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A New Method of Design // #chimesthesis
In the fall of 2014, I was introduced to a new(ish) model of design, called social design. [source] Social design is different than traditional graphic design, where clients order a thing and a...
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Oh, What Wicked Problems We’ve Woven // #chimesthesis
As I delved into social design, I came across a concept I’d known about but didn’t know of a name for: Wicked Problems. In short, wicked problems are typically human created, do not have one root...
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It’s more than just posters … // #chimesthesis
A few days ago, I started to tell y’all about design for social change. Social design is really important to understand if you’re going to try to bring people together. Design for social change is a...
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Social Design Case Study: HourSchool // #chimesthesis
In continuing our exploration of social design projects, I thought I’d tell y’all about HourSchool (which, sadly, doesn’t seem to be in existence anymore). HourSchool started as a project at the Austin...
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Social Design Case Study: PieLab // #chimesthesis
PieLab is a production of designer and social designer John Bielenberg’s Project M in Greensboro, Alabama. It all started by taking a risk and serving up slices of pie in hopes of getting some...
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Behavior Change 101 // #chimesthesis
If you get bored easily, maybe come back tomorrow. This is the nuts and bolts part of my thesis study. If you’re a psych nerd, stick around. Now that y’all understand the basics of social design, let’s...
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Let’s Be Weird Together.
Recently, one of my favorite people contacted me and asked if I would make him a special gift for his special lady for her special day. Well, isn’t that special? He confessed that he recently started...
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You’ve got to understand community. // #chimesthesis
I realized that I notoriously don’t finish my own projects (a.k.a. things with no real deadlines), so to break that crappy habit, I’m going to keep posting my thesis, edited for blog format. Once I’m...
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Super-Sized Problems // #chimesthesis
Prepare yourself: this one is going to be a relatively long post. But, it’s pretty worthwhile. If you’ve never heard of Wicked Problems, and consider yourself an activist, then stay tuned. If you’re...
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It’s EXPERIMENT time! // #chimesthesis
Thanks for sticking with me through all the researchy stuff. Here’s where my thesis work gets fun. It’s time to check out the experiments I put together, and hear about what I learned through them, or...
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Design Experiment: Shareotypes // #chimesthesis
As I mentioned previously, I aimed to try to get groups of different people together (and to help them get along). One of the first experiments I did was aimed at low-hanging fruit: on-campus students...
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Design Experiments: Taqueria Guerita // #chimesthesis
After Shareotypes failed to do what I was hoping for, I decided to take a more direct approach to bring people together through design. I had a couple of “a-ha” moments (one after watching an episode...
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Gift Economies // #chimesthesis
As I started researching capitalism and greed, I discovered an interesting alternative economic model: the gift economy. What the heck is a gift economy? Gift economies differ from capitalism...
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Buddhism and Gifting // #chimesthesis
While I researched gift economies, somebody suggested that I check out the Buddhist practice of Dama*. This practice also focuses on the act of giving to spread good. By definition, Dama is: “The...
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Gift Economy Case Study: Burning Man // #chimesthesis
Once I learned about gift economies, I needed to know if this concept worked in real life — as in … does this crazy gifting thing work in 2016? I set out to find a few modern-day examples of gift...
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Design Experiments: Worst Work Gallery Show // #chimesthesis
After the failed attempt at running a taco conversation stand, I decided to test some other groups that typically do not mix. I was hoping to bridg the gap between design students and practicing...
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Blog makeover!
I’m not convinced that anybody (except my mom) reads this anymore. But if there’s anybody who does, you might have noticed a change in aesthetics. I finally finally FINALLY updated this blog to a...
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Design Experiments: Tokens of Kindness Development // #chimesthesis
After a couple of failed attempts at bringing people together via design, I needed to do some thinking. Fortunately, I had a couple of “a-ha” moments. First, I attended an on-campus lecture, given by...
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Design Experiments: Watercolor Card Workshop // #chimesthesis
Although the Tokens of Kindness experiments were going well, I needed a way to build inventory for the Tokens of Kindness craft booth. I was short on time due to travel. So, I devised a class to teach...
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Design Experiments: Bowie Mixtape Drop // #chimesthesis
As I was working on the cookie drops, I developed a portable gift to drop while traveling. I had already been making mix tape (CDs) for Tokens of Kindness, so I decided to make an actual cassette tape...
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