Design. Charity. Life.

There are countless behaviours humans have adopted over time – for such goals of survival, defence and pro-creation. How humans relate to one another, and more specifically care for and protect each other, is key to their survival and maintaining relationships.

How do humans react in situations when others are in need? When or why do people help strangers? Do humans feel responsible for the lives of others? This design concept for Art Meets Science displays what people think when presented with situations to help fellow humans.

To visually represent these key concepts of Social Psychology, I created the two graphics above. To view them, click each individually for a larger image. The title of this series is “Why you might help that stranger: Psychological Explorations in the Common Phenomenon of Altruism and Assistance”.

The Common Phenomenon of Altruism and Assistance

A variety of theories were used in the creation of these pieces . One includes the Arousal: Cost-Reward Theory and the other includes Empathy-Altruism Helping Theory; along with the concepts of Altruism, Assistance and the Bystander Effect.

For example, one factor for a person helping another are the costs involved (if the costs of assisting are low, and the costs of not assisting are high, the bystander will definitely choose to help – however, if the costs of not assisting are low, the bystander may not help at all) as well as who else is around (if many people are there, this may lead to diffusion of responsibility for example [Garcia et al., 2002). A simple factor such as whether or not a victim asks for help varies people’s reactions immensely (without the victim asking directly, less than half as many people would stop to help [Yakimovich & Saltz, 1971]).

Through this design it is evident that overall, people have the capacity and desire to help. There are many factors that influence people’s decisions, including everything from stress level to the responses of others.

Through positive reinforcement by society, encouragement and a social conscious, humans can help make the world a better place for all.

Have you ever wished you could just stop by a store and ‘buy’ yourself some design advice? Maybe not – but now you can!

The Design Walk-In is a drop-in clinic created to make design and design advice accessible to the general public. It was started by Zahra Ebrahim and Ken Chong in Toronto.

Zahra is one of the coolest people you can know – she was my prof at OCAD University, where I took her “Think Tank” course all 3 times I could. This clever pop-up shop is one of Zahra’s many initiatives (this one started along with a friend), and one that I’m going to be involved with – as a Specialist offering services to “patients”.

Zahra has been a great role model, and has started this initiative right around the time of my Designing for Good Thesis project – including being part of the mini-documentary on using design for social good – which coincidentally included the idea of developing a physical collaborative studio space. Awesome.

But why a Design Walk-In Clinic? To make design and related services more accessible! Well, it’s descried perfectly on the clinic’s website:

While design is critical to the health of a business, most organizations, companies, and individuals typically engage with designers through word of mouth, such as leveraging their social networks – and are often, left with limited options. While this process can sometimes result in the desired aesthetic, the clinic is responding to an

increasing demand within the business community for access to good design by introducing the client to designers prepared to tackle any project regardless of the scale or budget. The clinic provides the client access to specialists who can address their needs during an appointment, prescribe possible avenues to take to improve the client’s overall design health, or refer the client to our trusted network of specialists.

So why the focus on design? Design is a huge help organizations succeed in their goals. Similar to the benefits of my Designing for Good project, one of the questions they answer is, “how can a designer help my business?”

Good design is imperative to the overall health of your business. Consumers make judgements on the credibility of a business within their first two minutes of exposure. Whether it is their initial clicks through your website or the feel of your business card, design plays an intimate roll in converting impressions into sales.

This is an exciting initiative to be a part of. The opening night was a great chance to network with fellow designers and community members. It was also good to see Keith Rushton, the Chair of the Graphic Design program at OCAD U (who also taught me in Think Tank class) supporting the clinic!

For more on the clinic itself, only around for June 2012, visit DesignWalkIn.com.

Read “The Designer Will Be Right With You” featured in The Huffington Post blog here.

Wilfrid Laurier University in Watelroo, Ontario, which is a great school (Campus Club of the Year: ACCESS U) has announced a new visual identity. They are updating their logo and materials to include 3 new colours and leaves.

Why a leaf? Laurier’s communications department explains that “at the heart of it this national symbol honours our namesake, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada. That alone is a unique claim among Canadian universities.” This makes sense, but is extremely generic – clearly, other schools in Canada could simply include a leaf.

However, Laurier tells you to “Look closely” because “LAURIER’S Maple Leaf is a microcosm of connectivity and support”. Not horrible, but not too convincing or indicative of Laurier’s unique culture specifically.

Laurier's Logos: Before (Top) and After (Bottom)

Some of the materials, based on the design concepts posted on their website, do have an appealing look. WIth updated sans-serif typography they are very clean and bright. For example, this full-page newspaper ad.

Comparing it to the existing logo is not very amazing, however the clean look of the new typeface is refreshing, despite it being a “traditional” school rooted in a long history.

