More on Ferry Terminal Walkway

Here are a few quick images of our model for the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal Walkway:

Day.

Detail.

Night.

Video.

Cellipack - Better Cell Phone Packaging by Grain.

Regular cellular phone packaging is excessive. As phones themselves continue to shrink in size, packaging does not. Phone buyers don’t even see the packaging until after they have bought their phone, as most point-of-purchase displays feature tester phones. The process is akin to buying shoes.

Considering packaging and shipping is vital to designing greener products. By re-evaluating the material, form, and content of traditional cell phone packaging, Cellipack is able to reduce shipping costs while minimizing waste, improving recyclablity, and putting twice as much product in the same amount of space. 

Cellipack features two layers of formed wire mesh which form an impact absorbing package without the need for additional padded materials or inserts. A recycled content paper band holds the mesh layers together while providing space for product identification and barcodes. The modular, nesting design separates the phone and A/C adapter into separate packages to maximize space savings in shipping. Multilingual digital manuals can be downloaded to the phone or computer, decreasing shipping weight, printing costs, and waste.

Highly efficient and recyclable, Cellipack also reduces the cell phone’s embodied energy from worldwide shipping.

Bainbridge Ferry Walkway Proposal

Update: We've been chosen as one of three finalists!  More info will follow soon.

Grain submitted the above sketch for Bainbridge Island's Ferry Terminal Walkway artist call organized by the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council. The concept is to drape laser cut sheets of Tyvek from the ceiling forming a fluid structure evoking low hanging clouds or gentle waves.

The structure would use the long perspective of the space as an advantage, providing a fluid experience that changes as the viewer moves through the space. There will be multiple scales of interest to the piece, allowing viewers who spend a longer period of time waiting for the boat to discover new details with each visit. A series of iconic Bainbridge images will be used to cut a pattern throughout each drape. These icons will include emblems such as the ferry, strawberries, fireworks, bicycles, deer, and more! We see these playful icons as an opportunity to honor Bainbridge – both past and present – for Islanders and visitors alike.

The decision to use Tyvek is many. It is actually the same material used for Fed-Ex envelopes, so it is durable, scrub-able and weather proof. It can be easily laser cut and sewn. It is relatively inexpensive. It is light weight and somewhat translucent. It is heat and fire safe – often used for residential insulation. Most importantly to us, it can be taken down and re-used after the installation period. For example, it could be cut and re-used as street banners or made into bags. Finally, once it has seen its last use, Tyvek, as a #2 plastic, is among the most easily recyclable plastics.

Design for Local Sustainability

Check out the final projects of Sami's Design for Social Entrepreneurship class at RISD on their website! Amazing work!

New York Bicycle Rack Design

Grain recently entered a competition sponsored by the New York Department of Transportation to design a new bicycle rack for the streets of New York. Our design - dubbed The Milton - was intended to increase the use of bicycles for transportation by creating something iconic, inspiring, fun, and practical for cyclists to use. Watch a video (bottom of post) visually describing our entry, and check out some pics (above & below). It comes in two sizes and reads like 3D text.

Cool, now lets ride...

New Material for Blu Homes

Grain recently created a series of seven informational packets for Blu Homes (links to three examples below). The packets cover their entire line of environmentally conscious prefab homes and are available via the Blu Homes website. They of course do custom design and architecture as well for those us who so desire. It's the way we like it: built small, built green, & built easy.

Grain also did the logo and branding work for Blu prior to their initial launch back in July. So far, so good for this excellent young company. We'll keep you blogged.

> Blu - Flex Media
> Blu - Origin
> Blu - Retreat
> Grain

Social Entrepreneurship Workshop at A Better World By Design

Over 60 participants showed up for the Social Entrepreneurship Workshop led by Grain at the A Better World by Design Conference in Providence last weekend. The workshop asked participants to think about the many un-met design opportunities that could service communities here in the US. Content for the workshop was based on Sami Nerenburg's current studio at RISD, Design for Social Entrepreneurship. It was great for us all to be back at RISD/Brown. 

