Christian Science Monitor 2/19/02). If you're not sure why this might be so, check out Walmart Watch at http://www.walmartwatch.com/ and read the latest news about their corporate practices.
activism
People concerned with maintaining a woman's right to choose have won a victory as the Senate Judiciary Committee recently rejected Bush's nomination of ultra-conservative U.S. District Judge Charles W. Pickering to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. But pressure is still needed to keep abortion safe and legal. Planned Parenthood's Save Roe site gives details on how you can help at http://www.saveroe.com/
privacy
The old adage "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you" takes on a new light when coupled with i-See, the latest software from Applied Autonomy. Their site allows users to enter start and end points for a journey through an urban environment (currently just New York City) and the software creates a route that comes within range of the fewest closed-circuit surveillance cameras. The site goes on to explain why law abiding citizens might want to avoid these watching eyes. See for yourself at http://www.appliedautonomy.com/isee/
education
Feel like people should invest more in the future by promoting education? How's this for a literal interpretation... My Rich Uncle (http://myrichuncle.com/) turns students into investments and investors get a dividend for their success. Rather than taking out a loan, students get money from private backers that they then pay back based on a fixed percentage of their income for a fixed period of time after graduation. An interesting alternative to the current loan system that leaves many students in lifelong debt. The question is will they accept socially conscious design students in the program?
food
The USDA has developed its own organic food certification emblem that will be used on grocery store packaging starting this fall. Meant to codify the often confusing labeling currently used, the system is not without its faults. For instance, products with the seal can still contain non-organic materials. Organic products can be only 95% organic unless marked "100% Organic". Products marked "Made with Organic" can have even less than 95% organic materials. Buyer beware. For more information go to: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/
environment
No longer thought to be the cause of the Hindenburg disaster Hydrogen may be the solution to America's dependence on fossil fuel. Hydrogen is a safe, abundant, non-polluting alternative to fossil fuel and it's only emission is steam (or soap in the case of DaimlerChysler's "borax fuel cell"). Surprisingly even the US government seems to think it's viable. Already used by buses in some major cities, the biggest roadblock to production of Fuel-Cell (hydrogen using) cars is the major infrastructure changes needed to get hydrogen to consumers. (Source: Christian Science Monitor 1/31/02) For more info, go to: http://www.hydrogenguide.com/
If you want to show someone you care, but don't equate consumption with affection, consider planting a tree in their honor. Don't want to get your hands dirty? Then TreeGivers (http://www.treegivers.com/) is the group for you. For a small fee they will coordinate the planting of a tree on public land in honor of the loved one in your life and provide a certificate to prove it.
community
People interested in alternative living situations that favor an integrated community, but are put off of by "intentional communities" may find the "intentional neighborhoods" of cohousing a pleasant alternative. By building new communities of both private and common structures cohousing encourages communal living while retaining individuality. Not for the financially limited, cohousing can be expensive, but the idea of building a community from the ground up may well be worth the cost. Go to http://www.cohousing.org/ for more info.
paper
Designers and clients looking to work with recycled papers should make their first stop at Conservatree (http://www.conservatree.com/), the non-profit environmental paper advocacy organization. Their extensive site covers all aspects of choosing and buying recycled papers and even offers an invaluable guide to papers organized by type (and is the source for much of Communication Arts annual "Best of the Best" guide to recycled and tree free papers).
bookshelf
Kalle Lasn is best known as the founder of Adbusters (http://www.adbusters.org), the provocative and striking magazine and media activism organization that tackles corporate America with it's own tools. In Culture Jam, Lasn expands these ideas into a full blown manifesto against the defining of culture as an endless consumption of products. Regular readers of Adbusters will find this rather familiar territory and people new to the idea may be somewhat put-off by Lasn's stance which is often aggressive in tone. Give it to the angry teen in your life though and you may help the next Ralph Nader to blossom.
nosh
Sick of junk mail? The founders of No More AOL CDs.com are...or at least one specific type of it. They feel the unsolicited AOL CDs that show up regularly in our mailboxes are not only wasteful of our natural resources but an invasion of privacy (the site explains why). Their solution? Send em back. So they are in the process of collecting 1 million to personally drop on AOL's stoop in hopes to get them to change their policies. Interested in helping? Go to http://nomoreaolcds.com/
in closing
Thanks for your time and feel free to contact us with suggestions for future issues, web sites to check out, or just to say "Howdy".
Thank you,
Noah Scalin, founder
ALR design
socially conscious graphic design
noah@alrdesign.com
http://www.ALRdesign.com
close