Friday 30 October 2009

Nick Weston

Nick Weston is a man who has decided to become truly self sufficient by living in a tree house...yep... thats about it, however when looking at Nicks amazingly detailed blog i was really impressed with the amount of skills he had developed in his time away from civilization. His attempt at self sufficiency is inspiring and has motavated me more to creating my makeshift shelter and stove.

Nicks Blog

Wednesday 28 October 2009

Into the Wild

For my research into the preservation of skills i am setting myself a task to boil an egg without using any electronic items to both find out how to boil an egg and how to create a fire. I have started the task of living in the woods and the makeshift shelter is nearly done, fingers crossed i can get the fire making technique mastered. I will get the video posted ASAP.

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Twilight Zone

I have been watching an episode of the Twilight Zone where a businessman makes a pact with the Devil, which allows him to go back in time so that he can capitalize off of his knowledge about the future. It turns out though that the businessman’s knowledge about the future is all superficial and thus he is unable to jump start any technological advancements by traveling back in time. This would likely be the plight of most contemporary humans if they were sent back in time. While we rely greatly on technology, most of us don’t know much about how it actually works and where the materials to make it come from.

If you were to travel 2000 years into the past, how useful would you be in jumpstarting civilisation? This episode has got me thinking about how skilled we really are.

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Pictogram

After looking at instructional pictograms i have decided to post about probably one of the most famous Graphic designers in the world Otl Aicher. Aicher is famous for the Munich olympic pictograms and more importantly the sign that helps to know where to go do our er...hmm business. What i like about pictograms is how they can so simply explain lots of information.

M.R.E


I have just had delivered a US army emergency ration pack. I bought this pack because of its pictograms on the packet describing how to cook the meals inside. What i really like about the pictographs is how descriptive they are and how few words are used to describe the process. It has got me thinking about how information is decrypted and that maybe a visual language would be better in a post disaster world.

Monday 19 October 2009

SKILL

I am looking at skill and the gap between the public and the skills that enable our existence. The best example i can think of is the supermarket. When we need bread we go to the supermarket however we are oblivious to the skills that create bread. As a society have we become inept and unaware of what skills drive our society. I am writing up a questionnaire that asks "what skills define civilization"
I will post my findings soon.

Saturday 3 October 2009

DOOMSDAY VAULT

 
The "Doomsday Vault," the seed bank on a remote island near the Arctic Ocean is considered the ultimate safety net for the world's seed collections, protecting them from a wide range of threats including war, natural disasters, lack of funding or simply poor agricultural management.
I find measures like these impressive but at the same time when you see scientist and great thinkers backing projects like this you cannot help but be afraid. As a designer i cannot stop thinking about the future and what we have to leave behind.