Water Project

The last project of our Fall 08 semester was for the AIGA Aspen Design Challenge. We were split into two groups of 8 for the conceptual and research process, then into pairs of two for the execution of the project. Each group produced four design solutions in response to the challenge which was addressing the global water crisis. My group chose to focus on local behaviors and how to shift those behaviors through design. LOCAL ACTION, GLOBAL IMPACT was our tagline enforcing the overarching idea of "Everything is local". The issues my group addressed included:
private water, public right
product inventory, industrial water usage
private disposal, public pollution
residential water use, awareness of options

After mapping and diagramming the physical, cultural, social, technological and economic systems as a group, we worked as pairs. I worked with Sidney Fritts on an E-rating system that would hold retailers, manufacturers, and consumers accountable for the electronic products purchased, used, and disposed. Using Robert Ennis's taxonomy of critical thinking behaviors and David Rose's description of audience readiness, we identified four possible design solutions: Retailer Trade Ad, Online Comparison Tool, Instore signage and all communicating a labeling system.