PostSecret

ABOUT

PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project, created by Frank Warren, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. Selected secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website, or used for PostSecret’s books or museum exhibits. The site, which started as an experiment on Blogger, was updated every Sunday with 10 new secrets, all of which share a relatively constant style, giving the artists who participate some guidelines on how their secrets should be represented.

CREATOR

The founder of PostSecret is Frank Warren. Warren hosts events at numerous colleges to speak about the many different secrets of today’s society. An art exhibition also travels the country, showcasing many of the hundreds of thousands of secrets he has received. In his book, My Secret, Warren talks about his experiences with encounters with people all around the world who were inspired by the postcards, and how it got many people addressing things that they would otherwise never discuss.

RULES / RESTRICTIONS

The confessions must be written on postcards. No restrictions are made on the content of the secret; only that it must be completely truthful and must never have been spoken before. Entries range from admissions of sexual misconduct and criminal activity to confessions of secret desires, embarrassing habits, hopes and dreams.

COMMENTS

Whether sharing secrets with an anonymous mass is beneficial to the poster is debatable and depends on the poster itself, of course. But judging by its growth and exhibitions, PostSecret has been succesful in creating relief in some sorts. I don’t know if I would personally ever want to participate in this kind of project, but for those who found benefits in PostSecret: more power to you.

Von Sono

   

ABOUT:
VON SONO is a series of seasonal projects that evolved over the last 10 years. It started with individual products and has developed into unisex collections and a range of products and accessories. A combination of design, concept, craft and artisan production creates clothes and products for everyday life. Each season is compact – instead of ranges and product groups it is about getting the pieces just right for each season. We make clothes that give you the luxury of feeling at ease, free and confident when wearing them.

It is not very clear what the collections are about.. The text above is the only ‘explanation’ i could find on the website about this collection. I think it is about people who don’t want to see all the bad things in the world because they are afraid of it. They are afraid because when they see all these things that are happening they can’t ignore it anymore and have to do something about it. Maybe not only the bad things in the world but also to start with themselves. They keep there eyes shut to escape from reality.

CREATOR:
Von Sono. Spring/Summer 2015.

RULES/RESTRICTIONS:
– The face has to be hidden
– On almost every peace is a text, mostly: Rebuild Rethink Reset
– It has to be comfortable
– Kind of minimalistic

COMMENTS:
I think this is a really strong collection. It is very conceptual. It has a strong statement. There is no need for a lot of things going on to make there point clear. It is really a unity because of the text that returns and there simple silhouettes and use of fabrics. Also the scarves return multiple times which can be used in multiple ways.

The one thing that I miss is the explanation about the collection. The only text I could find which explains it in a bit of an abstract way is the text posted above. I think their work has a good story but it’s a shame it is not explained well. That would make their work much stronger.

LINKS:
http://www.vonsono.de/
http://www.vonsono.de/pages/collection-spring-summer-2015-1

Volvo // YOU INSIDE

ABOUT

In order to become a more ‘human-oriented’ brand, Volvo has launched a Facebook application called You Inside.The crowdsourcing application enables fans to post images of the things they keep inside their cars along with info about their vehicles and lifestyles. Volvo analyses the information and delivers a personality profile, with users able to dip into other’s You Inside profiles too. Data gathered by the app on the social network will be fed into research for vehicle development at Volvo.

CREATOR

The campaign/platform has been launched by Volvo itself on Facebook, where the users contribute to the collection by sharing data. Volvo uses the data to create a collective collection.

What makes Volvo Cars unique in the automotive world is its focus on human values in life. Caring about yourself and others; the safety concept encompasses not only the passengers of the car, but also passengers in other cars, and pedestrians. Environmental care goes beyond legislation – and consideration for customers shall imbue the entire company.

RULES / RESTRICTIONS

The user data is limited to their own lifestyle and physical or practical automobile assets, usage and information. The platform operates on Facebook only, so the users need a Facebook account and must agree to their data being shared with others and being used by Volvo for their market and research goals.

COMMENTS

Certain privacy questions arise with this project and it makes me wonder what kind of policy Volvo manages when processing user data. However, I like the philosophy of Volvo for focusing on the personal human experience and their willingness to be actively involved with improving this.

Cancer patient hair jewellery by Sybille Paulsen

ABOUT

Sybille Paulsen is a Berlin based designer who right now focusses on the creation of jewellery made out of hair from cancer diagnosed patients who undergo chemotherapy. Women cut off their hair before it slowly falls out and give it to Sybille to transform it into jewellery within two weeks in which she also gets closer to the patient. It can help patients and their families during this transformation and helps as a starting point for difficult conversations with family or friends.

 

CREATOR

The collection of jewellery is created by the artist Sybille Paulsen in cooperation with the client, which is the patient (and family).

 

RULES/RESTRICTIONS

The collection is in her own hand because she is the only one who actually makes them. The jewellery is only made for female cancer diagnosed patients but it is not made entirely of hair. Some pieces also include precious metals like brass, silver or gold or made of cast-resin pieces in colours that have value to the wearer.

 

COMMENTS

I don’t know if this counts as open design. It is more like a normal project with customer and producer, but then specifically on hair but it might as well be a client buying a table from a table designer but I really like the idea of the project because the designer works closely with the patient and the result is an emotionally precious product made from their own identity.

 

LINKS

http://www.dezeen.com/2015/03/07/sybille-paulsen-cancer-patients-hair-chemotherapy-jewellery-tangible-truths/

http://www.sybille.me/

 

 

The Mind Art Project

ABOUT

The Mind Art project took 16 handicapped individuals from around China and harnessed their mental prowess and concentration to help them express themselves on canvas. The participants, recruited via social media, first chose the paint colors that they wanted to use. The paint was then poured into balloons that were strapped with small detonators, and the balloons were lowered into an open-air enclosure created by the coming together of four large canvas panels.
The participants were each outfitted with a headset, which used a NeuroSky processing unit to capture electronic signals from the brain and relay them to the balloons. By concentrating intently, the participants triggered the detonations. The exploding balloons then created magnificently abstract paintings, full of color and character.

