#designthyself

#FoossaFinds curates insightful readings, awesome events, #SpiritAnimals, and other inspiration. Look for it weekly. 

Wisdom Hackers

A group of thinkers from across art, literature, design, technology and innovation each explore a burning question that touches upon core themes of human agency and wisdom. Wisdom Hackers tackles questions of democracy, social consciousness, consumerism, the environment, family and our relationship to the physical world - in weekly Staves with accompanying video, images, sound and discussion. Join us for a journey into the unknown…

ARTICLES

Surviving the Ups and Downs of Social Movements Mark Engler & Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence What to do during a lull in a movement's visible progress, and why a win may arrive with more of a whimper than a roar.  

Can Monasteries Be a Model for Reclaiming Tech Culture for Good? Nathan Schneider, The Nation Hackers are transforming an ancient city into a prototype for the future.

EVENTS

Be Social Change Class: #DesignThyself - Applying Design Principles to Personal Growth Note the new date and time: Wednesday, September 17, 2014, 7:15-9:00 PM, Centre For Social Innovation, 601 W 26th Street, Suite 325, New York, NY 10001 Are you interested in learning about design principles to affect change in the world? Why not start with yourself? #DesignThyself brings design thinking and design doing to a personal level. Learn how to use design as a tool for changing your own creative habits and behavior. Learn how to use design principles and methodology to cultivate a new creative habit and to make an intentional and proactive change in your life. We will draw from the fields of interaction design, activism for social/cultural change, as well as cognitive psychology. This class is based on material previously offered at the School of Visual Arts MFA Design for Social Innovation and on Skillshare.com. Register today.

TEDxGramercy | Grit  Saturday, 27 September 2014, 4-8 PM, Mason Hall, Baruch college, 17 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Get early-bird tickets.

#SPIRITANIMALS

Cute Baby Lemurs!  National Geographic

#FoossaFinds – 13 August 2014

#FoossaFinds curates insightful readings, awesome events, #SpiritAnimals, and other inspiration. Look for it weekly. Reposted from Foossa.com/blog.

ARTICLES

Who’s Getting Rich Off Profit-Driven ‘Clicktivism’ Nithin Coca, Motherboard Follow the money behind the clicks.

The Economics of Jane Austen Shannon Chamberlain, The Atlantic In her fiction, the 18th-century novelist wrestled with the same…

#FoossaFinds curates insightful readings, awesome events, #SpiritAnimals, and other inspiration. Look for it weekly. Reposted from Foossa.com/blog.

ARTICLES

Who's Getting Rich Off Profit-Driven 'Clicktivism' Nithin Coca, Motherboard Follow the money behind the clicks.

The Economics of Jane Austen Shannon Chamberlain, The Atlantic In her fiction, the 18th-century novelist wrestled with the same question that preoccupied Adam Smith: Does the pursuit of wealth diminish a person's moral integrity?

Why Startup Urbanism Will Fail Us Leo Hollis, Shareable "The city is not a company; community is not a brand; citizenship cannot be mistaken for consumption."

Artists' brains are structurally different, study finds Lindsay Van Thoen, Freelancers Union "A study published last week in the journal NeuroImage confirms that artists do indeed have different brains -- and regular art practice can permanently change our brain structures."

EVENTS

Be Social Change Class: #DesignThyself - Applying Design Principles to Personal Growth Monday, September 15, 2014, 6:45-8:30 PM, Centre For Social Innovation, 601 W 26th Street, Suite 325, New York, NY 10001 Are you interested in learning about design principles to affect change in the world? Why not start with yourself? #DesignThyself brings design thinking and design doing to a personal level. Learn how to use design as a tool for changing your own creative habits and behavior. Learn how to use design principles and methodology to cultivate a new creative habit and to make an intentional and proactive change in your life. We will draw from the fields of interaction design, activism for social/cultural change, as well as cognitive psychology. This class is based on material previously offered at the School of Visual Arts MFA Design for Social Innovation and on Skillshare.com. Register today.

TEDxGramercy | Grit  Saturday, 27 September 2014, 4-8 PM, Mason Hall, Baruch college, 17 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Get early-bird tickets and suggest speakers.

#SPIRITANIMALS

Wikipedia refuses to delete photo as 'monkey owns it'

World's oldest eel dies in Sweden

#DesignThyself comes to Be Social Change

I will be offering my #DesignThyself class again on September 15th. Register on EventBrite.

Join Be Social Change for Design Thyself on Monday, September 15th at 7pm w/ Lee-Sean Huang, Co-founder and Creative Director at Foossa. 

Are you interested in learning about design principles to affect change in the world? Why not start with yourself? #DesignThyself brings design thinking and design doing…

Am resetting the goalposts for success, thanks to a fellow #designthyself student! It's time to resort to microactions.

1. Spend at least 15 minutes each day sketching. I have sketched almost every day, but sorrow upon finding out our precious 10-year old dog Tilly has Stage 4 lymphoma left me silent for at least one day. If I wait until I'm tired to sketch, I do crap work (no surprise, eh?). If I sketch / paint earlier in the evening, I find myself going much longer than allotted time and make good progress learning something.

2. Take at least one drawing/watercolor class. I enrolled in an ink and wash class online and am progressing (slowly) through the lessons. This class made me understand the voice I want in my visual work--light, freeform.

3. At least three times a week, spend at least 30 minutes painting. I painted twice, and I really was only doing washes. In the coming week, I will be more deliberate about the watercolor skills I am working on when I sit down to practice.

4. At the end of each week, review work and look for common elements in the lines/brush strokes/ subjects and write a post about them. Do this to try to articulate my visual voice. Most of the last week, I worked on 1-point perspective and started messing with 2-point perspective. I should write a cheat sheet. Common elements include light, feathery lines. 

5. At the end of each week, make a journal page to reflect #4. Did not do.

I'm messing around with acronyms to help me with Project Visual Voice. Here's one I like:

Visual (remember that this is less about using language and more about using images)

Observe (the only way to improve sketches, drawings, and paintings is to look with a sharper eye)

Investigate (use YouTube and Google to find tutorials and lessons to help understand how to sketch, draw, paint as I want)

Create (don't spend so much time investigating that I forget to make the sketches, drawings, paintings!)