The Johnson Banks thought for the week sees Michael Johnson discuss the balance between working for ‘ethical’ organisations and selling your soul to blue chip / multinationals. Read it here.

“…why context is more important than consistency. It’s ok to be inconsistent if your design makes more sense that way. Give people just what matters. Give them what they need when they need it and get rid of what they don’t. It’s better to be right than to be consistent.”

The iPhone keyboard’s spacebar is replaced by web-centric options when you’re entering a URL. URLs can’t contain blank spaces so the iPhone gets rid of the useless key and replace it with ones that add value. Great example of context over consistency.

Via 37 signals

The product launches in the US later today, which means the world wide web is going to be reviewtastic very soon. Here are a couple to get you started…

David Pogue from the New York Times
Walter Mossberg, Wall Street Journal Personal Technology Columnist

The hauntingly mundane photography of Adrien Missika makes me feel a bit weird. In a good way.

Is the theme for this years Architecture Week. Last week I attended the AW onedotzero evening event, which showcased sustainable design work from Jason Bruges Studio, XCO2 and DIY Kyoto. The showcase reinforced the need for artists and designers to produce work which is powered by renewable forms of energy, aswell as create products that support us in our efforts to reduce our consumption of non-renewables.

Jason Bruges took centre stage first, starting with a quick introduction of the studio’s work, which for me is a mixture of information design, architecture and interactive / art installations. Following the intro Jason proceeded to present a series of the studio’s projects that have explored visualising prevailing winds, which have culminated in the studio’s RIBA London and onedotzero comissioned ‘Wind to Light’ installation at the Southbank centre (pictured above). Wind to Light uses ‘500 mini wind turbines to generate power, which illuminates hundreds of mounted leds, creating firefly-like fields of light, with wind visually interpreted as electronic patterns across the installation’. It will be onsite until September, to find out more read the project blog here. Following on from Jason, XCO2 (a group of engineers and designers) also spoke about the use of renewable energies to create function and aesthetic value in their work.

Finally, Greta from DIY Kyoto (who’s name is a reponse to the Kyoto protocol) presented the Wattson, a product which simply makes your electricity usage tangible. I first read about the Wattson in the papers a while ago, but what I didn’t know about was the development of a Wattson online community. This is a place where users can register and track their electricty consumption, a place where international comparision can take place. It was also suggested, tongue in cheek on the night that a dating group could be developed in the community where users could pursue those who used attractive amounts of electricity, now that would be sexy!

A great collection of photography and Art from many brilliant contributors.

tinyvices.com

Systema Metropolis is Mark Dion’s latest exhibition at Natural History Museum.

My first PTN post! Last weekend I paid a brief visit to The Great Exhibition, this year’s modestly titled RCA Summer Show which marks the 150th birthday of South Kensington institutions such as the V&A and Imperial College with a homage to the original Great Exhibition of 1851.

Housed in a specially erected pavillion in Hyde Park, the work on show from students across the school of architecture and design eschews the departmental separation typical of so many degrees shows in favour of a fitting cabinet of curiosities-style layout. Pockets of work from the various departments jostle for the viewer’s attention.

As ever, some definite themes are in the ether this year. Here are some of my pics:

Design Interactions
Students from the Design Interactions department such as Marei Wollersberger, Michiko Nitta and Tamsin Fulton posed questions about the many ethical, moral and social issues surrounding our relationship with technology through a speculative, scenario-based approach.

Design Products
Meanwhile, over at Design Products Il Hoon Roh and Luka Stepan took inspiration from nature to explore the potential application of self-generating processes that allow objects to be ‘grown’ by computer, then manufacturered using rapid manufacturing technologies.

Photography
As a big fan of Andreas Gursky-style minimalism, Gerd Hassler and Marco Bohr’s work in the main RCA building also caught my eye.

This book documenting the product design skill of Japanesse designer Naoto Fukasawa.

It’s true to say in 2004 when I was finishing my degree the internet wasn’t so communitytastic as it is now. So today in 2007 it’s great to find 5oup, an online community for student artists, which on the surface looks like a healthy mix of graphics, fine art, interactive and illustration. Its graduation time right now and all the design blogs are featuring student portfolio’s, from those I have had a quick glance at - Mr.Robert Holmkvist’s graphic design abilites have impressed me the mostest!

Just so you know…

BBC World’s launch has been promoted in North America with interactive billboards, where interaction is offered by a live SMS poll. Visually, the constuction reminds me of the HSBC Your point of view campaign.

On the other hand Brazil’s São Paulo has become a No Logo zone of sorts after Mayor Gilberto Kassab decided to strip the city of all it’s advertising. Creative Review editor Patrick Burgoyne’s article for BusinessWeek provides a commentary of how events unfolded which led to the clearout, the initial public reaction plus some thoughts to the future. Visual documentation of the ‘billboard cemetery’ can be seen in Brazilian photographer Tony de Marco’s flickr set here.