Greennovate是成立于上海的一家社会企业，希望通过商业模式与全社会的潜在力量的结合，做一些有益于中国的事情。成立已有2周年的Greennovate除了自下而上的将环境保护和可持续发展的实践融入公司运作和社区日常活动外，更大力致力于举办各种教育及公益项目，旨在通过设计提升整个社会的环境意识和可持续发展意识。最近，Greennovate和青蛙设计、Eno、The Nature Step等多家组织合作，推出名为MaGiC (Made Green in China，绿色中国制造)的设计大赛，已于2009年10月在中国各大院校全面展开。
On Aug 24, a group of 30 enthusiastic designers and researchers gathered at THE STUDIO for the D4D research training workshop (D4D stands for "Design for the Disadvantaged"). The objective of the D4D workshop was to provide an opportunity for those interested in learning how to conduct qualitative research, and for our D4D mentors to share their best practices. The workshop materials were prepared by Jianming Dong, our design research leader. We shared the best practice and research skills for volunteers helping us learn more about the disadvantaged who are struggling for a living in various conditions as street vendors, construction workers, and garbage collectors. The objective of the research was to get firsthand information via interviews but primarily to observe and document what we found.
Shan Zhai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanzhai) is a very unique cultural and widespread phenomenon in China, especially in the consumer electronics market. Shan Zhai refers to Chinese knockoffs and no-name brands and goods. People are impressed to see the Shan Zhai iphone before they can find the real iphone on the market. Shan zhai products from mobile phones to cars and net books to shampoo are also easily found.
After the Design for the Disadvantaged (D4D) event in Shanghai, the D4D Design Committee had an internal meeting to finalize the research plan on August 19.
Last Saturday, for the launch event in Shanghai's Factory at 1933, frog sponsored Design for Disadvantaged (D4D). The event kicked off D4D's social responsibility program initiated by a group of social entrepreneurs and designers in the summer of 2009.
After disembarking from a recent Air China flight between Shanghai and Beijing, I looked up to have the following visual assault on my eyes: 当我从最近一次上海至北京的中国国际航空航班下机后，映入眼帘的是以下的场景：
Last week I spoke at Computex 2009 in Taiwan at an event hosted by the TDC (Taiwan Design Center). A key challenge faced by many Taiwanese companies in any part of the computing space is brand building. Taiwan’s computing culture, to generalize broadly, is all about OEMs. A few have made the leap into consumer brands (e.g., Acer, Asus, HTC), but most are still OEMS, increasingly evolving into ODMs, and no more than flirting with the notion of becoming a consumer brand. Under this backdrop, I spoke about brand building strategies for Taiwanese companies from 2 perspectives.
I just got a copy of 21st Century Business Review from the bookstore in the airport for my flight from Shanghai to Guangzhou for a design competition. The feature story of the May issue is From Manufacturing to China Design.
The topic of 'China Design' has been discussed for the past few years. There is no doubt that Chinese companies should have original design as the first step to build their own brand. Originality has been promoted in the cities, big or small, in China with the government support. Hundreds of design conferences and competitions are held to promote China Design every year.
Though the global village is still suffering from the economic crisis and seeking for innovative solutions to recover, an emerging trend is becoming more and more established and leveraged as opportunities for future growth. Green is not only the new black any more. It will be the rainbow when the sun arises after the storm.
