Design is in

Billboard made out of Zimbabwe currency

Zimbabwe currency as flyers

We know that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe because of one man's stubbornness. That man is Robert Mugabe. The Zimbabwean, a national daily, commissioned the the Trillion Dollar campaign which communicates Mugabe's effect on Zimbabwe's economy. Recently, Zimbabwe launched a 50 billion dollar note, which bought its bearer two loaves of bread. By March 2009, the price for two loaves of bread had jumped to 7.5 trillion Zimbabwe dollars.

This is a major economic catastrophe of insane proportions in the history of any nation in this world. 1 Zimbabwe dollar = 0.00000003 US dollars. An inflated ego (Mugabe's) at work. More than 25% of Zimbabwe's population live outside Zimbabwe because of the economic instability. The Zimbabwean, an exile London-based daily, offers alternative news coverage of the crisis in the country. The Zimbabwean doesn't reach many ordinary Zimbabweans because it is subject to 55% luxury import duty. You know when something is wrong in a country, when newspapers become luxury items for its citizens.

To spread awareness about the crisis, the South African advertising agency TBWAHuntLascaris created an award-winning Trillion Dollars campaign for The Zimbabwean. In an attempt to increase the readership of The Zimbabwean, the agency devised a campaign that uses Zimbabwe's currency based on Marshall McLuhan's theory. The Zimbabwean has turned the money into their advertising, hoping to raise awareness of the country, which is in dire straits. The money becomes both the medium and the message. 

The outdoor advertising campaign used a tangible symbol of country's collapse, the currency notes itself, as flyers. As part of the campaign, bundles of cash were mailed to media personalities. After the campaign was launched, the Zimbabwean's website logged more than two million hits.

The campaign won numerous Cannes Lions: so far three Gold, one Silver and one Grand Prix.

By Sanjay Basavaraju

Image: Khurram Bajwa

A long time back we came across the First Things First Manifesto, and though few designers know of it, it really makes sense. It was written on 29 November 1963 and published in 1964 by Ken Garland, a British designer. Over 400 graphic designers and artists supported it, as a movement against extreme consumerism, which was becoming the norm. In 1999 the manifesto was updated, and reborn as The First Things First 2000 manifesto. 
 
In the introduction to the 1964 manifesto, Rick Poynor explains, “The critical distinction drawn by the manifesto was between design as communication (giving people necessary information) and design as persuasion (trying to get them to buy things). In the signatories' view, a disproportionate amount of designers' talents and effort was being expended on advertising trivial items, from fizzy water to slimming diets, while more "useful and lasting" tasks took second place: street signs, books and periodicals, catalogues, instruction manuals, educational aids, and so on.”

Do read the forward, and also the World Economic Forum’s set of guidelines for design, which discusses the greatest opportunities and challenges for design. 

First Things First 1964
A manifesto

We, the undersigned, are graphic designers, photographers and students who have been brought up in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable means of using our talents. We have been bombarded with publications devoted to this belief, applauding the work of those who have flogged their skill and imagination to sell such things as: cat food, stomach powders, detergent, hair restorer, striped toothpaste, aftershave lotion, beforeshave lotion, slimming diets, fattening diets, deodorants, fizzy water, cigarettes, roll-ons, pull-ons and slip-ons.

By far the greatest effort of those working in the advertising industry are wasted on these trivial purposes, which contribute little or nothing to our national prosperity.

In common with an increasing numer of the general public, we have reached a saturation point at which the high pitched scream of consumer selling is no more than sheer noise. We think that there are other things more worth using our skill and experience on. There are signs for streets and buildings, books and periodicals, catalogues, instructional manuals, industrial photography, educational aids, films, television features, scientific and industrial publications and all the other media through which we promote our trade, our education, our culture and our greater awareness of the world.

We do not advocate the abolition of high pressure consumer advertising: this is not feasible. Nor do we want to take any of the fun out of life. But we are proposing a reversal of priorities in favour of the more useful and more lasting forms of communication. We hope that our society will tire of gimmick merchants, status salesmen and hidden persuaders, and that the prior call on our skills will be for worthwhile purposes. With this in mind we propose to share our experience and opinions, and to make them available to colleagues, students and others who may be interested.

Manifesto 2000

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, are graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators who have been raised in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable use of our talents. Many design teachers and mentors promote this belief; the market rewards it; a tide of books and publications reinforces it. Encouraged in this direction, designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design. The profession's time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at 
best. 

Many of us have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this view of design. Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact. To some extent we are all helping draft a reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse. There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills. 


Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help. 

We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication - a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design.
In 1964, 22 visual communicators signed the original call for our skills to be put to worthwhile use. With the explosive growth of global commercial culture, their message has only grown more urgent. 


