Rather than designing a high-tech solution to try to combat climate change, a decision that would simply pollute the market with another idea that will not be adopted by individuals, I aim to solve the system in which information and these technologies are given to the public in an attempt to get them on board.

The constant barrage of bad news and statistics about our global consumption levels can disillusion some individuals. However, this information must be made available to the public as otherwise they mistrust government and again, their efforts are decreased.

There are hundreds of overwhelming intuitive solutions that if all used together, have a reasonably good chance of helping our struggle against climate change, ranging from technological products such as clear, film-like solar panels to low tech ideas like fertilizing crops with human excrement and urine.

However, whilst scientists, technologists and designers are producing a flourish of new and exciting approaches to our existing habits, the main problem is now not climate change but our own prevention of accepting these solutions with open arms, which if we would simply adopt, could potentially solve the global crisis.

After fully researching the causes for our current climate change crisis, I am now trying to understand why we as individuals, businesses and governments are not doing as much as we could to help combat the crisis. Is there a problem with the way in which information is received by the public, do the media need to change their approach, is legislation the answer? I will first find out why people are not adopting, and then try to solve it.

Governments and the public

Information exchange between governments and the public seems to be of great importance. It has been said that if the public feel that their government is not giving them all the facts, or the facts that were given were untrue, then mistrust would form and peoples effort to reduce carbon emissions would decrease.

However, it has also been said that if individuals are subject to a constant barrage of bad news and negativity, they will become disillusioned and feel they cannot simply help, which in turn decreases their effort.

So it seems that government's most important role, besides pushing for worldwide agreements to lower carbon emissions, is to keep its public in the loop, providing information in a way that feels we can fight climate change, and win.

Negativity breeds disillusionment, Positivity breeds enlightenment

Design Tennis?

Could the same layering principle of Photoshop tennis be applied to design? A member could upload an initial sketch or design and it could passed back and forth between several other creative people online. If each stage was saved as an image, it would show an excellent example of the progression that happens during the design process. Even better, each stage would have a different style that was left behind by the designer.

Photoshop tennis?

Ok, truthfully I hadnt heard of the game until it was mentioned by another student... and then typed into Google.

(DO THIS NOW!!)

For anyone that doesn't know what it is, Photoshop Tennis is a game where a member uploads an image with no previous photoshop 'add-ons', the image is then altered one stage at a time by other members. Depending on the original members rules, others can add anything from bullet holes, flying cars and in some cases... nudity. Below are a few examples (some stages taken out):

"Please add to my photo... no cartoons, no putting this within another photo...don't change more than 30% at a time...I'd love to see who you think might want a car like this and how they might relate to each other... tell me a story, but please avoid violence (no guns, dynamite, etc.) If this is too restrictive, let me know...it's just what I'd like to see!"

"& while he was getting arrested he looked up and visualized

the power hungry dictator that turned his once free country

into a "everyone-might-be-a-terrorist-taser-in-hand-know-ur-place" l

and...with the bill o right in hand..."

"Sorry about the Brain Fart....It should read at the bottom.

"New Flying Police Car WORKS Great For Ford..."

"Ok this is an "anything goes" kinda deal. Go for your life!

Just please use the original size for all editing."

"I can't stand oddly sized canvasses, plus, we were running

out of room for people to play, so I extended the borders.
I'm also not crazy about Chicago Monkey's attitude, and his

insult could not go unanswered. -I liked that Cordoba."

There is no spoon......

Collaborative design

During research of my essay for the project, I discovered that it is becoming common for companies to encourage sharing of both work and space into their offices and studios. It is pushed with the underlying approach that collaborative work, achieved through the sharing of thoughts and ideas from a wide range of people, will produce the best outcome.

Businesses have also continued these shared relations into inter-departmental and inter-firm approaches. More and more, companies are creating alliances and joint ventures in order to achieve the best possible outcome. And why wouldn't they? It makes much more sense to take advantage of another firm's expertise in a specific area, rather than a poor DIY attempt. An example of this good business sense is the union of Tiffany & Co. and Swatch.

The joint target was to produce a range of products that contained the best elements and designs of both firms. However, each company was also looking to gain extensive benefits from each other. Tiffany & Co. wanted the superior knowledge that Swatch had in the manufacture of watches, whilst Swatch was looking to gain access to highly valuable and lucrative distribution markets of Tiffany & Co., not to mention the desirable up-market brand name.

What, where, and how do you need to work?

Below are several images I made to show some of the thoughts i've had about the environments that people work in. Why are some spaces more inspiring than others? If we are all different, especially in the ways we work, surely we should have the choice of where to work. Do some people find certain environments more difficult to work in than others? If the answer is yes, then the choice should most definately be ours.

