This week I decided to focus my free time on reading. Takeaways: Tech and it’s distraction has increased an ADHD culture. For example, I often put my book down in the middle of a paragraph to avert my eyes to my blank phone screen. Learned Reflexive response🐒
I also found a holdover effect from an increase in reading more digitally. I had to slow my roll and kick start my attention span muscles. For example, I quickly make an assumption and move forward looking to validate. I needed to remind myself to relax and enjoy the journey to grasp the how and why behind the validation. It’s not about the destination but how you get there. And with that, I just put my current book down to post this, but am proud to say I have 3 books under my belt this week. Kudos me.
Streetfight:Handbook for an Urban Revolution
Janette Sadik-Khan & Seth Solomonow
During her time as New York City’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan oversaw the addition of 400 miles of new bike lanes, helped implement the nation’s largest bike-sharing system, converted 60 plazas into spaces where people could sit and relax, and repurposed 180 acres of asphalt for pedestrian and bike use. None of it was easy—she faced opposition, harsh criticism, and even legal backlash along the way. Written with her longtime colleague, Seth Solomonow—Sadik-Khan tells the story of how she made it happen, offering a roadmap for making cities and neighborhoods safer, more sustainable, and more connected. And she argues this can be done without spending huge sums of money. By emphasizing fast, easy-to-implement, “do-it-yourself” solutions, Sadik-Khan makes the case that being smart and creative—not having access to a hefty budget—is what matters most.
Takeaway: The Importance of having data and statistics to back campaigns & the importance of involving the community in these projects, e.g. in deciding where to place pocket parks, where to draw bicycle lanes.
The importance of planners /designers paying attention to desire lines, “naturally occurring travel patterns that reflect where people naturally want to travel or maneuver. Desire lines are the natural, spontaneous was that people use public space, website, or even often contradicting the way the space was designed.”
Designing for Social Change
Designing for Social Change, is a compact, hands-on guide for graphic designers who want to use their problem-solving skills to help others. Author Andrew Shea presents ten proven strategies for working effectively with community organizations. These strategies can frame the design challenge and create a checklist to keep a project on track. Twenty case studies illustrate how design professionals and students approach unique challenges when working on a social agenda.
Takeaway: Using case studies, it dissects social change projects to then analyze their lessons and create the strategies to start your own successful social design project. Engagement strategies, are broken down to provide a path to funding social design (pro bono work/grants).
The Manly Art of Knitting-David Fougner
David Fougner I am attempting to knit a hammock so....The Manly Art of Knitting was originally published in 1972. This guide to knitting, provides step-by-step instructions, helpful illustrations and fun photographs. Chapters include basics, pattern stitches (garter, stockinette, purl, rib, moss, rise, and basket weave), projects, and problems.
Takeaway: I need big knitting needles.