Today, we renew their manifesto in expectation that no more decades will pass before it is taken to heart.

Aldo Bakker's vinegar flask

Aldo Bakker, a product designer from the Netherlands, exhibited his tableware series in Milan. His philosophy would raise many questions on the very definition of design. According to him, design that is well thought out would turn out to be clear and sober. He believes that such an approach fails to show the character of things.

“To me, creation should be about beauty,” he says. Bakker believes that design, which is too rooted in concept does not produce the best shapes. He is one of the torchbearers of Dutch design. Also Kroog has, in a way, changed how we define contemporary Dutch design. Dutch designers are masters at elevating banal objects to preciousness. One of the products of Kroog that we really like is Milk Bottle Chandelier by Tejo Remi.

Autonomous design, a revolution in design, spearheaded by Kroog is contentious. Bakker aligns himself to the philosophy of autonomous design. No one has been able to define autonomous design in its entirety. Some define it as straight-forward, down-to-earth and witty design, while other see it as art. Some of the contemporary Dutch designs are now walking a thin line that separates art and design.

Bakker's tableware collection reaffirms the walk.  "I treasure this phenomenon of autonomous design," Bakker says. "It is crucial to reach new and original things." And when asked whether or not design can be art, he says, "My thinking and my products are somewhere in between. I like to stretch the limits of function to the point where one starts questioning and perhaps even developing new functions." His tries to place feelings in a creation. This way he is placing his designs alongside humanity and not alongside time.

The tableware collection includes a salt cellar, oil and vinegar flasks, oil platter, milk jug and water carafe. It is exquisitely produced by master craftsperson Frans Ottink. They are lyrical and when a human interacts with them, you may hear music too. “I wanted to make one object that had no additional pieces, like a lid,” he says. “But at the same time it had to be able to take care of the oil.”

Bakker's work summarizes autonomous design: following instincts and giving basic feelings a place inside things.

By Armeen Kapadia and Sanjay Basavaraju

Published with Lulu

Publishing a book is no more a legacy, these days. Independent publishing is focusing on fresh content from budding writers. The focus is on low quantity and try to take content directly to the readers. Lulu has gone one step ahead. It has changed the way we publish books.

Lulu is a prime example of the open-source revolution. Its founder and CEO, Bob Young, who also co-founded Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) in 1993, the open-source software company that gives hardware and software vendors a standard platform on which to certify their technology. Bob is a true technology entrepreneur and open-source visionary with four successful multi-million dollar start up companies on his resume.

Lulu believes that every writer should publish their book for free with them holding the complete intellectual property rights. Lulu attracts 2 million site visits every month. What is interesting is the Lulu’s approach.

Excerpts from Lulu.com:
Lulu eliminates traditional barriers to publishing and enables authors to sell their work directly to their particular audience — no jumping through hoops to find a publisher who is likely to reject their work. Using Lulu’s simple publishing tools, they format and upload their digital content. Then they can take advantage of Lulu’s global marketplace, social networking and author services, free customized storefronts and retail listings on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and much more. Lulu’s lucrative 80/20-revenue split empowers authors to profit from their work.

Lulu can be explained in just two simple steps: Publish and Sell. Lulu provides templates for various sizes. It also provides templates for covers. It also offers choice on the kind of bookbinding. The author has the right to set the price of his or her book. The books are even promoted. The books published via Lulu seem authentic and professional because the writer can even register an ISBN number. Lulu is benefited from distribution channels such as Amazon and social networking tools such as Facebook.

Lulu is to books like iTunes is to music. Hopefully more talent will rise out of such a system. It has radically changed the way we publish, sell and buy books. There is a tremendous potential for retail bookshops to do bulk shopping of books via Lulu and sell them locally.

Recently, Lulu launched a poetry site too. If one wants to publish a book and let the work do the talking, Lulu is the right space to do it.

By Sanjay Basavaraju

Have you ever wondered where all the stuff you use comes from? And where does it go after you have finished with it? Well, so did Annie Leonard. Annie has made a 20-minute video, The Story of Stuff, that explains how consumption and production patterns are affecting the world economy, natural resources, social structure and poverty. This video is simple and lucid enough to be understood by a young child, and is in fact being used by teachers worldwide to teach children about the impact of every single purchase in their lives.

The site has had over 5.5 million views, and deservedly so. This video is a must watch for not just school children, but people everywhere. The Story of Stuff first introduces us to the global crisis, and impact of human activity, then it goes on to tell us about the extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of our products. Annie herself narrates the story, and though she is dealing with a serious topic, she remains focused on positive change, and how our actions can make a big difference, which is the most important message at the end of the day. It is essential, educational, entertaining and enlightening.

