creative caffeining

Illustrator samples for next Hatch meeting:

brianna's hummingbird

collectives contd

• The 62 (www.the62.org) is an art and design collective in Brooklyn, New York
• Red Sun Press (www.redsunpress.com) is a collectively owned and operated union printshop in Massachusetts
• Eggplant Active Media Workers’ Collective (www.eggplant.coop) specializes in non-profit web design with two teams located in Vermont

a word on design collectives

from backspace.com:

Collectives, also known as “co-operatives,” “cooperatives” or “co-ops” are groups of individuals who join together to undertake an activity for their mutual benefit. Co-ops may be for-profit or not-for-profit, unionized or not, and legally incorporated or not — what’s different about a co-op is that it’s owned and operated by its members.

You may be familiar with a neighborhood food co-op or credit union. These are consumer co-ops which pool resources to offer discounted services to their members.

Graphic design collectives are “producer co-ops,” owned and operated by their employees. This is quite different from a firm with an employee stock ownership program. Co-op workers share in decision making and responsibility, as well as profits and losses.

Why form a cooperative? One argument is that organizations owned by the communities they serve are more accountable, and can emphasize service over profit. When employees govern their own workplace, they can design a happier, stable and more equitable work environment.

But there’s also the value of organizing according to one’s ideals. Though we are supposedly living in a democracy, most of us spend our days working for private tyrannies. Living and participating in a democracy should consist of more than just voting once a year. We should be able to participate in the decisions that affect our lives.

One member of a cooking collective sums it up: “We’ve tried not only to feed people well, but also to treat people well. Over the last 30 years our company has come to represent something bigger than we ever anticipated, and something better than the usual business.”

connect

wheat gum-pasted exercise in nyc

project II - disconnect collab

toy makers fight for exemption

A new federal crack-down has some toy manufacturers up in arms. Originally, the Consumer Product Safety Act was put in place in 2008 in order to combat the influx of tainted children's toys manufactured, largely, in China. This led to the recall of some 45 million toys and other children's products. The new regulations put in place call for more safety testing and a reduction in the permitted amount of lead. So where's the problem? This Safety Act is extremely vague, making it unclear what exactly falls under the title of "children's product". For example, a pack of paperclips sold at an office supply store does not need to adhere to the guidelines, while paperclips that are packaged in a children's science kit must be tested for lead. The vagueness of the act has placed extra hardships - cost or otherwise - on smaller, independently operated toy makers. In a revised draft, released this month, the commission granted exemption to model train makers and several others.

NY Times article
handmade toy alliance