My SVA Design for Social Innovation webinar with Alessandra Orofino. You can download our slides on Scribd.

Description: Designing Participatory Movements
Alessandra Orofino and Lee-Sean Huang, DSI faculty members and founding team members of Purpose Brazil, will discuss the role of design in their work building participatory movements, large groups of people coming together to create shared civic value.

[VERSÃO EM PORTUGUÊS]

Hi, I’m Lee-Sean, and this is my first post. I’m going to tell you the story of the how we developed the Meu Rio logo and identity, but first I would like to confess something. Maybe it’s obvious, but I’m not from here. I’m neither a Carioca (native of Rio) nor a Brazilian. I was born in Taiwan, grew up in Arizona, and lived in various other places since: Boston, Barcelona, Nakatsu (Japan), New York. I consider myself a citizen of the world, and now an honorary Carioca.

I arrived in Rio for the first time in 2010 along with Alessandra, co-founder of Meu Rio, and our Purpose colleague Emmy. We came to do, among other things, the preliminary research for the development of the brand identity. Before coming here, I had already made an effort to better understand Brazilian and Carioca culture: I studied Portuguese, I read books and watched movies about Rio, I listen to Brazilian music, I play capoeira.

But as a gringo, I also had many stereotypical and touristic images of Rio in my head: the big Jesus statue, the Sugarloaf, the wave-patterned pavement designed by Burle Marx, the beach, Carnaval, Carmen Miranda, etc. I knew I had to avoid clichés and create an identity worthy of the Marvelous City. The challenge was to create a brand that respected and celebrated Rio’s cultural heritage.

The first phase of our research involved total immersion. We travelled all over the city. We interviewed many Cariocas. We conducted observations and took hundreds of photos. All of this might sound like sightseeing, but really it was tiring work. Rio is full of visual delights and a city of stark contrasts between mountains and ocean, urban grey and rainforest green, modern and old, “asphalt” and favela.

We found abundant sources of inspiration: the colors of tropical fruit and plants; urban street art with its rough aesthetic and perceptive social critique; the sensual curves of nature, modern architecture and the bodies of Cariocas at the beach; and the first meeting of Donald Duck and Zé Carioca.

After finishing the first phase of research, we began drawing. I made several sketches. See some examples below. I tried to capture the “ginga” (swing) of the Carioca lifestyle and express the popular spirit of DIY.

After deliberating, we ended up picking the current logo.

Our logo subtly evokes the form of a coconut. Coconuts hydrate and nourish Cariocas and serve as an icon of Meu Rio. The irregular shape and imperfection help encourage popular participation.

The “Folk” font we used for the logo was created by the Brazilian type designer Marcelo Magalhães and is licensed for reuse under Creative Commons..

By definition, a brand identity is a system of visual and stylistic rule, but at Meu Rio we aim to be more than just that. Our intention is to create a “living system” brand identity that is open to participation and remix, a brand that will grow and evolve over time, and that can easily live in online and offline contexts, in two and three dimensions. This post is about the history of the Meu Rio brand, but the story is not yet finished. We continue moving forward along with your participation.

What do you think of the Meu Rio brand?

Impact Is What You Can Get Away With
Brands and organizations looking to make real social impact should go beyond the app to “do good” or “give back.” Impact isn’t an app, it’s an uprising. It’s not just a meme, it’s a movement. Warhol and McLuhan both said, “Art is what you can get away with.” Riffing on this provocation, we challenge social innovators to get away with more. What can change makers learn from artists? How do you channel cultural power to achieve deep structural change? How do you stimulate promiscuous participation? How do you turn social innovations into social movements? This session is for makers, thinkers, and doers looking to level up their understanding of the art of mass mobilization and achieving transformative impact. We will present from our experiences building 21st century movements at Purpose and engage in dialogue with fellow “movement entrepreneurs.”

Vote for our panel proposal. Thanks!

Movements surge like tides. / Failure is to force or fake. / Surf the social waves! #CulturalMovements #Uprisinggiveaway #haiku @ScottFrog

— leesean hepnova (@leesean) March 19, 2012

The challenge was to define and comment on cultural movements in a tweet. Given the brevity of the medium, I opted for the haiku form to help give me some constraints, and for the LOLZ. Also, traditional Japanese haiku is more than just the 5-7-5 syllable structure, as the poetic form often references nature. I decided to play with the metaphor of waves to describe the nature of cultural movements.

The idea of “surfing” upon the power of an ocean/cultural wave, rather than trying to control or force it parallels Goodson’s advice to marketers in BusinessWorld:

• Instead of controlling the message, marketers must learn to relinquish control and let the movement do what it will with that message.
• Companies must learn to stop talking about themselves and join in a conversation that is about anything but their products.

Brazil is known for its supermodels, but what about its social innovation models? Besides the economic boom, the country is finding a new groove in the field of digital collaboration and activism.