Though she talks primarily of the hyper-consumption in the first world, people in any country can relate to this video, as the shopping mania, though founded in the first world, has unfortunately infiltrated most nations of the third world, even if to a lesser degree. We need to learn from their mistakes, and not blindly go down their path. She also explains the role of the government, and the private corporations, and how they (especially the latter), are major stakeholders in this whole process.

The Story of Stuff can be seen in a number of languages here, and you can even donate here. If you are a teacher, this is a wonderful video to show your class, as such topics, though crucially important, are not included in conventional children's textbooks, or curriculum, though it is the need of the hour. As Annie explains in the video, if we keep going at the current rate of consumption and wastage, we need around five more planet earths, and as far as we know, we only have one.

By Armeen Kapadia

The world is a mess. Agree or Disagree.

It depends on what your definition of ‘world’ is. In developing countries, ‘world’ for a lot of people is their village. This is truer for women, who rarely get a chance to receive education, or work away from home. There cannot be an educated people without educated women. If general education had to be limited to men or to women, that opportunity should be given to women, for then it would most surely be passed on to the next generation. The importance of women’s education in national, and in fact global development cannot be over-stated.

If more women were educated, the net effect worldwide would be phenomenal. This is exactly what thegirleffect.org is working towards. This website tells us simple facts concerning the education and empowerment of women in the developing world. It also tells us the impact women’s education would make in improving the overall conditions of communities worldwide. These are simple facts, which make you realize the importance of education the girl, such as an extra year of secondary school raises a girl’s lifetime’s wages by 15 to 20%.

The Girl Effect has a simple and amazing logo, which communicates its layered meaning. To spread news of their movement, they have several downloads such as stickers, wallpapers, posters, banners and so on. The site is simple, with easy navigation, bold links, and it gives you choices on how you want to help. Don’t miss the ten basic points on how you can help a girl anywhere. And most importantly, don’t hesitate to help any girl you can, in any way. Whether it is getting her into school, keeping her in school, or reducing her workload at home, it needs to be done. As they say on the site, “The revolution will be lead by a 12-year old girl.”

The Girl Effect is one of the nominees of the Webby Awards 2009 in the Activism category.

By Armeen Kapadia and Sanjay Basavaraju

On December 14, 1946, the taste of India was born. It is called Amul, from the Sanskrit word Amoolya, which means 'priceless'. And it has been priceless in its contribution to India. Amul is the dairy cooperative movement of India, which made India one of the world's largest producers of milk and milk products.

It all started way back in the 1940s, in the Kheda district, of Gujarat, a western state of India. In this district, only one dairy had monopoly, the Polson diary in Anand. Farmers there were much like farmers elsewhere in India, and were dependent on seasonal crops for income. The income from milk was undependable, for several reasons. The farmer had to travel long distances to deliver milk to Polson Dairy, and the milk often spoilt in hot weather. For fear of milk spoiling, farmers often sold it at low prices. Private traders and middlemen controlled the system, and decided the price, which worked in their favour, but not for the farmer's benefit.

At that time, 1946, India was struggling for Independence, and national leaders encouraged farmers to take control of marketing the milk, as a first step against exploitation and crippling poverty, and towards empowerment. Farmers realised that they could pool their milk together, and form a cooperative, which would remove their dependence on middlemen and dairies. And so was born the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union (KDCMPUL),  now known as Amul.

At that time Dr. Verghese Kurien, a young mechanical engineer, fresh from Michigan State University was working at the government creamery, Anand, in May 1949. The KDCMPUL, still in its infant years, was battling for survival with the privately owned Polson Dairy. Dr. Verghese Kurien fed up of his government job left it and volunteered to help Shri Tribhuvandas Patel, the Chairman of KDCMPUL, to set up a processing plant, and so the future of Amul, and the future of millions of farmers across India.

Over the next decade Amul expanded rapidly and added more plants, for converting excess milk into milk powder, cheese, baby food and more. The Amul model was replicated all over the country. Today Amul has parlours all over India, it has just opened Parlour No. 3234 in Tihar Jail, Delhi. Amul manufactures milk, ice creams, milk drinks, baby food, butter, chocolates, Indian sweetmeats, various kinds of cheese, ghee (clarified butter), and more. Amul is the largest food product business in the country. It was a system built from the bottom up. Instead of creating a system where benefits filter down to the farmer, Amul and Dr. Kurien built a system that focused on the farmer's need, and the benefits reach to an entire nation. The White Revolution changed the way the dairy sector works in India.

In India today Amul is another name for milk. What started as  a protest against exploitation, grew into a force that significantly contributes to a nation. Improving a system involves empowerment in the lives of people who form it's base.

By Armeen Kapadia and Sanjay Basavaraju