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Design Revolution: 100 Products That Empower People
In January of 2008, with a thousand dollars, a laptop and an outsized conviction that design can change the world, rising San Francisco-based product designer and activist Emily Pilloton launched Project H Design, a radical non-profit that supports, inspires and delivers life-improving humanitarian product design. "We need to go beyond 'going green' and to enlist a new generation of design activists," she wrote in an influential manifesto. "We need big hearts, bigger business sense and the bravery to take action now."
Featuring more than 100 contemporary design products and systems--safer baby bottles, a high-tech waterless washing machine, low-cost prosthetics for landmine victims, Braille-based Lego-style building blocks for blind children, wheelchairs for rugged conditions, sugarcane charcoal, universal composting systems, DIY soccer balls--that are as fascinating as they are revolutionary, this exceptionally smart, friendly and well-designed volume makes the case for design as a tool to solve some of the world's biggest social problems in beautiful, sustainable and engaging ways--for global citizens in the developing world and in more developed economies alike. Particularly at a time when the weight of climate change, global poverty and population growth are impossible to ignore, Pilloton challenges designers to be changemakers instead of "stuff creators." Urgent and optimistic, a compendium and a call to action, Design Revolution is easily the most exciting design publication to come out this year.
Emily Pilloton is the founder and Executive Director of Project H Design, a global industrial design nonprofit with eight chapters around the world. Trained in architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and product design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Pilloton started Project H in 2008 to provide a conduit and catalyst for need-based product design that empowers individuals, communities and economies. Current Project H initiatives include water transport and filtration systems in South Africa and India; an educational math playground built for elementary schools in Uganda and North Carolina; a homeless-run design coop in Los Angeles; and design concepts for foster care education and therapy in Austin, Texas.
Allan Chochinov is Editor in Chief of Core77.com, and writes and lectures widely on the impact of design on contemporary culture.
Featuring more than 100 contemporary design products and systems--safer baby bottles, a high-tech waterless washing machine, low-cost prosthetics for landmine victims, Braille-based Lego-style building blocks for blind children, wheelchairs for rugged conditions, sugarcane charcoal, universal composting systems, DIY soccer balls--that are as fascinating as they are revolutionary, this exceptionally smart, friendly and well-designed volume makes the case for design as a tool to solve some of the world's biggest social problems in beautiful, sustainable and engaging ways--for global citizens in the developing world and in more developed economies alike. Particularly at a time when the weight of climate change, global poverty and population growth are impossible to ignore, Pilloton challenges designers to be changemakers instead of "stuff creators." Urgent and optimistic, a compendium and a call to action, Design Revolution is easily the most exciting design publication to come out this year.
Emily Pilloton is the founder and Executive Director of Project H Design, a global industrial design nonprofit with eight chapters around the world. Trained in architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and product design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Pilloton started Project H in 2008 to provide a conduit and catalyst for need-based product design that empowers individuals, communities and economies. Current Project H initiatives include water transport and filtration systems in South Africa and India; an educational math playground built for elementary schools in Uganda and North Carolina; a homeless-run design coop in Los Angeles; and design concepts for foster care education and therapy in Austin, Texas.
Allan Chochinov is Editor in Chief of Core77.com, and writes and lectures widely on the impact of design on contemporary culture.
- GenresDesignNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 18, 2018
Thank goodness for the pictures as the explanations were incomplete despite being verbose. Nine items (out of 100) stood out:
Page 46 > a genetically modified species of plant that has roots that turn red when in contact with nitrogen dioxide, which is produced by explosives devices as the chemicals decay.
Page 67 > a 90 litre barrel that can transport enough water for a family for up to a week. The Hippo Water Roller has handle that hooks into the ends of the barrel so it may be pushed or pulled.
Page 82 > a sink on top of the lid of a toilet bowl where the used water runs into the toilet tank - called "Sink Positive."
Page 96 > The Home Hero Fire Extinguisher that may be deployed with one hand with the triger on the handle. It's sleek form, looking like an elegant wine bottle, means it is more likely to be displayed and within easy reach.
Page 102 > The Mechanical Advantage Tourniqet (MAT) stops blood flow in ten seconds, requires only one hand to operate, and makes it possible for a person to save their own life. It has been used in the dark, in combat, under water and while submersed in mud.
Page 108 > A hundred people are injured or die daily due to 100 million buried land mines The Spider Boot elevates deminers feet and protects them against shock waves (not shrapnel) that causes most of the injuries.
Page 183 > The Voting Ruler has Yes written on one end and No on the other. Students hold up the relevant end when asked if they understand the lesson.
Page 202 > The SkySails are para gliding like kites that capture wind to pull cargo ships across the ocean reducing fuel costs by 25%.
Page 268 > The Playground Fence converts two dimensional barriers
Page 46 > a genetically modified species of plant that has roots that turn red when in contact with nitrogen dioxide, which is produced by explosives devices as the chemicals decay.
