Hasta La Ideas

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pOn 15th of August, 2009, I promoted India’s Largest Design for Giving (a href=”http://www.designforgivingcontest.com”www.designforgivingcontest.com/a) contest for school children. Through a simple toolkit that was translated into 8 languages, we reached over 30,000 schools and around 100,000 children (rural, urban, private and public). The competition focused on 10 to 13 year olds with the sole purpose of changing the perception of children being ‘helpless’ to seeing children as ‘drivers of change’. /p

pStories of change poured in from all over India-from places as far off as Nagaland, from remote villages in the Rajasthan heartland, and from the mountains of Sikkim. The contest had ignited something profound. From converting the waste dump outside their school into a garden, to stopping child marriages, to reaching out to the invisible members of our society- the elderly, mentally challenged, and disadvantaged, school children took action to change their world for the better. /p

pThe contest asked students to do three very simple things:Feel, Imagine, and Do. What the contest made visible was that this framework inspired children across India to say “I Can!”/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/events/one_idea_one_week_one_billion_lives_to_change__16819.asp”(more…)/a
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As brands revive the “jingle contests” of yore (the sort that Lucy and Ethel were forever scheming to win) for “social media-oriented design contests,” we pass by most of them for fear of appearing to encourage spec work, and also because we despise the term “social media.” But in the event that you have harbored dreams of putting your own (ovoid, blue) stamp on slapstick’s favorite fruit, you should know about the Chiquita Banana Sticker Design Contest. The just-launched competition is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, but beware slippery rules that prohibit “inclusion or reference to Miss Chiquita,” (but they don’t say anything about Carmen Miranda!). Also, no “text or letters.”

At stake? Your name in lights—or at least your sticker in the produce section. Chiquita’s banana experts will select 50 finalist designs on the basis of creativity (30%); visual impact (30%); the extent to which they embody “the Chiquita brand attributes” of fun, family-friendly, youthful/energetic, and fresh (25%); and the extent to which they can be recognized as a Chiquita banana sticker (15%). Then it’s up to the public to pick the 18 winners that will be affixed to Chiquita bananas nationwide. The time is ripe to enter, as entries must be received by July 18. Get inspired by watching the famed “I’m Chiquita Banana…” commercial (produced by Disney in the 1940s), which we’ve posted below.

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pIt’s a miracle that ESPN somehow talked technology-averse FIFA into letting them rig up the Skycam, the zooming overhead camera, over the matches. As we wrote in A HREF=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/design_technology_and_televised_sports_part_2_skycam_gets_fans_high_16780.asp” an earlier post/A, Skycam requires quite a bit of set-up involving cables and CNC spools./p

pThen we come across A HREF=”http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2010/06/another-breakthrough-for-the-low-budget-filmmaker.html” this/A: RC pilot and videographer A HREF=”http://helivideo.com/about/eric-austin/” Eric Austin/A has rigged up A HREF=”http://helivideo.com/” Heli Video/A, a remote-control helicopter with a gimbal holding a Canon 5D or 7D which can downlink live video to a shooter on the ground. The results are absolutely stunning:/p

p(If you work in an office be sure to turn the audio down on your computer, these videos have an extremely loud soundtrack.)/p

pobject width=”468″ height=”263″param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true” /param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always” /param name=”movie” value=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10599330amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=0amp;show_byline=0amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ /embed src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10599330amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=0amp;show_byline=0amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”468″ height=”263″/embed/objectpa href=”http://vimeo.com/10599330″Aerial video with a Canon 5D , 7D helivideo.com/a from a href=”http://vimeo.com/user2360674″Eric AUSTIN/a on a href=”http://vimeo.com”Vimeo/a./p/p

pobject width=”468″ height=”263″param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true” /param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always” /param name=”movie” value=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12281806amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ /embed src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12281806amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”468″ height=”263″/embed/objectpa href=”http://vimeo.com/12281806″PB’s Backyard/a from a href=”http://vimeo.com/user399897″Trent Palmer/a on a href=”http://vimeo.com”Vimeo/a./p/p

pI just want to point out how completely disruptive it is to combine these three existing technologies. Never mind sports coverage, Austin’s system has the capability to completely up-end how films and commercials are shot. /p

pIn Manhattan you see them filming commercials all the time; have you ever seen them set up that mini-railroad-track when they need a level dolly shot over uneven terrain? They need an entire truck’s worth of equipment to lay the track out and shim it every few inches/feet so the heavy dolly can safely roll on top. All of that goes away with Austin’s system. /p

pHave you ever seen them set up a camera crane? The preparations are insane, and of course the blocking has to be set up in such a way that the crane itself is not in the way. Not to mention, that crane has to be trucked in and parked, and it requires tankfuls of gas and the driver, independent of the cameraman who goes up with it. Austin replaces that with something he can carry in a freaking bag over his shoulder!/p

pI’m sure a subset of indie and pro shooters will be tripping all over themselves trying to rig up similar systems and learn how to fly them. But Austin my friend, if you stay out in front of this thing, you are going to be a very rich man./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/disruptive_technology_for_filming_eric_austins_amazing_heli_video_16823.asp”(more…)/a
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Back in January, we told you that Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu of the firm Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu (or SO-IL for those on the go) had won P.S.1‘s 11th annual Young Architects Program courtyard commission. Six months later, here we are, with this past weekend marking the opening of Pole Dance, their temporary space loaded up with connected bungees and gigantic, 25-foot-tall poles, along with hammocks, misters and rain collecting plants. Should you have missed it, SO-IL put up this great site showing off their plans for the project, construction photos and descriptions about the concept. From there, you’re also able to log on to their mobile app that will allow you to trigger various elements at the courtyard in person. Julie Iovine of the Wall Street Journal was there at the pre-opening party for the space, talking to Liu and Idenburg about the project. Here’s a bit about its origin:

“We began with the idea of our fragility,” said Ms. Liu, “and showing people how our every action has an impact on destabilizing everything else in a ripple effect.”

“And then there’s the virtualization of our lives,” added Mr. Idenburg. “We do everything online. That virtualization is the reason we stopped taking as much care about our physical surroundings. ‘Pole Dance’ is a metaphor for this weakness in us.”

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