The nature of the business drives the necessities of the workplace

We work efficiently and at our optimum if we have everything we need. Most people however will still be able to manage some work, even in an uncomfortable or uninspiring space, as long as they have the basic resources to carry out their work. I am curious to the difference between the working environments of both the ‘business world’ and the creative professions. After trawling through interviews, articles and images of both the typical office space and the very varied design studio, I am beginning to understand why these professions have such different working environments.

An example of the progression of needs of a typical office worker:

- Much easier to work on a flat surface: need a desk
- To be able to sit at the desk: need a chair (preferably swivel to spin in & out of cubicle easily)
- Bit odd for this desk & chair to be outside: need a building (for arguments sake, an office)
- Due to moving indoors causing a reduction of natural light: need a desk lamp
- Most offices will have more than one floor, Dave on floor 4 has a message: need a phone for inter-departmental conversations
- Customers, contacts or a communal office message about the boss’s leaving party: need to read emails, which in turn creates the need for a computer (along with mouse & keyboard)
- Keep my desk clear of papers and client files: need a filing cabinet
- Keep my desk clear of scattered stationary: need a desk tidy
- I miss my family during long hours at the office: need a family photo

Just like that, I have become a typical grey suit office worker.

What, where & how do you need to work?

If you are an artist, it is vital to your work that you be surrounded by the appropriate and needed materials and subjects, it could be argued however that an artist may thrive with limited materials, for example pencil and sketchbook as long as they are in environment that stimulates and inspires them, beyond any range of paint, pastels and canvas’s ever could.

The same could be said for a teacher, if she has no board to write on and no books to teach with, is it possible that with the correct amount of preparation of the information beforehand and a class of pupils willing to listen & learn, she is able to make more of a difference than a worn-out teacher in a well supplied school with pupils who care less about the lesson and more about what’s for lunch?

These examples however are extreme and in most cases, a balance is most effective. Also, it completely depends on the individual, especially for people in the creative profession as so many different things will inspire different artists and designers. As for teachers, a room full of pupils will always contain a mixture of those willing to learn, and those not.

Networking products

I had an odd realisation after talking to one of my lecturers, and something that I must quote her on: "the thing that 'networked' most of you guys in the studio was the crossbow".

A while back I bought a small crossbow that fired foam darts and brought it to the studio at uni. Within a few days, there were drinks cans hanging from the light fittings cord, drawings of animals to be 'hunted' on the walls and other various targets to be shot from varying distances. Everyone from lecturers, to the camera man from a newspaper (who had came to take photos of the group and the winner(s) of a recent competition with dundee uni and a live client) had a shot of the crossbow.

But all good things come to an end and during my feedback session for my hand-in, I was asked (told) to take the crossbow home that day. Residing back in edinburgh until it is reassembled and taken to the studio of my masters course, the crossbow really did 'network' the group.

...Though only for a brief period as the balance of work/play had to be restored. Could design ensure this balance? Would the crossbow have been allowed to stay if it worked for 5 -10 minutes every hour? A mechanism that would work for the same length of time it would take to boil the kettle and fix yourself a brew?

And how about a football that deflated before and after lunch, ensuring that up until and after your 1 hour kick-about, you and your colleagues would have a productive days work.


- "To all managers": if you feel that your team needs a break, or that your office water cooler can only keep staff energized for so long, try buying several crossbows (pictured below) to give your colleagues the boost they need. (under a tenner from most online toy/games websites).

Body language in business

I've been looking into how body language can make an impact in the office/workplace, and how what you're saying to another collegue could be completley different to what you really mean, which can be unhelpfully given away through the involuntary movements of your body.

Most people have heard that eye contact can show an interest in a conversation, that a smile will relax a group of people, but I also looked into how a simple thing like a sigh or a yawn could be a sign that someone needs some help, or at least some coffee... a gesture in itself which would probably be more helpful that reading books on "how to improve your body language".

A thought did occur, should people read info on how to ensure other people that we are interested in what they are saying or that we like them? Should there be so much time spent on something which is not always backed up with the truth? The dynamics within a workplace start as early as when we are in primary school - you dont talk to the geeky kid because then you will be viewed "uncool". Similarly kids will avoid the boring one in their class because that person simply is not interesting enough. The best, or at least most important part of our actions when we were young was that there wasnt such emphasis placed on the pretence of a smile or an 'open arms' approach: if we didnt like the boring kid, we would tell (s)he very bluntly.

Though, because (most) adults dont have that guilt & conscience free nature of their younger years, we must try to match our body language to what our mouths are saying (a few examples below).

Self-directed Project

To give me an initial direction in the project, I was told to choose 3 words from 9 - Inclusive, Networked and Living (including elements of working & playing). I felt that inclusive design as a practice was something that I wanted to experiance as I had previously written essays on examples of good inclusive design and wanted to back it up with some practical work. 'Networked' was really a follow on from 'Inclusive' as I wanted my final design to be something to bring people together... in the workplace? Or somewhere else? This question essentially choosing 'Living' as I could include both a work & play element to the project.