gift guide 2008: donate it!

PA guest blogger Ellen and I put our heads together and came up with some ideas for our 2008 gift guide. The idea is to keep it environmentally and wallet friendly.


"Be the change" shoes from Toms. For every pair of shoes purchased, Toms will give a pair to a child in need.

 

Support a woman as she rebuilds her life, family and community with these Hi 5 gloves from Kate Spade, handcrafted by women in war-torn regions. via a cup of jo

My friend's mom, Jane, runs this excellent charity that helps improve the lives of children in rural Vietnam. Consider making a donation on behalf of a friend or family member. 

Name your subscription price to Good Magazine — between $1 and $1000 — and 100% your money goes to the charity of your choice. The magazine's articles and design values are pretty good too.

letterpress: election day

I am behind on my blogroll post for this week, which I will post later today. In the meantime, above is pic of my first shot at letterpress printing, from my weekly class at the Center for Book Arts in NYC. I thought I'd do something timely, so I borrowed an idea from from kwvh's etsy shop. Even though I'm not in a swing state, I'll be giving these out to friends in the next few days to remind them to exercise their right to vote. I encourage you to do the same!

the girl effect

Typeface animation to promote the girl effect. This post is dedicated to my friend Jane, who understands the girl effect and is making a difference with her organization, the Vietnam Fund.

FLOWmarket

One of the cooler ideas I've seen in a while: FLOWmarket, the creation of Danish designer Mads Hagstroem, addresses "imbalances" in "individual, collective and environmental flow," transforming them into "aesthetically designed (empty) packings with humorous and thought awakening" text. via carpe+item

tap project

The Tap Project, a campaign that helps UNICEF provide safe drinking water for children around the world by asking a minimum of $1 for the tap water diners normally enjoy for free, is coming to a city near you during World Water Week (March 16-22). I'm going to stop by my local restaurant that week to contribute my $1 and see if I can get one of these nifty bottles. I think they're just for advertising purposes though.

water is a human right

Linda Loudermilk necklace from her Water Is a Human Right products line. A portion of proceeds is donated to the YEW Foundation to support organizations with clean water initiatives.

425

425 is the number of dollars needed by marginalized residents of Hale County, AL to buy a water meter in so they can get clean water in their homes. Above, Project M was covered by GOOD magazine last fall and described at Designism 2.0 — "design for social change" — by Ellen Sitkin in December (covered by core 77 design blog).