Sami ended the workshop with an inspiring quote from President-Elect, Barack Obama, that I would like to share again here:

"I ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand."

Sami also participated in a panel discussion entitled Social Entrepreneurship with Alan Harlam, Director of Social Entrepreneuership at the Brown Swearer Center, Caitlin Cohen, Co-Founder of Mali Health Organizing Project, and Marina Kim from Ashoka's Global Academy University Program. To read more about that check out her guest blog on NextBillion.net here.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to A Better World By Design for inviting us!

Grain Workshop at A Better World By Design

Grain will be leading a workshop as part of the A Better World By Design Conference this weekend in Providence. The following is a description of our workshop. It is based on the curriculumn of Sami's current design studio, Design for Social Entreprenuership, at RISD: 

Design for Social Entrepreneurship 

Grain Design: Sami Nerenberg, Brittany Kleinman, James Minola, Chelsea Green

Grain Design will travel with you to introduce and explore the meaning of the UN Millennium Goals and how these as a framework can be used to uncover overlooked design opportunities. After jumping into the world of design you will walk out of this workshop filled with entrepreneurial ideas as well as a process to consider how the power of design and design thinking can be used to address some of the leading problems of our day – internationally and domestically.

Grain Announces Deep Energy Concept

The Deep Energy (DE) concept opens up a new category in renewable energy. Sustainable electricity is generated utilizing deep ocean pressures by a process that produces no pollution or waste of any kind DE is the first example of what we’re calling baropelagics because the process relies on the compression of air under deep ocean pressures to generate electricity. Amazingly, this clean technology has the potential to meet or surpas the output of a nuclear power generator!

Unaffected by season or climate, DE can be installed in almost a limitless number of ocean locations worldwide. Additionally, the ability to store compressed air for later use will maximize the income generating potential of DE. Our hope is that DE will inspire companies and engineers to make this green energy concept reality. Please contact Grain for more information.

> Grain

> Deep Energy Baropelagics (bigger video)

Sami at Better World By Design Confrence!

Grain's Sami Nerenberg to be speaking as a panelist for the Better World by Design Conference going on next month at RISD/Brown Univeristy in Providence, RI! Sami will be one of dozens of world-class professionals and academics in this milestone conference that will change the way you think about global crises and push the limits of user-centric, affordable design. It looks like it will be quite an event. Sami will be speaking on the Social Entrepreneurship panel (see information below). To attend, pre-register via their website.

Social Entrepreneurship (Sunday, November 9, 11:15-12:00pm)
How can business strategy and technology work together to better the world? What is the relationship among social entrepreneurs, designers, and other experts?

> Better World by Design Confrence
> Grain

Design for Social Entrepreneurship (DeSE)

Tomorrow marks the start of the semester for Rhode Island School of Design's new advanced studio Design for Social Entrepreneurship (DeSE) led by Grain's own Sami Nerenburg in the Department of Industrial Design. What is social entrepreneurship, you ask? According to Sami's syllabus:

"A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change."

You can follow their work all semester on their class blog. It is sure to be an innovative course!! Good luck Sami!!

Re+Vision featured on Worldchanging Seattle!!

Big thanks to Julia Steinberger for her amazing post "Teens Envision New Spaces For Seattle" on Worldchanging Seattle regarding the Seattle Art Museum's Re+Vision: Design Your (Neighbor)hood led by Grain's Chelsea Green. Final teen projects from the program are still up in the Alvord Art Lab at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

Re+Vision at Olympic Sculpture Park

Come check out the Re+Vision: Design Your (Neighbor)hood final designs at the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle. The reception/presentation is August 7th from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

The show will stay up through August 22nd. Grain's own Chelsea Green was the Project Manager for this exciting 6-week design education program at the Seattle Art Museum. Read more about the program on their teen-run blog.

Sami Nerenberg to teach new RISD studio: Design for Social Entrepreneurship!

