iF you're ever in New Orleans...

Nothing gets me more excited than inspiring others and seeing others inspire us. 

This is a cause that inspires, & they do it deep.

"Before I Die transforms neglected spaces into constructive ones where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us"

"One month and seven hours of intense stenciling later and it’s up! With a lot of support from old and new friends, I turned the side of an abandoned house in my neighborhood into a giant chalkboard where residents can write on the wall and remember what is important to them. Before I Die transforms neglected spaces into constructive ones where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us. It turns out this entire process (including obtaining official approval from many entities) has been a great lesson, experience, and project in itself – more on that later. If you're in New Orleans, stop by the corner of Marigny and Burgundy (900 Marigny Street) to ass your thoughts to the wall and see what matters most to your  neighbors."

It’s a question that has changed me in the last year, and I believe the design of our public spaces can better reflect what’s important to us as residents and as human beings. The responses and stories from passersby while we were installing it have already hit me hard in the heart. 

"Once the wall is filled, we wash the board with water and start with a clean slate again. We are documenting all responses and some will be included in a book. I have received many requests from people who’d like to install it in their city, so we’re looking into ways to manufacture an affordable stencil (I made this one by hand. It is a lot of cutting). We’re also interested in visiting your city and figuring out ways to install it together. If you’re interested in spreading the love, or if you have a site suggestion or beyond, let us know!"

Yorgo Lykouria: Industrial Poet

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  I found a Canadian designer, Yorgo Lykouria, who's design philosophy is beautiful. He approaches designs as if they were dampened hearts that need mending and uplifting.... well kind of. He uses the functionality, the problem solving, to start his designs. Like the airport design (check the link! It's really a great interview) where he began with what bothered him about check-in lines, or the departure area. He pointed out that it should be something exciting, you're about to witness something amazing... the technology that allows us to fly. The poetry seeps from his concepts so naturally; here he wants to problem solve, design, but he also considers the human experience. His new design for a sink basin uses this consideration: 
  "A metonymic approach to design is perhaps one way of describing what Lykouria does. He's concerned not just with giving form to a product, like, for example, a wash basin, but also with how his design designs the user's experience – in this case their perception of, and interaction with, water. For him, it's about reintroducing moments of conscious reflection, of pleasure and awe into everyday life, turning the mundane and the prosaic into poetry. 'For me, a precious commodity is human consciousness,' he explains."
  
  
  I love love love seeing designers use poetry and meaning and a life to their designs. Definitely hope to see more of him in the future! 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Here's an excerpt from the latter part of his interview (below)::::
  We've talked about the poetic aspect of design and the functional aspect. But there's also the issue of responsibility, is there not? In terms of your new wash basin, it's considering the usage of water. I wondered to what extent your 'Tangens' project was informed by that.
  
  To be honest, I was thinking about water not so much as a precious resource, but more in terms of a precious entity, or substance. Again, the poetry of it. In a way, they arrive at the same place but via a different road. Realising that it's precious means being aware of the fact it's not to be wasted.
• Well, maybe that's a more successful of getting people to think about the wastage of water.
  
  Possibly. It's more emotional, certainly. More impactful. I think sometimes there's a bit of salesmanship on this aspect of ecological thinking and corporate responsibility. There are companies that do these things because they have to. They wouldn't be doing them if they weren't marketable. That's the sad reality. If you're doing it for that reason, then it's too much on the nose, and if you can find a more poetic approach it might be more impactful, because it gets to people in a more subconscious way.
• I think sustainability is still at the point where it's being used by the marketing machine as a trend, as opposed to something that is innate and runs through everything.
  
  For me, it moves from the marketing side of things into the functional side of things. Of course it has to be there. It has to work, of course it has to be ecological. If you're doing something that is wasteful, you need to stop and rethink it. But for me, it's not the only issue. For me, another precious commodity is human consciousness. Just our lives. The way we live. We're driven faster and faster. We're constantly being pushed and pulled. There are not enough of those moments to enjoy where you are and what you're doing. A simplicity. That's also a precious resource that we shouldn't waste. Ultimately, when we're all at our end, looking back, what are we going to think and feel?
  
  It's like the end of the film 'Blade Runner'. Batty, the android, is dying, just having saved Harrison Ford's life, and he says, 'I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. All these moments will be lost like tears in the rain.' And, in a way, it's that. That's the essence of life. All these things that we experience are what really mater. It's not much how you accumulate. And that's what, in a beautiful way, dies with you. It's all yours and nobody else's. And that's why I design. It's for those things. Hopefully, I have the opportunities and abilities to do that in a better way each time. 

I want to know you. You right now, You reading this- I'm talking to you: I want to know You.

I think the idea of having a blog directly relating to one's work is such a brilliant idea. Truly... What better way to understand someone and what they produce than by reading their written thoughts? I suppose that's my large problem. I find myself struggling to find appropriate material to insert on my I.D. INTERIOR design blog that would be of interest. I feel pressured to produce posts completely relevant to interior design and my studies at SCAD.

Currently I've a personal blog, separate to this one, that digitally houses my conscious thoughts on a similar website. The content seems to come more naturally, and posts more frequently, because there isn't this looming expectation. Fortunately for the sake of my blog, no classes at SCAD currently require me to upkeep with specific information, and so, I'm going to take the liberty of combining the fluidity of posts and personal opinion from my other blog with the informative and directed focus of this one and Voila! I hope for writings worth reading, pictures worth saving, and ideas that fuel the creative mind.

Love

There comes a point in your life when you realize that nothing will ever be the same, and you realize that from now on time will be divided into two parts - before this and after this.