An in-office TED all about designWhether we’re conscious of it or not, design affects us in hundreds — if not thousands of ways — each day. Just think back to your morning. A designer made the decisions that went into the craftsmanship of your bed, your futon, your mattress. A designer determined the form and materials of your toothbrush, your […]
Bill Gates, designer? Yes. Public Interest Design honors 100 global thinkers who are designing social goodGood design has the power to improve lives. Yesterday, Public Interest Design — a group dedicated to design for social good — released the Global Public Interest Design 100, a list of 100 “designers” (including some people you really might not expect) who are designing for the good of all. We love this sweeping list […]
The secrets of TED’s (award-winning!) designIt is, indeed, a monumental day here at TED Towers. We’re winners! Or, as June Cohen, executive producer of TED Media, described this morning’s news of our winning the 2013 National Design Award for corporate and institutional achievement: “We’re thrilled!” “Design and design thinking has always been core to TED’s mission. After all, it’s the ‘D’ […]
A possible answer for preventing sewage from flowing into waterways in extreme weatherDuring Hurricane Sandy, 10 billion gallons of raw sewage were released into the rivers, canals and bays of New York and New Jersey — and into homes and buildings that were flooded in the storm. This shocking number comes from a report by Climate Central. As reported in The New York Times earlier this week, […]
How the TED Machine was builtWhen illustrator/storyteller Oliver Jeffers and animator/woodworker Mac Premo get together, sketchbooks travel 60,000 miles, suitcases wander the streets of Brooklyn and sandwiches are skewered with bows and arrows. Jeffers and Premo created the opening video for TED2013 — and its star, the TED Machine. The TED Machine works like a schedule board in an old […]
A visual look at 7 things that make us feel good about workLast week, Dan Ariely asked an interesting question in a TED Talk: “What makes us feel good about our work?” The TED Blog responded with the post “7 fascinating studies about what motivates us at work,” rounding up research — from both Ariely and other psychologists — that speaks to some of the surprising factors […]
The future unfolding: Fellows Friday with Skylar TibbitsSkylar Tibbits makes things that assemble themselves, with potential large-scale applications from self-adjusting water pipes to self-assembling structures in space. At his recently founded Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, he’s pioneering 4D printing — using smart materials to make objects that change shape and evolve. Here, he explains how 4D printing works, and describes his journey from architect […]
Unlikely collaborations: 5 TED Talks that reach across fieldsArchitecture and microbiology may seem like an odd couple, but TED Senior Fellow Jessica Green would beg to differ. In today’s talk, she reveals what’s teeming all over the surfaces around us, and how it can help us build smarter, healthier buildings. As the founding director of the Biology in the Built Environment Center at […]
5 smart materials, from inks that conduct electricity to acrylic that diffuses lights“We may not yet have the flying car that science fiction promised us,” says Catarina Mota in today’s talk, given at TEDGlobal 2012. “But we can have walls that change color depending on temperature, keyboards that roll up, and windows that become opaque at the flick of a switch.” As Mota demonstrates, smart materials will […]
Wikihouse’s Alastair Parvin on the bright potential of community-led developmentOne of the things we’re interested in exploring here at TED is … what happens after a talk? Most often, a speaker is telling us a story without an ending — a tale that’s just beginning rather than coming to an end. That’s certainly the case with TED2013 speaker Alastair Parvin, whose project, Wikihouse, is really just […]
Welcome to 4D printing: A Q&A with Skylar Tibbits at TED2013We’ve all heard of 3D printing. But what the heck is 4D printing? During TED Senior Fellow’s Skylar Tibbits’ talk at TED University on Thursday, he unveiled the concept — 3D printed objects that seamlessly continue to expand, fold and harden into different forms (see video below). The talk has gotten a lot of attention. We […]
The story of writing in Africa: Saki Mafundikwa at TED2013Saki Mafundikwa founded the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts, ZIVA, a Bauhaus-style school focused on African heritage. (“Vigital” denotes visual arts taught using digital tools.) It’s the first graphic design and new media college in the nation, and he wanted his students to understand the power of design–and in particular to understand “the long tradition of writing” […]
Quoted at TED2013: Julian Treasure on five-senses designJulian Treasure watches out for the ears. In the four TED Talks he’s given so far, he’s offered up “5 ways to listen better” and “Sound health in 8 steps.” At TED2013, we asked him: What speakers have given you the best auditory experience so far? It was nice to hear Jinsop Lee today talking […]
Skyscrapers of wood: Michael Green at TED2013Architect Michael Green presents an interesting riddle: why are buildings made of wood only a few stories high when trees found in nature are remarkable for their height? Speaking in session 7 of TED2013, Green shares his deep love of wood — which he first discovered from his grandfather, a woodworker who taught him to […]
Paper or plastic or what? Leyla Acaroglu at TED2013We all know sustainability is essential to our future, in vague terms. But what does that mean for the choices we make every day? In other words: paper or plastic? For one thing, design consultant Leyla Acaroglu wants you to think beyond choosing a material for your grocery tote. Instead, she encourages us to think […]