Last year, I moved from New York to Rio de Janeiro, where Purpose has opened its first overseas office. I have met with local innovators and interacted with all kinds of people on the streets, at the beach, and in botequins (informal bars). These experiences have all enriched my work in social innovation. Besides stimulating my creativity, immersion in a different culture and working in a foreign language have heightened my sense of mindfulness and empathy, reminded me of the virtue of humility, and taught me a few things about what it means to innovate.

Read the rest of the article at Fast Co.Exist.

Via the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) website:

“Spring 2012 will be a special season as it marks the centennial anniversary of Japan’s Gift of Trees to the U.S. To celebrate this anniversary, we’re giving you and a guest the chance to explore Japan inside and out. Read through all 6 itineraries, pick your favorite, and enter for your chance to win your dream vacation!”

Post nuclear apocalypse, the Cactoelho (Cacto = cactus, coelho = rabbit in Portuguese) is born from the fusion of a dessert jackrabbit and a cactus (the inspiration is the real cactus sitting on my desk). Cute, but spiny, he wanders the world looking for affection in the form of hugs. But that is alas, rather difficult.

Cactoelho is a new cartoon character work in progress.

Listen, love, and dance in a time of occupation.

lyrics
You, you, you
Are a part of me
The good part, the right part
The part that I like to see, now

Three, three, three
Three enemies
I face three, I face three
I fight three to keep you with me

Got a place, got a place, got a place
I got a place in my heart for you
With the things
That are secret to me

I, I, I can see
I can’t really be
I can’t be, I cant… be
I can’t be without you baby

Occupy me / occupy me / Occupy ME!
I give up, I give up my sovereignty
We are 3 / We are 3 / We are 3

The love, the hate, the love, the hate, the harmony
Dissonance is, dissonance is synthesis
And how I feel is just like this

Featuring special guest bassist Krys VanSlyke

This is my first foray into cooking here in Rio where I integrate Brazilian and Japanese influences.

Ingredients
Broccoli and cauliflower florets
Thin slice of alcatra (rumpsteak)
Olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 handful of sliced shiitake
1 garlic clove, minced
Tablespoon of soy sauce
Tablespoon of brandy
Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons of French grain mustard
Dash of hot paprika
Hot sauce to taste
Freshly ground mixed pepper (black, white, pink, and green peppercorns) to taste – substitute black pepper if that is all you have
Salt to taste

Instructions
1. Boil broccoli and cauliflower florets in salted water until tender, set aside and keep warm. Reserve some of the water and set aside.

2. Season both sides of the alcatra with salt and pepper.

3. Heat a saucepan and coat generously with olive oil.

4. Sear the steak on both sides. Since the steak is thin, one minute per side is sufficient for medium rare.

5. Remove steak from saucepan and set aside.

6. Using the same pan and oil, add chopped onions, stir and scrape the meat bits to incorporate into the onion and oil mixture. Sauté until the onions wilt and begin to brown.

7. Add the garlic and shiitake and sauté until the mushrooms cook through. Then add the remaining seasonings. Dilute with some of the vegetable cooking water if the mixture gets too dry.

8. Cook the mixture until it reduces to a saucy consistency. If you want to be really fancy, you can whisk in a bit of cold butter, but that is optional.

9. Serve on a plate with the steak, vegetables and sauce on top.

10. Enjoy!

I have been making music as a writer, composer, producer, and performer since my teenage years, so I am well aware of the power of just three chords. Songwriter Harlan Howard once said “All you need to write a country song is three chords and the truth.” Just substitue “country” with “punk,” or a myriad of other popular music genres, and you get the point.

Colby and I visited Harvard, our alma mater, this weekend. I noticed and photographed the inscription on the music department building, which reads “to charm / to strengthen / and to teach / these are the 3 chords of might.” Although I have taken classes in the building before, I had only just noticed this inscription for the first time, perhaps because I was accustomed to entering and exiting from the opposite side of the building from the inscription. I later learned that this quote comes from a poem called “The Singers” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The quotation really struck me because I have been thinking a lot lately about the purpose of my life and work and how I synthesize and integrate the various streams of my interests and experiences as a musician, social innovator, and as an educator.

Longfellow offers a succinct and poetic framework that helps me sum up what I do:

To charm: I bring delight and inspiration to others through creativity.
To strengthen: I support the work of changemakers and social entrepreneurs, helping them articulate and communicate their ideas in a more effective and powerful way.
To teach: From my first post-college job on the JET Programme to teaching in the MFA Design for Social Innovation program at SVA next year, as well as my work at Purpose, whether I have been a “teacher” or a “consultant,” I find my greater calling to be that of fostering learning and critical inquiry, not just to “empower” others, a rather well-worn term, but to inspire in others a greater sense of the possible. Teaching also helps me to perpetually learn more.

My Halloween costume: a furry panda hat I bought from a street vendor in SoHo, and my plush velvet suit I bought in Reykjavík way back in 2000.

Nicholas DiBiase and I perform an acoustic cover of REM’s “Fall on Me”.

Also check out Scott Korb’s NY Times article “The Right Moves,” about Michael Stipe’s signature moves.

