Friday 23rd April:
The future of healthcare is in your hand (set)
Cell phones changed everything in emerging markets. Isolated communities got a taste of access and upward mobility they’d never known before. Entire economies shifted as people were able to leapfrog roadblocks to communication. Now mobile technology is promising to transform healthcare in the same way. Project Masiluleke (which means ‘give wise counsel’ and ‘lend a helping hand’ in Zulu) is a breakthrough cross-sector collaboration that employs mobile technology as a high-impact, low-cost tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB, as well as an introduction of an HIV self-test in South Africa.
The solution uses mobile technology in three crucial ways: 1) to encourage usage of low-cost diagnostic tools; 2) to walk patients through the testing process; and 3) to guide them into care should they need it, and encourage healthy preventative behaviors even if they don’t.
Project Masiluleke will offer an innovative distribution model that combines existing, low-cost diagnostic technologies such as saliva and blood tests with mobile support services in a region where mobile adoption rates are approaching 90%. And, crucially, this new solution will provide a level of privacy and anonymity essential to encouraging participation among men who typically elude the system.
Ref. http://www.frogdesign.com/services/project-masiluleke.html#/images/project-m-gallery_2.jpg
Tagged with: Design for good, Healthcare, Mobile
Thursday 22nd April:
Save water
‘I will not spend the money on myself. I would rather spend it with a special business on a no-profit-no-loss policy.’ This quote from Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize laureate and the developer of the term ‘social business’, summarizes the process which guided the concept behind Acqua Incorp Salve (‘Save’ in Portuguese).
We’re living in an era in which philanthropy, eco-consciousness and well-being are increasingly present in each aspect of our daily lives. And the ‘Generation G’ – G for ‘generosity’, as pointed out by the Trendwatching website, is moved by this urge to do good for others as well as yourself. And this is precisely what ‘Salve’ water is inspired by, turning the simple act of buying a bottle of water into a collaborative movement that helps transform lives.
The identity follows this concept of collectiveness, and uses a mosaic of icons representing positive attitudes to form a greater picture; the importance of small acts that realise great things together. To kick off this project, Instituto Criar will be the first institution to benefit from Salve sales. Take action, take Salve.
Ref. http://packagingworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/salve-water.html
Tagged with: Design for good, Food and drink, Social Enterprise, Sustainability, Water
Friday 13th November:
From beer to books
What began as an assemblage of 1,000 empty beer cartons pulled together by residents in East Germany has now evolved into an incredible open-air public library. Designed by Karo Architekten in collaboration with local residents, the grassroots project revitalises a post-industrial district in Magdeburg, Germany by creating a cultural centre and pop-up library where books are free to take and leave 24 hours a day.
Libraries and book lending are great green practices insofar as they encourage the use of shared resources and cut down on crates of pressed tree pulp circulating the globe. They’re even better when they foster a communal spirit of sharing, as does Magdeburg’s new Open Air Library.
In addition to its book lending facilities, the Open Air Library also introduces a burst of green public space to a post-industrial district. The grassy plaza features a reading cafe and a stage that hosts elementary school theater plays, public readings, concerts, and other cultural events.
Ref. http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/03/stunning-open-air-library-pops-up-in-east-germany/
Tagged with: Design for good, Public sector, Sustainability
Tuesday 4th August:
Co-operative advertising
Want children to eat healthy? Brand their food into an international icon; their favorite athletic shoemaker, perhaps. That’s what the Association of Swiss Health Insurers, Santé Suisse, did. It has re-launched a campaign that features a banana in the shape of a Nike swoosh, with the words ‘Just Do It’ underneath. Good on Nike for teaming up with a health campaign, and good for Santé Suisse for helping to make being healthy look cool. (Merci mille fois, Le Nic.)
Tuesday 23rd June:
How can you verify ‘it’s all for a good cause’?
Vendors and manufacturers have long been using product life stories to demonstrate their sustainability. Now, Dutch nonprofit, Made-By, is making this easier by tracking and documenting the efforts of participating fashion brands.
Made-By aims to expand the market for environmentally and socially conscious fashion by facilitating sustainable production processes, and then giving brands a way to publicise their product stories. Made-By first advises brands on how to clean up their manufacturing processes and – together with fair-trade NGO Solidaridad, which launched Made-By back in 2004 – helps them develop completely sustainable production chains. It can advise companies on getting an organic cotton supplier certified, or refer them to its worldwide network of sustainable suppliers. Member brands use organic cotton and work with sewing factories that have a social code of conduct. To proclaim their participation, they identify their clothing with a small blue button placed near the care-instructions label.
Perhaps even more interesting is Made-By’s online Track & Trace database system, where consumers can read their item’s product story (using the unique code on the label), and click a Google Maps link for the location of each factory and plant involved. The database is populated when each link in the production chain enters information about its production processes, e.g. how many bales of cotton were received, or whether an organic certificate was included. Made-By also publishes scorecards online and in its annual reports detailing how much of each brand’s collections were produced sustainably.
“I can tell people that Komodo is a fair label, but will the consumer believe me? Made-By is like a certification for us, and proves to consumers that we are a fair label,” explains Mark Bloom, director of participating brand Komodo UK.
Ref. http://springwise.com/non-profit_social_cause/madeby/
Friday 3rd April:
How can you behave like a visionary from another industry?
Think like the eco cereal guys [Me] & Goji who want to do for cereals what Starbucks did for coffee in the 90s. Their first idea was to offer mass customisation and turn a fast-moving commodity into a premium product, even an experience. Their approach is personalised so you design your own cereal online from a choice of 30+ natural, organic ingredients – as they say ‘designed by you, handmade by us’. Then they ship it to you in their eco-capsules, a break from the usual mega cardboard cereal box.
http://www.meandgoji.com/Default.aspx
The capsules are modern, simple, visually appealing and functional. They fit into all standard cabinets, while the foil seal makes them easy to open (unlike many traditional cereal boxes), and the recyclable plastic cap makes for easy resealing that locks in freshness.
Ref http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2008/12/me-goji-cereal.html#more
Monday 30th March:
How can your brand help people give something back – and feel good too?
Think like SmallCanBeBig.org, a new venture where people can help local families out of financial crises. SmallCanBeBig was formed on the premise that small donations can add up to a big difference for families on the brink of disaster. And it makes you feel good. The Massachusetts-based organisation has partnered a range of charities in the state, who recommend cases where a relatively modest one-off donation, e.g. towards a mortgage or utilities payment, could save a family’s home. Visitors can browse the stories of those families in need, select one and donate as little as $1 toward helping them through Google Checkout. 100% of the donation goes towards helping the family, and once that family’s need is met, their story is removed from the site. Donors, meanwhile, can track their donations online and check back on the status of the families they’ve helped.
Ref http://springwise.com/weekly/2009-03-25.htm#smallcanbebig
Thursday 26th March:
How can you make sustainability and re-using the everyday more attractive?
Think like retailers MUJI who give new life to the humble phone book as a container.
(Cheers Gemma for spotting this one)
Monday 16th March:
How can you unite generations in a mutually beneficial way?
Think like Golden Hook, the woolly hat people, who connect grannies and uber- cool urbanites through personalised fashion. The idea’s simple. Go online, choose your hat shape (simple, long, Peruvian or pompom), and either pick an off-the-peg hat or customise a blank one. Next, choose which granny you’d like to knit it for you and ask her to write your name on the label, e.g. knitted by Simone for Clémence n°23 (all of the models are numbered). They make great personalised gifts too.
(Fab spot, Wadey!)
http://goldenhook.fr/en/
Are grannies becoming cool, or what? Not long ago we featured ‘Green Granny’ Barbara Walmsley from Oxfam giving us ideas on how to make do and mend. Maybe megatrend ‘anxiety’ is playing its part; after all who could be a more trustworthy marketing tool than yer gran?
Thursday 22nd January:
What packaging format can you adopt from a different industry?
Think like South African’s The Company of Wine People who’ve unveiled their new eco-friendly design, the wine pouch, a product that on first glance resembles a Capri Sun for grown-ups!
According to South Africa’s The Company of Wine People, wine pouches consume about 20% of the energy for production that a glass bottle does and has around 20% of the carbon footprint of glass (Tetra Paks use only about 5% of the energy of a glass bottle and has 5% the CO2 footprint). Pouches weigh 20 times less than bottles, which means they are a lot easier to lug to the curb and take up less space at the landfill.
Ref. http://www.psfk.com/2009/01/a-pouch-full-of-wine.html
Tagged with: Design for good, Drink