Since my post earlier this week about Service Design, I’ve been bombarded with content on this topic. Here are a few follow up notes to continue the conversation. Have a spectacular Labor Day weekend!
More on the INDEX Winners
In her post for the Fast Company design blog, Gadi Amit continues the conversation about the recent INDEX award winners that I wrote about earlier this week. Amit adds some interesting analysis by asking “Is any idea, whether it’s an initiative for social progress or a clever way to market movies, enough to be declared a work of design?”
And Still More on Service Design
Earlier in the summer I wrote about Winterhouse and Project M coming together on a collaborative summer program (May 22, 2009). These two organizations are among the emerging forces who are challenging the parameters of design, and I speculated in my post that their union would result in some surprising and exciting results. Click here and judge for yourself (I must admit, I was hoping for something more than a well-intentioned pizza party).
Yep, You Guessed It…
The Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia was established in 1978 and has experienced phenomenal growth and expansion over the last three decades as Alissa Walker describes in her recent Fast Company post introducing SCAD president Paula Wallace. Now with more than 9,300 students and 1,500 faculty and staff, SCAD is gaining prominence nationally and internationally, as a leading force in design education. In her guest blog for FC, Wallace jumps right into the Service Design conversation with her excellent post entitled “The Architect of Experience: Conversation With a Service Designer” which profiles SCAD instructor Peter Fossick.
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September 5, 2009 at 12:23 am
Greg Galle
First a disclaimer: I am one of John Bielenberg’s business partners in C2 and an advisor to Project M. So biases noted.
It can be easy to dismiss some of the M ideas, actions, and events as trivial.
Erik (John’s other partner) and I did at first with Pie Lab (an apparent cousin of the Pizza Farm). But Pie Lab has evolved into something much more than a day of free pie in Maine. Take a look:
http://pielab.org/
Turns out pie is more than a metaphor for community. It can be like taking the sacrament for some. It will be interesting to see if Pizza Farm evolves, or if it was just a flash of design activism.
September 5, 2009 at 1:27 am
Doug Powell
Thanks for the reply, Greg. And let me say, I love Pie Lab (and pie, for that matter). I think that project totally tapped into the pulse of a particular local culture in a unique, original, and provocative way that resonates far beyond the time and space in which it was created.
Here are my gripes with what I’ve been able to see of Winterhouse/Project M Pizza Farm:
1. Not original: First, it seems to be an imitation of Pie Lab. Second, there are other organic Pizza Farms out there, including one not far from me:
http://s4xton.com/1733/pizza-on-the-farm-a-to-z-produce-stockholm-wi/
2. Not provocative. When I wrote about the union of Winterhouse and Project M back in May, I was imagining this Battle Royale of great design minds. Blood on the walls…like Fight Club for designers. Instead, I seem to have gotten an episode of Friends (ie: cute, clever, well-designed, and entertaining enough, but not really changing the game).
I’m more than willing to give this concept the chance to grow into itself and I will be the first to write about it if/when it becomes something that changes the game. I have applauded every episode of the Project M journey to date, and I have the highest regard for the mission of Winterhouse. But I also think a high-profile program like this needs to be called out if it’s not delivering on the promise to push the envelope.
October 1, 2009 at 8:44 am
JimmyBean
I don’t know If I said it already but …Great site…keep up the good work.
I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks, 
A definite great read..Jim Bean