The Parsons' Masters in Design Studies Programme
"Design studies (like design) is a multifarious enterprise. A branch of the humanities, it comprises a wide range of critical perspectives on the meanings and values embodied in objects and places. It examines the forces that design exerts in, and on, the world - forces design sets in motion but does not control. Parsons' Masters in Design Studies program places particular emphasis on four points: the role of the designer and the design studio in redefining the scope of practice in the 21st century; design as an iteration of aesthetic and intellectual histories that continue to inform the present; the social, political and environmental behaviors and consequences of designing objects, places, situations, and systems today; design as the projection of different futures.
Above all, the MA Design Studies program focuses on the development of articulate, critical voices that can speak to these issues. Students will be prepared to write for the academic context, the design community, and the larger public realm. Working in close proximity to MFA studio programs at Parsons, they also have the opportunity to integrate film, video, and other media into their work."
(Susan Yelavich)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Integrating the process of design thinking into the classroom
"When you think of design thinking, think of innovative outcomes - like the iPod, or that perfect peeler that both cuts well and has an amazing grip, or the Aravind Eye Care system that allows for thousands of underresourced families in India to address cataract issues.
Pioneers of design thinking called it the process of 'a practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result' (Simon, 1969). Recently, educational researchers have been asking what happens when educators integrate the process of design thinking into the classroom. Their findings include numerous examples of enhanced student learning."
(Mount Vernon Institute for Innovation, Mount Vernon Presbyterian School, Atlanta)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Green USP? Greenwashing and design in the age of ethical consumption
"In the contemporary era of heightened green awareness and 'ethical consumption', major companies have quickly realised that consumers are looking for greener brands, writes Lynne Ciochetto. Design has played a key role in reinventing company profiles with new environmental messages, and designers should question these claims.
As companies have started using green concepts or claims in their advertising, branding and marketing a trend has emerged called 'greenwashing'. 'Greenwashing' refers to marketing is that is misleading, untruthful or creates false impressions (see Fred Pearce's column in the Guardian)."
(Lynne Ciochetto, 24 March 2010)
Fig.1 2010 Toyota Prius "Harmony" TV Commercial
Fig.2 Nick Turner, "BP Exec", from Art Not Oil satirising BP's revamped green corporate identity.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Victor Frankenstein's horror at infusing life into an inanimate body
"The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep. At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured, and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness. But it was in vain; I slept, indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life."
(Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley, The Project Gutenberg)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
The Story of Stuff: The Story of Electronics
"So, some time ago I was shown this video 'The Story of Stuff', a project created by Annie Leonard. She is an environmentalist who worked on international environmental health and sustainability issues, among other things like Greenpeace International, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and others.
This project has, so far, 2 seasons, the first with 7 short animated videos explaining some of our everyday environmental, social and economic problems and how they're related to one another. The second season is more focused on what is behind these social, environmental and economical problems and how we can act on them."
(Letícia Neves, 23 March 2011)
Fig.1 Annie Leonard (9 November 2010). 'The Story of Electronics'
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