To clarify, the circular logo is still remaining – there were some subtle refinements. This is a new Laurier mark, which “combines an updated LAURIER wordmark, a maple leaf in three different color options, and the tagline ‘Inspiring Lives’,” according to the communications department.

It is too subtle of a change, in my opinion. Is it worth it to undergo an entire rebranding process and re-printing of all materials for this?

The new logo should look more like this.

The “Laurier 100″ branding is more effective, engaging and I would definitely say more unique. That logo will no longer be featured after the 100-year anniversary ends this year, of course.

A video has been created to explain the new leafy look. It may not get you very excited about it, though.

The refreshed identity will begin being implemented in January 2012. Although it is definitely not a “controversial” or drastic identity change (as other schools have gone through), I wonder if there will be any criticism or comments that change it before January. There were already a couple of negative comments on the Laurier Facebook page.

From rectangle to square – Evolving and ever-changing, Canada’s University of the Imagination, OCAD University, has launched it’s visual identity.

After being part of the consultation process and committee, I am definitely excited about the final result. As a proud OCAD University graphic design student, this launch is something I have been looking forward to for the last several months.

OCAD University wanted a new visual identity to “reflect the path of a 135-year-old institution moving quickly into the future.” Bruce Mau Design – the Toronto-based studio that also created the identity of the AGO amongst others – spent many months and countless hours of consultation with students, alumni, faculty and staff before arriving at their final design.

The BMD team facilitated interviews, designing multiple workshops, disseminating questionnaires, leading classroom discussions, and I had the chance to help with the social media connections – the overall goal being to capture the spirit of OCAD U.

But what a challenge – to design for an art and design school! Bruce Mau Design asked themselves, ‘can the visual identity reveal the extraordinary creative energy that lives at OCAD U?’ Here is how they describe the result:

Inspired by the iconic and transformational Alsop-designed building, BMD “created a base of black and white pixel ‘windows’” which are meant to be frames to hold actual student work. It is through these ‘windows’ that we see the core of OCAD U that is often hidden from view – conceptually strong, diverse, and compelling. This is a dynamic and modular identity where every year, graduating student medal winners will be invited to contribute to the logo within the basic window framework, providing a set of logos for that year. As OCAD U grows and matures, a living library of identities will necessarily emerge, recording the ideas and aesthetics that have shaped our culture over time.

If you’re thinking that the black squares look familiar, they were inspired by the architecture of OCAD U (the Sharp Centre for Design by Will Alsop). They created a “base of black and white pixel ‘windows’” which are also frames to hold actual student work.

Here is a video created by the design studio with the university to express and explain the exciting new identity:

I am most inspired by the openness and inclusiveness of the ever-changing design: the ability to add new pieces of artwork and design within the fixed square of the logo. This will express the diversity of our university and allow it to stay fresh.

It was an incredible experience to be part of the process, and I thank both Bruce Mau Design and the OCAD University Marketing & Communications department for the opportunity.

Visit the OCAD University Visual Identity page or the Bruce Mau Design article.

Update: My favourite branding design blog has posted their review on the new brand! Read the post on Under Consideration’s Brand New here.

What’s a Charrette? Where’s Lota? You may not know either of those answers, but these lead to a very interesting experience, when I had the opportunity to participate in an international design collaboration with the focus of developing sustainable tourism for the city of Lota, Chile.

Over 100 Students from 6 Schools out of 9 Countries formed 9 Teams who ate 864 Slices of pizza, along with 38 Expert Advisors – all together for this Charrette over 5 days at George Brown College’s School of Design.

If you’re wondering what a charrette is, the IwB website has a great description:

“A charrette is an intensive, collaborative process that brings together community members and professionals to develop innovative solutions for complex issues. Over a few short days of brainstorming, discussion and expert consultation, teams create a broad range of ideas around the central theme.”

The task of our particular team was to create a boutique hotel designed to feature local arts and culture, centrally located beside the Plaza de Armas and offering tourists rooms at a variety of rates and amenities. We called it Soneto Hotel. Being graphic design students a few of us worked in a sub-group on branding this hotel.

The Institute without Boundaries website describes the end result:

After just 4 days, the designs were thorough, imaginative and practical. A panel made up of representatives from each of the 3 international schools as well as the IwB / George Brown College evaluated all the final designs in a day-long presentation session, and the top three designs were awarded badges of recognition, but the judges had something positive to say about each and every one of the projects that were presented.

Presenting our team’s final concept to the advisors and other participants:

(The above photos of the event are by Michelle.)

Though it was intense and time consuming, overall it was a very interesting experience and a great opportunity to work with students including those outside of OCAD University and even outside Canada.

Our final project along with all other groups’ work can be found here.