Digging Deeper Competition - Open Call for Entries

The SF Chapter of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) and the Interaction Designers Association (IxDA) would like to introduce you to this year’s Digging Deeper, Building Blocks for Sustainable Design - A multi-disciplinary design competition addressing real urban needs.

Read More About the Competition on the Digging Deeper Site

On the afternoon of Sunday Sept. 27th the Digging Deeper 2009 program began with two informative and inspiring presentations. A leading systems ecologist teamed up with the Greening Director of the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco to deliver a design brief. They describe issues around urban food supply, health and agriculture relevant to the City of San Francisco and all urban areas. The presentations were specifically formatted to be the foundation of this competition, bringing industrial, graphic and interaction designers, architects and urban planners together to help solve real urban problems. This is a call to action for all design communities.

In the first presentation Gil Friend, acclaimed systems ecologist and CEO of Natural Logic, works through proven techniques on how to break apart complex problems and devise sustainable implementable solutions. The second presentation is an in depth problem statement and call to action delivered by Astrid Haryati, the Greening Director for the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco. She explores the obstacles to, and overarching importance of Sustainable Urban Agriculture for education, health and community development in the context of personal, community and city wide scales.

Watch Part 1: Approach and Inspiration by Gil Friend

Watch Part 2: Competition Problem Statement by Astrid Haryati

Read More About the Competition on the Digging Deeper Site

DesignSight: Volume II

JOIN US! Tuesday, April 28^th 6:45pm – 10:00pm

DesignSight is an event series developed to help stimulate some important conversations in the design community.

Volume II promises to be an engaging night! Anyone considering making the entrepreneurial leap or those looking to fine tune their business practices should attend. Come ready to discuss your concerns with experts on entrepreneurial topics specific to: venture capital funding, bringing your product to market, licensing, and of course, entrepreneurial best practices.

BUY Tickets and RSVP | Comments, Questions, or Issues With Registration

$35 IDSA members, $45 non-members

Andalu Restaurant | in the Mission District of San Francisco
3198 16th St., San Francisco CA | (415) 621-2211

How It Works: We'll have a table dedicated to each topic genre. You pick your first, second and third choice of who to sit with and Andalu Restaurant will provide some great food and drinks to fuel the conversation. Each table is limited to 7 attendees. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, and your printed proof of registration is required to attend.

Your ticket includes dinner, a drink (soda or iced tea etc.) and wine. Please arrive no later than 6:45 to be seated.

Table #1: Mark Dwight, Founder, Rickshaw Bagworks
Table #2: Stephen Key, Co-Founder, inventRight
Table #3: Jeff Barnes, General Partner, Clean Pacific Ventures
Table #4: Scott Yu, Chief Creative Officer, Vode Lighting LLC

Here's a bit about each of the people sitting at each table.

Mark Dwight, Founder, Rickshaw Bagworks
Mark Dwight is the founder and CEO of Rickshaw Bagworks, a new San Francisco-based manufacturer of messenger bags, computer carrying cases and lifestyle luggage. Dwight was formerly the CEO of Timbuk2 Designs (2002-2006), where he oversaw a financial turnaround and period of rapid growth, and then sold the company to private equity investors in 2005. Previously, Mark worked at Cisco Systems (1997-2001). Additionally, Mark was the co-founder of Astro Studios, a San Francisco-based product design consultancy, and Director of Product Development for Kensington, a leading brand of consumer PC accessory products. Dwight has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (’82) and an MBA (’89), both from Stanford. Dwight currently serves on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Mavericks Surf Ventures.



Stephen Key, Co-Founder, inventRight
Stephen Key is a successful award-winning inventor who has licensed over 20 products in the past 25 years. A holder of over twelve patents, Stephen’s products have sold in Wal-Mart, 7 Eleven, Disney Stores and theme parks worldwide and have been endorsed by basketball great Michael Jordan and Jeopardy host Alex Trebek. Stephen is a Disney licensee and has a new fruit beverage call Twist N Chill due to hit stores in the Spring of 2009 featuring Hannah Montana and Cars.

Along with business partner Andrew Krauss, Stephen runs inventRight, a company dedicated to educating inventors about selling their ideas and teaching them the skills needed to successfully license their ideas. You can ask questions and get advice on the inventRight forum, check out the resource center, and listen to the weekly radio show on inventing.

Recognized as an outstanding leader in the field of innovation, Stephen has appeared on national TV including the CNBC show “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch”, an expert guest on Dr. Phil and has been interviewed for national magazines, newspaper articles and books. Stephen was also a consultant for the first season of this hit ABC reality show American Inventor from Simon Cowell.


Jeff Barnes, General Partner, Clean Pacific Ventures

Jeff Barnes has had three successful results with start-ups, providing a strong operational and strategic experience base for managing venture investments. Prior to co-founding Clean Pacific Ventures, Jeff spearheaded business development and marketing for Purfresh, a venture-backed clean technology water and food purification company with a long list of Fortune 500 customers. Jeff also was the first marketing and business development executive of two successful technology start-ups, VocalPoint (acquired by Telecom Italia) and Acendi. Previously, Jeff spent 5 years at Bain & Company in the Private Equity and Technology practices consulting to private equity funds and to major technology companies. Jeff has invested in Blingo (acquired by Publishers Clearing House), VocalPoint (acquired), Advanced Educational Corporation (acquired), Purfresh, SunLink and Marrone. Jeff holds a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and a MS in Management from the London School of Economics.


Scott Yu, Chief Creative Officer, Vode Lighting LLC

Scott Yu is Chief Creative Officer at Vode Lighting LLC, a self-funded company, which he co-founded with partners George Mieling and Tom Warton in 2005. At Vode, Scott brings his passion in design and sustainability to the manufacturing of low-energy consumption lighting. Vode has enjoyed tremendous recognition since its inception and has been involved in numerous projects including California Academy of Sciences, Autodesk (a LEED Platinum project) in San Francisco, Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Microsoft Corporate Campuses near Seattle, the King County Library System in Washington State and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.

Scott graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena with a B.S. degree in Transportation Design in 1982. He worked in Europe for Peugeot S.A. as a Chief Designer. In 1986, he returned to the United States to work for Ford Motor Company as Design Manager. In 1990, he returned to San Francisco and co-founded Gingko Design Inc.

IDSA inTouch Spring Mixer 2009

April.2.2009

3-6pm Portfolio Review

6-9pm Networking

4th Floor,
1849 Washington St.
@ Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 618 3725

http://www.netvibes.com/idsa-aau
idsa.aau@gmail.com

Join us for a night of design with

+ Portfolio Reviews
+ Product Design Displays
+ Hors d’oeuvres & Beverages

Featuring student work from

+ Academy of Art University
+ California College of Arts
+ San Francisco State University
+ San Jose State University

Attire: Business Casual

Stay inTouch

DesignSight Volume 1

Graphics by Peter Park

Please see below for Speaker Bios.
We'll have a table dedicated to each topic genre. You pick your first, second and third choice of who to sit with and Andalu Restaurant will provide some great food and drinks to fuel the conversation.

Your ticket includes dinner, a drink (soda or iced tea etc.) and wine. Please arrive no later than 7pm to be seated.
Dinner will be ordered between 7:15 and 7:30.

e-mail Charlie@idsa-sf.org with your top 3 table choices and we'll send you the registration link.

Table #1: John Edson, President, LUNAR (www.lunar.com)
Table #2: Matthew Lawyer, Entrepreneur and former Patent Agent
Table #3: Ashton Udall, Global Sourcing Specialists
Table #4: Mike Strasser, Managing Member, Think2Build and Founder of ReactorSF

*limit 6 attendees per table*

ANDALU

Here's a bit about each of the people sitting at each table.

John Edson, President, LUNAR (www.lunar.com)



“I’d love to talk with anyone interested, but I think I’d be best suited to speaking with entrepreneurial creatives who have a well-developed point of view – but who are interested in the business framework required to exchange their talent for money.”

As a seasoned product developer with a background in both analytical and creative thinking, John’s primary role is to build new programs that make a real difference for clients. His experience includes managing the birth of successful products for Philips, Motorola, InFocus, and several startups. Products developed under John’s management have been honored with accolades from the ID Magazine Design Annual, the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award, iF Hannover, PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award, and IDSA’s Industrial Design Excellence Award.

John ensures that LUNAR’s environment is one where our culture of creativity thrives by supporting our diverse, international staff with educational opportunities and the freedom to experiment with new ideas on company time. Developing the contribution of design creativity and innovation process in the service of business, society and the environment, John explores the impact of design creativity through the weekly podcast, Icon-o-Cast, that he hosts with guest speakers ranging from Business Week’s Bruce Nussbaum to author and cognitive scientist Don Norman. John is also a regular speaker, having lectured at Wharton School, given a keynote at Intertech’s Flexible Display Technologies conference, and participated in a talk for the Business Marketing Association of Northern California. An occasional lecturer at Stanford, John teaches courses in product design and creativity.

John has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in product design from Stanford University. Prior to joining LUNAR, he served as a product designer for Ignition in Dallas, TX and as a freelance designer. On his own time, John can often be found at the helm of a sailboat on San Francisco Bay or pedaling up King’s Mountain Road.

Ashton Udall Global Sourcing Specialists



Ashton Udall possesses product management, international sourcing, and trade experience. As a partner at the product development and sourcing firm, Global Sourcing Specialists, he is responsible for the management of new consumer product development and sourcing activities and works closely with engineering and sourcing teams in China. He has assisted businesses, startups, and product developers with the development and sourcing of their products in Asia.

Mr. Udall’s previous experience consists of assisting a Chinese sourcing company with opening up its first United States office, as well as international trade policy research. At the East-West Center, a highly regarded policy think-tank in Honolulu, Hawaii, he worked with international teams of government officials and trade policy researchers on various trade projects concerning the Asia-Pacific region. His work focused on foreign direct investment in Asia and a United States Trade Representative sponsored study regarding the development of a US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Trade Agreement. Mr. Udall has an MA in Asian Studies and is completing his MBA.