Page 67 > a 90 litre barrel that can transport enough water for a family for up to a week. The Hippo Water Roller has handle that hooks into the ends of the barrel so it may be pushed or pulled.
Page 82 > a sink on top of the lid of a toilet bowl where the used water runs into the toilet tank - called "Sink Positive."
Page 96 > The Home Hero Fire Extinguisher that may be deployed with one hand with the triger on the handle. It's sleek form, looking like an elegant wine bottle, means it is more likely to be displayed and within easy reach.
Page 102 > The Mechanical Advantage Tourniqet (MAT) stops blood flow in ten seconds, requires only one hand to operate, and makes it possible for a person to save their own life. It has been used in the dark, in combat, under water and while submersed in mud.
Page 108 > A hundred people are injured or die daily due to 100 million buried land mines The Spider Boot elevates deminers feet and protects them against shock waves (not shrapnel) that causes most of the injuries.
Page 183 > The Voting Ruler has Yes written on one end and No on the other. Students hold up the relevant end when asked if they understand the lesson.
Page 202 > The SkySails are para gliding like kites that capture wind to pull cargo ships across the ocean reducing fuel costs by 25%.
Page 268 > The Playground Fence converts two dimensional barriers
February 25, 2010
Wow. I want to be a product designer or engineer after reading this book. I love the focus on good design done inexpensively and to help people. We have all heard about the $100 laptop and maybe the spider-like shoes that protect people from mine explosions. But this book has dozens more amazing designs that don't get press because they aren't created with the intention of making money. Flip through or read cover to cover and feel inspired and empowered.
January 18, 2012
100 designs for products that improve people's lives, not for capitalistic profit. From simple, practical things like ceramic/dung water filters to complex water filters that create drinking water from moisture in the aire to boots that protect people from landmines. The creativity of some of these designs is amazing and makes you think just how far design can go to improve people's lives and not just get them to spend more money.
April 27, 2010
Fantastic. I loved this book. The whole concept of designing products that will empower people, many made from locally available materials and not harmful to the environment is a joy and so needed. I know I am not alone in roaming the aisles of the grocery store in frustration while trying to find a basic product amidst the exploding varieties and variation of that product.
The essays in the Introduction were fascinating and each page of the products displayed such innovative thinking.
Some products I was familiar with, such as the Oxo Good Grips and the Free Rice online vocabulary charity site. I loved learning about the Hippo Wate Roller, the Adiri Natural Nurser Ultimate Baby Bottle and Calfee Bamboo Bike.
The essays in the Introduction were fascinating and each page of the products displayed such innovative thinking.
Some products I was familiar with, such as the Oxo Good Grips and the Free Rice online vocabulary charity site. I loved learning about the Hippo Wate Roller, the Adiri Natural Nurser Ultimate Baby Bottle and Calfee Bamboo Bike.
March 3, 2016
Not likely to be a cover-to-cover read, but certainly something to enjoy dicing into when you need some visual stimulation from an unexpected source.
When read in the context of Pilloton's TED Talk, all the more interesting.
When read in the context of Pilloton's TED Talk, all the more interesting.
July 19, 2010
buku ini memerankan diri sebagai pelapor bagi 100 karya disain produk yang punya kontribusi penting pada masyarakat. dengan memasukkan disain produk ke dalam kelompok-kelompok seperti water, well being, energy, education, mobility, food, play dan enterprise, kita diperkenalkan pada konteks lahirnya disain-disain tadi. bahwa inovasi disain produk itu bukan ada untuk sekadar bikin beda, tapi ada untuk membuat hidup bisa dijalani dengan lebih mudah, hemat energi, tidak mengotori bumi dan meningkatkan mutu hubungan sosial.
sayangnya,
hampir semua dari 100 disain itu keluar dari otak orang barat dan dipakai untuk kehidupan orang di luarnya (asia-afrika). tidak hanya asal-usul gagasan inovatif itu dari barat, namun juga pembuatan (manufacturing) dari barang-barang atau alat-alat inovative itu juga di barat. orang asia-afrika tidak bisa mengembangkannya sendiri, tidak bisa menirunya dengan 'versi sendiri'. disain-disain yang disajikan dalam buku ini masih berupa 'pertolongan sinterklas yang baik hati'...
sayangnya,
hampir semua dari 100 disain itu keluar dari otak orang barat dan dipakai untuk kehidupan orang di luarnya (asia-afrika). tidak hanya asal-usul gagasan inovatif itu dari barat, namun juga pembuatan (manufacturing) dari barang-barang atau alat-alat inovative itu juga di barat. orang asia-afrika tidak bisa mengembangkannya sendiri, tidak bisa menirunya dengan 'versi sendiri'. disain-disain yang disajikan dalam buku ini masih berupa 'pertolongan sinterklas yang baik hati'...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews