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ThinkSocial Awards: Design 21: Social Design Network “Design competitions for the greater good”
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Name: Design 21: Social Design Network
Nominated Category: Collaboration
Area: Social networking, social action networks
URL: http://www.design21sdn.com
About:
DESIGN 21 – a collaboration between charitably inclined lifestyle corporation Felissimo and non-profit UNESCO — is dedicated to work that looks good and does good.
Description:
As a social network, it keeps members looped in on how people around the world are using design to make a difference. Online, you can connect with other socially conscious folks, designers, non-profit organizations, interest groups and others.
Central to DESIGN 21 are design competitions geared toward specific, tangible goals—ones in which, once completed, you can actually see results if the winning design is implemented. One early challenge asked DESIGN 21 designers to create temporary emergency shelter for deployment in a natural disaster; DESIGN 21 partner UNESCO has sponsored several competitions, asking for logo ideas and other elements for campaigns. In the challenges, the public votes online after designers submit applications; the entire process can be tracked on the web site.
As part of the DESIGN 21 community, members can participate in the site’s “Interview Series,” online events where you can post questions for design leaders like Design 21 director Haruko Smith and environment-motivated designer/Designers Accord founder Valerie Casey. Under the site’s “SHARE” section, members can also blog — or search for others’ blog posts by design or by social theme — and share resources with each other.
Members can also directly help non-profits that request work via the Web site, i.e. help with web site development or technical renderings, by answering calls through design21’s “ACT” section. There, individuals or companies with some need post requests for everything from web programming help to designs for an HIV/AIDS-education toolkit. Also through the site, DESIGN 21 sells what they call the “Allumonde” ring, a Richard Hutten design that ranges from a set of $25 colorful acrylic rings to $2,500 for an 18-karat gold ring. Twenty-one percent of the proceeds give back directly – 19% to a non-profit of your choice, and 2% to UNESCO DREAM centers, which provide arts and culture opportunities to kids in post-conflict regions of the world.
Felissimo also runs clothing-and-accessories site Social Designer, which works like a socially-motivated Threadless Tees: one can submit designs, vote on them, and purchase them, with proceeds for different designs going to organizations like microfinance powerhouse Kiva, the American Cancer Society and 826National, a children’s reading and creative writing center.
The Basics:
WHO: DESIGN 21, a collaboration between Felissimo and UNESCO
WHAT: A social network for socially conscious people and designers who want to work toward social good, DESIGN 21 runs competitions to create products to help people and uses social networking tools to connect its members
WHERE: Worldwide
HOW to get involved: Join up – membership is free, though corporations and non-profits must apply first. If you’re a design savvy, you can participate in design competitions; or help out the non-profit requests under “ACT.”
What other people are saying:
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Learn more about ThinkSocial Awards here.Thanks for your support and participation.
Posted in: Collaboration, Non-profit, awards | Tagged: blogs, design, Felissimo, kiva, non-profits, socialdesign, threadless, UNESCO