The Rhode Island School of Design has asked our Sami Nerenberg to develop and teach a new course in RISD's industrial design department! Her answer? An innovative new senior studio: Design for Social Entrepreneurship. Reading the course description (below) it sounds like it will be an amazing and inspirational experience for the lucky RISD students who get to take her class. Makes me want to go back to school! We'll keep you posted as the course develops.

Design for Social Entrepreneurship (DeSE)
RISD Fall '08

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. This course aims to cultivate social entrepreneurial designers by investigating the power of product, system and service design to create positive social and environmental change. Looking at both international and domestic issues, this course asks, how can design and design thinking be used to solve the world’s leading problems to achieve triple bottom line sustainability—environmentally, socially, and economically? Structured around holistic thinking, collaborative and individual design work, with mentorship from experts in the field, this course uncovers how to design products and/or services, wrap a business around it, and create tangible positive impact in our world today.

>Sami's Blog
>RISD
>Grain

Blu Homes

Our friends over at Blu Homes have just launched their new website!

"Committed to creating healthy, efficient, and ecologically friendly homes that respect your time and your budget, BLU is a new kind of home company." They produce a wide range of amazing prefab homes full of the latest green features and technology. With the capability to build in many different locations across the US, they are definitely a company to watch.

Look for Blu's VP of product development (Dennis Michaud) at the MoMA show "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling" which is starting this month.

Oh, and if you happen to love their logo, be sure to check out Grain!

>Blu Homes
>Grain

Brit joins wejetset editorial team!!

Grain's tireless adventurer and market guru, Brit, will be spreading the word on global markets for wejetset - a truely modern travel magazine. Check out her first post Market Culture: Chichicastenango, Guatemala.

Insider Grain info: James, Brit, and Chelsea first bonded on a trip to Guatemala as part of Bridging Culture Through Design - Guatemala, a RISD sustainable product development program led by Mimi Robinson. You can read all about that program on treehugger here.

Remember to keep up with Brit on AVO:Market too!!

Re+Vision is up and running!!

We are up and running - trekking across the city taking in art, design, and sunshine!! We are entering our third week tomorrow!! Check out our blog to see what we have been up to...

Re+Vision: Design Your (Neighbor)hood

Grain's Chelsea Green is leading an exciting program at the Seattle Art Museum this summer called Re+Vision: Design Your (Neighbor)hood. It is for Seattle area teens (13-19 years old) who are interested in being design thinkers and change makers in their urban environment. They will meet June 30th - August 8th, Monday - Friday 9:30 am - 3:30 pm at the Seattle Art Museum downtown. The program is totally FREE!!

Please spread the word to any Seattle teens who may be interested!! The official deadline is this Friday, June 6th 5:00 pm (but it may be extended). Contact Chelsea as soon as possible for more info.

IDSA interview with our very own Brit Kleinman!

Interview with Brit Kleinman now up on the IDSA Rhode Island website! Topics include Grain, sustainable design, and what she's got in store for the future. Click on the link, or see post below.

> Full article
> Grain

Seattle wants going green to be easier on taxpayers - move that supports sustainable design

Seattle is taking steps toward "product stewardship" which may require companies to help share the burden of consumer waste disposal. As more city's adopt such measures, the need for sustainable design expertise will continue to grow, pushing cradle-to-cradle design considerations in all products. Excerpt below by Angela Galloway for the Seatle PI:

City wants going green to be easier on taxpayers

From carpet recycling to curbside pickup of broken televisions and computers, Seattle politicians are considering ways to help shift away from taxpayers some of the burden -- and cost -- of waste disposal.

Such steps aim to encourage a fundamental change in waste-reduction efforts toward "producer responsibility." A national movement also dubbed "product stewardship," the effort is considered a critical factor in moving beyond landfills and in encouraging manufacturers to opt for environmentally friendly product design.

"Traditionally, when we're done with products, the responsibility has fallen on government to ensure that the recycling programs are in place," said Suellen Mele, of Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation. "Producer responsibility is really a different approach in which the manufacturers of the products are the ones that take responsibility for their products throughout the whole life of the products."

> Full Article
> Grain