This week I will be heading back to Africa with friend, photographer, and filmmaker Brian MacDonald from Wonderkind Studios. We will be traveling to Nariobi, Kenya, and South Sudan to record, document, and interview the people being served by Life In Abundance.

Our main push for going is to get acquainted with the reality and culture of our world’s newest country, South Sudan. LIA is planning to focus on that region in the coming years, and there are many things we want to help them with – including our next documentary collaboration slated for sometime in 2013. Like with most creative projects, understanding the reality of the situation is key. Whether it’s watching a product demo, listening to a mock sales pitch, or trying a new product, “seeing” is key.

An additional part of our time there will be spent collecting stories from the South Sudanese so we can put together a fund-raising book that will help tell the story, raise awareness, and help finance even further work being done there. Please consider supporting our Kickstarter for that project, and please help spread the word. 

While in Kenya, we will be visiting the micro-finance shoe project we helped start with LIA called Konjo. This project helps train locals in the variety of skills needed to make shoes that they can then sell. The shoe sales help finance the program, empower learning, and create a sustainable occupation for the Kenyans. These shoes, BTW, should be available for purchase in the US by mid- to late summer.

And finally, Rule29 has been collaborating with the graduate design program at Kent State University to create info graphics to be used in the slums of Kenya and South Sudan. The goal was to create better tools for communicating major health symptoms and medicine dosages. We will be taking the prototypes developed by the students with us so we can do some field-testing.

Everyone involved is excited for these opportunities. I’m hopeful about the results of the desired outcomes and grateful to be working on design for good. But what I’m most preparing for is the reality – the reality of a world so different than my own. More importantly, I want to spend my time learning and “seeing” so we can tell their story in a way that honors them. It’s their perspective, not ours. That’s what truly matters.\

*The book shown above is a prototype/concept only.

It’s been awhile since we have posted a green post. It’s really not from a lack of ideas, but more of which ones to post. Then we watched this video this week and thought how much better can it get? It’s a Ted Talk that’s informative, 5 minutes long, and includes some rules to live by. Enjoy – and don’t forget to shake and fold!

The first music video I ever saw was Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It was 1983 and I was eight. I was over at a friend’s house watching the hour-or-so long documentary that played prior to Thriller’s premiere. In fact, I remember more about the “behind-the-scenes” feature than the actual 13-minute long version of the now classic video.

Ever since, I’ve been fascinated with the music video craft – their style, history, evolution, and place amongst culture. And there is no doubt, the industry has completed shifted from the 80s MTV scene. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to even find a music video on one of the MTV networks. And honestly, this is a good thing. It has ushered a whole new era of video production, creativity, delivery, and collaboration amongst artists and film-makers.

So, needless to say, when the opportunity came to partner with my friend Ryan O’Neil of Sleeping at Last on a music video as part of his recent “Yearbook” project, we were all in. Here’s a little background on the video.

The first step in the process was actually song selection. We wanted to find a song that not only could be visually depicted in a creative fashion, but one that had a depth about it that can lead the visuals. It did not take long for me to volley for “Emphasis” – my favorite song in the collection.

While Ryan prefers to not be featured in his videos, for a variety of reasons we wanted to include a performance piece in the mix and loved the idea of shooting this aspect of the video at the famous Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. Actually, we shot two videos here – the performance piece of this video and a live performance of Sleeping at Last’s “Turning Page” – one of the featured songs in the latest Twilight movie (“Breaking Dawn: Part I”).

It’s a long story (most of which you can read here), but we ended up building the remaining narrative around a little boy (who happens to be my son) and his exploration of a seemingly large and broken world. We chose to shoot the video almost entirely in a macro format – subtly suggesting that we are often limited by our small perspective and much too close for our own good to appreciate the world in all its beauty and mystery. As Ryan has stated, “This is a little song about big questions.”

We wanted to combine this technique (macro) with the use of small hints of natural light as a subtle nod to the lyrics.

I think at one point there were more than four concepts driving the video – much of which were abandoned after the first cut. In fact, in the end, the majority of the shots with the kid (Phin) in the video were shot within the last 20 minutes of sunlight we had on our last day of filming.  Thanks to beautiful imagery captured by Wonderkind Studios, we were able to pull off the video in time for it’s Paste Magazine premiere, which we were excited to be a part of.

If you haven’t listened to Sleeping at Last yet, get on it now. Check out the recent “Yearbook” project here.

Sleeping at Last’s “Emphasis” Music Video

Production photos courtesy of Jose Rivera Jr. and Brian MacDonald.

Ever since it launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has been changing the way we view our universe. Views of nebulas and galaxies have sparked the imaginations of countless individuals. Classic images have sparked several “Top Images” lists. But did you know the telescope orbiting over 400 miles above our heads has taken over a million observations in its 22 year career?

As you can imagine, there are thousands of Hubble images that have yet to see the light of day. That’s where the ESA’s Hubble’s Hidden Treasures contest comes in. Through May 31, 2012, you can dig through the Legacy Archives and find what you believe is the nest best image from Hubble. There are plenty of tips and tricks to get the best out of the raw data stored in the archives.

Learn more about the contest here.

Even if you have no intention of entering the contest – I hope you take a moment to look through some of Hubble’s great discoveries. At the R29 headquarters, we often talk about the idea of wonder and what inspires that sense within each of us. I think it’s no secret that looking up toward the night sky is a continuous source of wonder for me. Despite the ocular limits that I am faced with – the Hubble telescope allows me to look out into space and be amazed by all that is out there.

I can’t be the only one that feels this way, yeah? What’s your favorite Hubble image? Mine has always been the Pillars of Creation.

And best of luck if you decide to enter the contest!

In our world, when anything that references the number 29 comes along, we tend to make a big deal about it. With this being the 29th volume of our Creative Matters newsletter, we decided to provide another way to experience it with our shiny new iPad app. Since our last installment, we have been up to a variety of new promotions, campaigns, mobile apps, books, and much more. What better way to share it all with you than with this new interactive read? If you have an iPad, please download this app for free. We would love your feedback on it and your overall experience using it.

As we all get ready for spring to turn into summer, for our allergies to hopefully die down, and for baseball season to kick into high gear, please take some time to check out the two great ways to interact with Creative Matters®:

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:: Download the Creative Matters interactive PDF ::
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:: Download the Creative Matters iPad App ::

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Thanks,

The Design Monkeys from Rule29