Collaborative Power

The design industry requires designers to be creative, sharp, witty, conceptual, communicative, knowledgeable and up to speed on current events. One of the many things that I love about this field is the willingness and ability of designers to come together as a community, for both design and humanity. There are numerous design competitions/exhibitions out there, but the ones that intrigue me the most are those with a cause and those that are striving to open our society's eyes for the greater good.

A fellow Penn State Design alumna, Leif Steiner, and one of his colleague's, Josh Higgins, are founders of an ingenious creative fund-raiser. Their project brings designers together in order to benefit victims of the the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. Artists and Designers donate limited edition posters to The Haiti Poster Project, the posters are then sold online and all proceeds are given to Doctors Without Borders. Leif Steiner also organized a similar fund-raiser for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Hurricane Poster Project donated all proceeds  to The Red Cross in order to help aid in the Hurricane Relief.

The most recent design competition that instantly caught my attention was GREENPEACE's effort to rebrand BP. This competition is not raising money for a cause; however, it is raising attention and awareness to the already ill fated oil company. The winning logo will be used internationally in a campaign against the oil company. The winning designer will have the opportunity to work with a top graphic designer in order to refine their logo for the campaign.

Along with the attention and concern for current events, design competitions and exhibitions similar to the three mentioned above, are always a fascinating venue in order to see how unique and contrasting designers thoughts and styles are. Unfortunately, I have yet to find the time to design for any of these mentioned exhibits; however, I plan to set some time aside soon from my 9-5 and extracurricular activities in order to participate in an exhibit that speaks to me.