Beyond Design – Page 2 – Experience Design

24 April 202024 April 2020

50^th anniversary of Earth Day

It was 1970 and Gaylord Nelson, a junior senator from Wisconsin and an environmentalist, decided to use the simmering energy of the anti-war movement of the time and aim it toward a growing apprehension about air and water pollution. He recruited a Stanford educated young activist by the name of Denis Hayes who quickly dropped out of his Harvard graduate program to organize campus teach-ins on environmentalism. April 22nd was chosen to boost student participation since it fell after spring break and before finals.

The first Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans (10% of the then US population) to peacefully demonstrate against the serious impact of our unbridled industrial growth. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests, rallies, and events across the length and breadth of the country. Earth Day had the unusual bipartisan support of Republicans, Democrats, urban, rural, rich, and poor and by the end of 1970, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was constituted by President Richard Nixon. Many important laws like the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act were made soon after. These laws have protected millions of us from disease and numerous species from extinction.

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day. It is recognized as the “largest secular observance in the world” and as a day of action by a billion people to assess and change our own behaviors and to bring global, national, and local attention to the planet. Our relationship with our planet has mostly hovered around how best we could harvest its resources to drive global economies. It is painfully clear now than a month ago that we have created unsustainable economies. We remain defenseless to new and unseen consequences of global warming. This pause has allowed us to reflect on the striking changes that a slowdown can have on our environment and wildlife. Air quality has improved in cities gasping for breath and animals are reclaiming their share of the planet. It has obliged us time to be mindful of climate action while we continue to cut back on our emissions, adopt efficient lifestyles, and elect lawmakers with a commitment to the planet. It is time to embrace our earth as a stakeholder in our lives and how we conduct our businesses. Collective action starts with one.

#EarthDay2020 #climatecrisis #vote

Reference: earthday.org; nytimes.com

Image credit: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-first-earth-day

Say goodbye to bulky product manuals.

09 March 202018 August 2020

Kaalo uses AR to change the game.

No more searching hundreds of pages of PDFs for instructions. You can access your specific products on this AR app — purchase information, warranties, setup configuration, installation guides, troubleshooting, accessories, upgrade options, loyalty programs and more — all at the press of a button. Misplaced your receipt? No worries; it’s in the app. Your manufacturer tells you when you need part replacements or upgrades and what loyalty benefits you have. Kaalo puts all your products, from various brands, in the app. Just point, and the desired information is presented. Wasteful paper manuals and clunky PDFs will soon be a thing of the past. Manufacturers, contact Kaalo so you aren’t left behind. https://kaalo.com//

Beyond Design – Kaalo Broadcast

30 January 202018 August 2020

Design TV, Design School, Music Design

Kaalo’s world of design transcends consulting with our broadcast division, which creates media content for audiences of all ages. We chat with inspiring designers and industry icons and facilitate design learning in schools and businesses. We also combine music and design to create content for the health and fitness industry among others. https://kaalo.com//kaalo-services/

Kaalo Beyond Design

27 January 202027 January 2020

Meaning in our Lives as Designers

Kaalo is more than a design firm; we have three categories of business: DESIGN, MANUFACTURING and INVESTMENT. All three are design-centric at their cores. Beyond our primary design services, we vertically integrate design into building and selling products, and we invest in design-related businesses globally. https://kaalo.com//kaalo-services/

3D Printing is Changing How We Think About Manufacturing

27 August 201927 August 2019

In the 1980s when 3D printing was first invented it seemed improbable that we could print actual three-dimensional, functional objects from a home printer, but that’s exactly what we can now do. With a 3D printer, you can print yourself a new case for your phone or a planter for your window sill. The novelty of printing your own sock drawers might be fun, but what does this technology mean for design and manufacturing on a larger scope?

3D printing (also called additive manufacturing or AM) is already improving the efficiency of the design process through rapid prototyping. A process that used to take months of extensive simulation and design iteration before arriving at a prototype can now happen quickly. And it allows designers to rapidly and inexpensively create multiple prototypes to test new design ideas. In this way, it speeds the design-to-prototype step of the creation process.

But if a 3D printer can create a prototype, what about the actual product? While additive manufacturing is still in its infancy with regards to massive amounts of products, it is already changing the way parts are made. AM can produce complex structures that traditional methods such as injection molding cannot — structures that are stronger and use materials more efficiently. And 3D printing processes themselves are more efficient, relying mostly on automation instead of human labor.