This track is like Monteverdi meets Massive Attack. Opera meets trip hop and makes a hot atmospheric mess. This is my first foray in recording vocals in Italian.

lyrics
Lasciatemi morire,
Lasciatemi morire;
E che volete voi che mi conforte
In così dura sorte,
In così gran martire?
Lasciatemi morire.

Let me die,
Let me die;
And what you would think could comfort me
In such a harsh fate,
In such a great martyrdom?
Let me die.

My additions to Clay’s commentary:

“Coherence” as a concept has inherent class and cultural biases skewed in favor of those in with more power in the social and economic hierarchy.

Our socio-economic operating system doesn’t exactly making any f@#$ing sense to a many people in the 99% either.

#OWS is hardly radical. It is inherently a conservative response to the loss of a social contract from the 20th century. It seems like a call to return to the spirit of that post WWII-1980s social contract.

The Delancey Underground project seeks to transform an abandoned trolley terminal into New York City’s first underground community green space.

Beneath one of the least green areas of the city, the Lower East Side, lies a massive, unused space nearly the size of Gramercy Park.

This project envisions using an advanced solar technology to channel sunlight underground, enabling plants and trees to grow.

Coverage in New York Magazine

The Team

James Ramsey created the Delancey Underground idea and the related solar technology. He is the owner and founder of RAAD Studio, an architecture and design practice on the Lower East Side. James is also a former engineer for NASA, where he focused on satellite technologies.

Dan Barasch is Co-Founder of the Delancey Underground project. He is currently VP at PopTech, an NGO focused on promoting socially innovative applications of technology. Dan has previously worked within New York City government, as well as at Google, UNICEF, the 9/11 Survivors’ Fund, and the World Affairs Council.

R. Boykin Curry IV is a founding board member of the Delancey Underground organization. He is a partner at Eagle Capital, an investment firm based in New York. Boykin is a co-founder of Girls Prep Lower East Side and Girls Prep Bronx, and a co-founder of Democrats for Education Reform.

Lee-Sean Huang is advising the Delancey Underground project on online outreach and campaigns. He is a designer and strategist at Purpose.com, and a faculty member at SVA’s MFA Design for Social Innovation.

Leonard Bernstein

My purpose is to serve
to enable and to empower
others and ourselves
to expand our realm of the possible

My purpose is to unlock
the creative force
in myself
in my team
in my community
in my world
so we can give each other license to dream
to dream big
to dream bold
to dream crazy

My purpose is to fly
the freak flag of freedom
evangelize
radical freedom
freedom in the agility that comes
from embracing unexpected outcomes
the joy
the ecstasy
of serendipity

My purpose is to believe
to preach
faith
faith in alternatives
to our reality
faith in what is beautiful
faith in what is true

My purpose is to doubt
spread doubt like a virus
doubt about our preconceptions
our prejudices
doubt that the injustice that is
must be
doubt that I have all the answers
but we
come closer
to finding them
together

I recently appeared with my colleague Alessandra Orofino in the Fast Company article “An MFA Degree For Designers Who Want To Change The World” by Michael J. Coren.

So you want to change the world? Cynics may send you off to Wall Street or a white-shoe law firm. Those with gumption will look for another way. The new Master’s of Fine Arts in Design for Social Innovation has opened its doors just for them.

“We’re adamant this not be a program where people sit in a classroom and talk about how great it’s going to be when they go out and change the world,” says program chair Cheryl Heller at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, and a board member of PopTech. “It is helping designers go beyond self-expression, which is how most designers are taught, and how to put [design] into practice to create a change.”

Read the full article here.

James Slezak: Creative Energy: Renewing the fight for renewables
Jeremy Heimans & Alnoor Ladha: Doing Good Globally: Cosmopolitan Activism
Stephanie Gerson: Social Design Fractals
Lee-Sean Huang & Alessandra Orofino: DIY Design for Social Innovation
Wesley Adams: Foundations for Change: Structuring Social Good

We look forward to your comments and thanks in advance for your votes.

For Movement strategy Director, we want someone who can architect major projects for clients, and create and run new partnerships and incubated ventures. As you know, our 3 core disciplines are marketing/communications, strategy consulting and political organizing — so the ideal candidate will be very strong in at least one of these areas (e.g. a super talented political organizer who has helped to start or build a movement organization). Full job description

For CTO, we’re looking for a world-class team leader to oversee all aspects of technology, from the overall vision, to the buy/build/integrate decision-making process, to development and deployment of the organization’s applications and web presence, and management and growth of the technology team. Demonstrated interest in technology for social change and mass digital participation is a must. Full job description

Please let me know if anyone springs to mind – whether currently employed or not. For the right person, these roles are an opportunity to shape and direct major areas of a rapidly growing (approaching 50 people) organization.

We’re also offering a finder’s fee of $5k to the person who makes the referral (cheaper than hiring a recruiting firm) as a token of thanks.

Anyway, look forward to going to more morning classes when my schedule permits, especially since I’ve been working so much this week I haven’t been able to make it in the evenings. I like how the morning classes have an extended warm up session on mats. If I can ever manage to get myself up early enough, it would be something I could do at home too.