CREATOR

The project is a collaboration between Chinese artist Jody Xiong and acrylic paint supplier Winsor & Newton, in an attempt to raise awareness of the everyday struggles of the disabled population, while earning recognition and respect for these individuals.

RULES / RESTRICTIONS

The tools are already decided for the participants: four canvases and one or more colours of paint. The only way the participants can express themselves in art is through mind power; however, the results are still very diverse and unique for each participant.

COMMENTS

A wonderful way of raising awareness by letting them create art. The project makes you think about how disabled people need to go around their day – without the project explicitly asking you to. Also a great aspect of the project is that the paintings got exhibited with great success.

RayFish Footwear

ABOUT
You can personalize your own shoe by RayFish Footwear by choosing a pattern or a combination of patterns. The shoes are made of stingray leather.

CREATOR
Design of the standard shoe: Jan Jansen in collaboration with Meijdam and van Mensvoort.
Output pattern desgin: from the customer itself.

RULES / RESTRICTIONS
The customer itself creates the collection, but with rules and restrictions from the footwear designer.
The RayFish leather material will be the same, thats what makes the collection together with the design of the footwear and the standard prints and colors.

COMMENTS
The RayFish shoe project is a Hoax to make people believe that it’s possible to manipulate RayFish. But also personalize your own RayFish leather and use it for your shoes.  I think it’s a nice way to make a collection, because the outcome is the same shoe (form Jan Jansen’s design) but with a lot of different and new patterns. This is because you can use the prints together but also mix them with each other. And this Hoax is a nice way to make people aware that not everything is possible.

LINKS
http://www.nextnature.net/events/rayfish/
http://www.rayfish.com/index.php?chapter=growsneaker

Collective Collection

Kate Bingamanburt – Obsessive Consumption

About
Kate is an illustrator/graphic designer who mostly create her own project rather than work for a client. She had a problem with her spending and that got her in dept. To get her out of dept she decided to do a few project. For example she’d draw every bill she got. she hated drawing them so much she would pay them as soon as she could so she didn’t have to draw any more (Kate Brammer did a post about that). Another project that helped her was photographing everything she bought and post it on a blog. All her close friends and family knew about this blog so they could check up on what she bought. She would be ashamed to put anything on that she didn’t really need to buy so she would not buy these things. (it is a bit like a panopticum because you don’t know if anyone is looking at the blog but the thought of your close friends and family being able to look at it makes you aware to not put anything up you are ashamed of (so don’t buy anything you should not buy))

Rules
photograph everything you buy until you’ve payed all your bills and are not in dept anymore
put all the photographs on a blog and give the link to the blog to your friends and family so they can check up on you if you want.

comment
I think it is an interesting project to do. making this collection helped herself getting out of dept and it helped other people as well. Not only her friends and family knew about this blog , but a lot of people she doesn’t know as well. It made people think about their consuming behaviour. So what started out as a personal project ended up helping other people to reconsider the things they were buying.

links
http://katebingamanburt.com/aiga-national-conference

Kill |Blow your darling

About:

This is a project i did in Q7 for my practice Hacking. This is a collaboration with another fashion student.                                                                     The concept of this installation is about ‘ kill your darlings’ what means: make choices, focus on one idea and go for it! Always in our feedback we here this one line. So we thought why not making a machine that kills your darlings for you. We made a sculpture shape of a light bulb that has pins in it, (this one stands for the killer), and we had balloons that stands for the (darlings). We made a installation within the inside double tape so the balloons will stay in the installation.

Because the balloons explode the are create a pattern on the double taped installation                                                                                                 The audience can choose to blow their own darlings or the want to kill ours.

Creator:

We made the platform for the audience and they made the patterns on the installation and the ‘collection’ paintings. We gave them the tools the create there own painting.

Rules:

We only used balloons and the audience to create the painting

Comment:

It was a surprise that it worked out quite well and that people really want to blow their darlings in are installation.

HYGGE

ABOUT:
Een scala van producten gemaakt in samenwerking met het Nederlandse design dup Scholten & Baiings. De serie is gebaseerd op de Deense gezelligheid, die vaak erg informeel is. Waar voedsel en drankjes zijn inbegrepen en in gemeenschap zijn met anderen. De serie vormt het kader voor de Deense gezelligheid en nodigt u uit gewoon te gaan zitten en te genieten van elkaar. De kleuren zijn gebaseerd op P.S. Krøyers beeld HIP HOP HOORAY, wat staat voor de belichaming van de Deense gezelligheid.

CREATOR:
Julie Damhus en Scholten & Baiings

RULES/RESTRICTIONS:
– Rond
– Deens
– Keramiek

COMMENTS:
Deze collectie is inderdaad typisch Deens. Het heeft een heel rustige sfeer en eenvoud. Dit komt door het kleurgebruik in combinatie met keramiek. De voorwerpen passen allemaal in/op elkaar waardoor het de eenheid versterkt.

LINKS:
http://thefolio.org/julie-damhus
http://www.juliedamhus.blogspot.dk/

// OBVIOUSLY A SUPERSTAR

Pharrell himself

Color Overview

The ‘About’ Video:

Strategy:

Pharell’s wants people to make their own choices and perform individual. That’s why he created the collection, so people can make their own decisions and combine the shoe with their innerselves.

By Chiyen Lam & Charissa den Hollander