Another exciting aspect of 3D printing is its flexibility. Say you have a product line already in production that you want to tweak. That tweak is one click away as opposed to two or three months with traditional injection mold technology.

Right now, most experts talk about additive manufacturing for small-scale production, applicable for test markets, advertising, or trade shows. But as the capacity of 3D printers increases, they will become more realistic for large scale manufacturing.

“In the future, it is possible that all short-run part production will use 3D print,” says Dr. Paul Benning, HP fellow and 3D print chief technologist at HP Inc. “Focused product teams [will be] able to launch new products on a weekly or daily basis – only constrained by their time and imagination, no longer constrained by the capital assets needed for analog production. This agile development process for physical parts, enabled by 3D print, has the potential to radically improve and accelerate the products we will see and use in the not-too-distant future.”

As modern industry is being rewritten with tech such as the Internet of Things and machine learning, so too will additive manufacturing have a place at that table.

Sources: hbr.org, businessnewsdaily.com

Service Dogs, Inc. — Partners for Life

19 July 201918 August 2020

Service Dogs Inc. helps dogs find the people who need them as partners to overcome challenges. Through customized training, these special dogs bring independence to wounded veterans, help first responders process grief on their job, provide comfort to abused children finding their voice in courts, and help Texans living with deafness or mobility-related disabilities all free of charge to the person. The result: previously abandoned dogs and those released from other training organizations, get a renewed “leash” on life while doing the same to their human partners.

As a board member of SDI, I had the honor to attend a recent graduation of four new teams. Hearing testimonies from fosters, trainers, and partners, you are reminded of the arduous hours of love and commitment it takes to train these dogs to do the job that can only be done by the unconditional devotion that is inherent to a dog.

Service Dogs Inc. was founded in 1988 by Sheri Soltes, who left her law practice to build an organization to help physically-challenged Texans build better lives through partnering with custom trained assistance dogs. SDI trains dogs free of charge, and you can learn more, volunteer, or support the program at www.servicedogs.org.

Kaalo is proud to be associated with Service Dogs Inc., and we look forward to doing our part through design.

Chancing upon a dance

03 July 201904 July 2019

We were driving north towards Guwahati from Dhubri in lower Assam when, on an impulse, we veered off the highway to explore the rural back roads. It was a decision I wouldn’t regret, as we stumbled upon a Rongali Bihu celebration in a Bodo village. People were dressed in bursts of oranges and reds amidst lush green surroundings and the music of drums and flutes; it was the epitome of the vibrancy of coexistence.
A large group of Bodo women dressed in their colorful dhoknas and scarves were engaged in a dance. It was the Baguramba, a traditional Bodo dance with steps both simple and graceful. Because traditional clothing in many parts of India has become less common, their handwoven dhoknas stood out. In warm yellows and oranges, they were decorated with intricate green and red motifs and were probably locally spun and dyed. The dhokhna, unlike other traditional attire of Assamese women such as the two-piece mekhela chador, is a single length of woven fabric draped around the body starting from the chest and ending at the ankles. And on this day, as they danced, the drape, colors, and fabric were in tune with the task, the weather, and the mood.
The Bodo are the largest minority group of Assam and consist of several tribes with a variety of cultures. This village along the Brahmaputra river valley seemed untouched by the trappings of typical modern development. The green rolling plains with thatched homes ensconced behind areca nut palms, banana plants, and the ubiquitous red hibiscus flowers overlook verdant fields and narrow crisscrossing paths. They seem unaware of what lies beyond their rivers.
I had a sense of existence in harmony with nature, where excess had been done away with, and everything was how it should be.
#custom #natural_state #whim

Kaalo 5 Acre Design Yard

03 July 201918 August 2020

Kaalo is building a unique, creative campus in Austin, Texas. This one-of-a-kind space, destined to become a local icon, will encompass…
DESIGN STUDIOS — studios, workshops, war rooms, offices and pow-wow pods created for collaboration
EVENT CENTER — an arena fully-equipped with recording and broadcast technology ideal for large design gatherings and events.
GUEST FLATS — eight independent guest apartments, fully-furnished with amenities for extended stay.
REST & REC. — an amphitheater, commercial kitchen, gym, swimming pool, and library for designers on campus.
https://kaalo.com//
#designvillage #designstudio #experiencedesign