Symposium 22nd February

We had a really informative symposium the guest speakers were John Thackara who talked about his role and case studies involving DOT 07, Sheila Levrant de Brettville who spoke about various projects around the world she had been involved with. Rupert Basset who spoke about sustainability, Karen Blincoe spoke about new methodologies that need to be applied when designing with sustainability in mind and finally Mervyn Kulansky who was a founder partner of Pentagram, he talked about his professional career.

John Thackara

I particularly found this talk interesting as I haven't really thought of social design as a way of graphically communicating before - his talk opened my mind to further possiblities. I have recently started a project on dementia and he spoke about a project he had been working on showing awareness of dementia as being an issue that needs to be communicated more effectively within communities so I had a particular interest in this. Also other areas that interest me are the community projects that DOT 07 are undertaking for the sustainability of the environment within schools so it was a very informative talk.

Sheila Levrant de Brettville - Professor at Yale

It took me a while to understand Sheilas ideas, after having a masterclass with her I couldn't really understand the way she was working with us. After her talk at the symposium I really understood what she was trying to communicate and I thought her work was very interesting, alot of her work is displayed in community areas so has a feel of bringing the community together. Her work is very varied and also international. The way Sheila works is to ask a meaningful question to find what the person is really about, she spoke about transference of skills and getting involved in your community, she talked about sharing projects with other community members as this will give them involvement which would lead to ownership of the project. I realise that I have gained new understanding and inspiration from her master class.

Rupert Basset

Rupert spoke about mapping and sustainability he said that you have to get a balance between all elements that need to be addressed to encourage sustainability these areas are social, financial, personal and environmental. He said about asking the question how the product you are producing effects these four factors to measure its sustainability.


Karen Blincoe

Karen has a passion for sustainablity being applied in every area of our work she says that design for sustainability is a design philosophy and practice in which products and services create environmental balance and social well being. Design for sustainability should have limited or no impact on the environment and is therefore produced from sustainable resources, there should be a consideration and assessment of resource availability. The product should have eco- effective design and promote social, community and human well being. There are also non- material aspects to be considered, The golden triangle which is:-

Wisdom - knowledge
Beauty - non toxic, non harmful
Spirituality - reflection for the soul

There are 4 levels of humanity

Mental
Physical
Spiritual
Emotional

You should aim for balance and finding focus, you should take a holistic view and look at the context.

Mervyn Kurlansky

Mervyns spoke about how he started in the graphic communication industry he gave an interesting slide show of some of his early work and how he has changed some of his philosophy and how he has completed projects for the community and worked for free - giving his time and skills back to his community