Matthew Lawyer Entrepreneur and former patent agent



MD, JD, MPH, registered USPTO patent agent and entrepreneur, studied philosophy and biology at Emory University followed by law and medicine at Southern Illinois University.

Dr. Lawyer currently resides in San Francisco and specializes in commercializing biotech and communication technologies. As a former practicing patent agent, he was responsible for all aspects of patent preparation and prosecution including national and foreign applications, drafting licensing agreements, freedom to operate opinions and documents in preparation of litigation.

A few of Dr. Lawyer’s current ventures include www.bookflow.com, an internet-based business selling digital copies of rare/ antiquarian books, and his most recent venture is a soon-to-be-released social-networking iphone application, www.heydarhotspots.com.

Mike Strasser, Managing Member, Think2Build and ReactorSF
Mike has over 14 years of experience in product design consulting and has worked at a wide range of companies including NASA-Ames, IDEO, BMW, Apple, and Kestrel. Mike is on over 18 patents and helped develop dozens of products including the Tracker avalanche rescue beacon, Gerber’s manual breast pump, game controllers for Logitech, P&G’s Swiffer Carpet Flick, Apple's optical mouse, several medical devices, printer technology development for HP, a new line of furniture for Steelcase, and the BACTrack personal blood alcohol tester.

In 2005, Mike founded Think2Build LLC, a consultancy in San Francisco that specializes in design and engineering from concept to production, but also aids many startups in the early stages including early research, concept development, patent strategy, and investor presentations.

In 2007, Mike started a shared workspace called the Reactor (www.reactorsf.com), a place to setup shop for Think2Build as well as create a space for other companies to have a place to work and share ideas. There are currently 9 companies residing at the Reactor. This highly collaborative environment has since spawned 2 new companies for which Mike is also part of.

Mike has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and a MSE from Stanford in Product Design.

Bay Area's Best at Mighty 2008!

Bay Area’s Best
It’s back!
Every year the Industrial Designers Society of America and Business Week join forces to bestow the prestigious International Design Excellence Award to the most outstanding examples of design today. As the longstanding epicenter of Industrial Design, the Bay Area consistently triumphs in this widely recognized competition. This year is no exception. With over 30 winning designs, the city by the bay has occasion to celebrate. And after a year off for ICSID, Bay Area’s Best is back and bigger than ever.

This year, we’re stretching the festivities into a space more fitting to the scale of the honor. The night club, Mighty will provide the perfect backdrop for a party that comes so close to Halloween, we can’t resist encouraging costumes.

Come in costume for a throwback theme that is best described as “beginnings.” Think back to the beginnings of your studio. Was it short shorts and mustaches? Leisure suits and feathered hair? Pegged jeans and sweat bands? Flannel shirts and bed head? Or signature black and faux hawks? (Yes we think that’s over ;) Whatever the era, come prepared for a trip down memory lane.

Drinks on us. Snacks on wheels. Barry Katz on the mic. Music, entertainment, door prizes, surprises and more.

Join us in honoring the best of the bay!*
Thursday, October 23rd, 7-11pm
At Mighty, 119 Utah St, San Francisco
*Throwback costumes encouraged

Tickets on sale now!*
Purchase here
Students $20
members $25
non-members $45
*Under 21 not admitted

This event is brought to you by IDSA/SF + Autodesk
Additional sponsors include:
Freetech Plastics, Surface Inc, Bunkspeed, and CACT

See you soon,
Charlie, Heather and the IDSA SF crew

Questions? Charlie@IDSA-SF.org

Digging Deeper Conference

Tuesday, July 22, 5:30pm-10pm.

The IDSA SF Chapter has been hard at work creating the event of the summer. Dubbed "Digging Deeper", the evening conference will tackle eco-issues that confront designers.

As the dialogue around sustainability expands and points of view proliferate, distinct courses of action blur. Every choice is a trade off. Getting smart when designing green means understanding context.

Digging Deeper seeks to equip designers with the questions, methods and actionable tools for designing green. Experts on measuring the environmental, social and business impacts of design decisions will demonstrate appropriate research methods and strategies required for success and ensure a sustainable future. Emerging solutions will be documented in an online toolkit to enable broader knowledge sharing and the development of best practices for Sustainability in Design.

You are invited to join our Digging Deeper forum during the evening of Tuesday, July 22nd. We are thrilled to announce that Temple will be host to this zero waste event. Temple is a progressive, sustainable venue focused on reducing the entertainment empire’s ecological footprint.

Temple is located at 540 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94105
Reception begins at 5:30pm
Priority attendance given to IDSA Members


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Urban Iditarod

Get your game faces on San Francisco designers - the Urban Idiatrod is back (we think).

Details for this year's March 1 race are here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/urban-iditarod-san-francisco