Think magazine 001

ThinkMag.net

evolution

m a g a z i n e

THE QUINTESSENTIAL DESTINATION TO SUSTAINABLE LIVING

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AUGUST 2009 ISSUE 001

2 | ON THE COVER

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Editor-in-Chief/ Creative Director Art Director Contributing Fashion Editor Logo Desgin

Jacqueline Carlisle Justin Hammons

Vanessa Voltolina Sunny Fong

Contributing Technology Editor Writer Design Production Site Services

Erich Zainzinger KJ Mullins Traffic Marketing Group Mychol Scully

ON THE COVER Switch grass light by Andrew Haarsager.

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INTRODUCING... | 3

InTRODUCInG

THInK This first issue was inspired by a global evolution and how we, as humans can adapt to this change.

I didn’t want to make a political stand with this magazine but in some ways it couldn’t be helped when speaking of change. Think magazine is all about delivering to you the viewer, 21st century sustainable design and how it will progress in the future, a future that is now calling out for different mandates on how we dispose of waste and how we consume energy. We take a look at the options for change in wearable technology from a lab based in the Philippines and why this is a growing field. Other eco warriors such as Ada Zanditon a designer who has fully committed to creating sustainably made clothing has made no excuses for her strong passionate voice in the world of fashion and Andrew Haarsager, our cover story of a young man from Rhode Island who has a natural understanding of fusing beauty with function in an emerging industry. Striving towards a no fossil fuel directive is MDI a company dedicated to creating vehicles that run on air.

And last but not least a montage of designers who are experimenting with the idea of sustainability.

Think magazine intends to follow these talented designers through their growth cycle and predict collaborations for the future with industrial giants who are starving for a fresh approach. Since the turn of the century I have been waiting patiently for a significant change in design that confirmed the arrival of the 21st century another industrial revolution if you will. This market is still quite fresh and it still has a long way to go, but we want to bring you options that inspire you to make intelligent consumer choices. I hope you enjoy this first issue as much as we had the pleasure of putting it together. Change is progressive, inviting and crucial for growth, the future beckons.

IN THIS ISSUE STYLE Interactive, sensible clothing

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FASHION I AM: Ada Zanditon

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DESIGN Beyond the Tipping Point, a digital conversation with Andrew Haarsager

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TRANSPORT The Car for Green Living

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TH Ink fashion and style

The future of fashion is eco pret-a-porter

FIBER OPTIC GLOVE Designer: Telen Septic

INTERACTIVE SENSIBLE CLOTHING Using your sweater to control your iPod or mobile phone, shirts that check your heart rate, jackets that change color or bags that charge all your gadgets via the sunlight.

No, it’s not science fiction; it’s an emerging trend in the fashion industry. For years scientists and innovator developed technologies wanted to merge electronics

and textiles allowing us to use our wardrobe as a source of energy.

Since the beginning of time humans beings have used clothing to cover up nudity and protect against natures forces such as different weather conditions and temperatures. Clothing is and has always been used to visualize status, the belonging

Interactive, Sensible Clothing

ERIC ZAINZINGER - contributing technology editor

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to certain groups or to express ones personality yet our clothing is static; it’s not fluid as our lives. One outfit chosen in the morning and we are stuck with it until be get home again to change.

Wearable technologies, the ‘magic’ to combine electronic function and clothing is pushing on this paradigm giving our clothing the power to adapt, to interact with us and our environment and adapt to it instantly.

Why integrate electronics into clothing? Clothing or bags provide a large area, which can be used to interact with the ever-smaller devices like MP3 players or mobile phones making the operation of buttons for some people almost impossible.

Ultimately the integration of some of the electronic functions like user interface such as buttons or displays will allow the elimination of these functions on our devices, making them even smaller, more comfortable to wear and to reduce the duplication of components. For example, owning a mobile phone and an MP3 player means we have two sets of buttons and two displays.

Wearable Electronic can help reduce the multiplication of such functions by combining them with a product everyone is using and nobody will leave the house without clothing and a bag.

Assuming the upgrade of fashion, the integration of wearable technologies into clothing will follow the same path as any new technology, material and process has shown in the past it will become at one point optimized, affordable and easily accessible.

Interactive, sensible clothing will become ubiquitous as our ‘old fashioned’ clothing is today.

At this point, our clothing will not only serve the function of covering up our bodies protecting us from unpleasant weather conditions such as cold, wind, and rain, interactive clothing will serve as an information medium as well.

Wearable technologies can enhance our sensibility to our environment, acting as a second skin by integrating biometric and environmental sensors into the fabric.

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Such ‘sensible clothing’ has entered the market in form of sports shirts containing heart rate sensors made of conductive yarn woven into a shirt. An example: the ‘common’ heart rate monitoring device for fitness and sport enthusiasts is a plastic chest band, uncomfortable to wear and another piece of hardware to carry around.

The advantage of a textile based heart rate sensor integrated into a running shirt; it is very soft, comfortable to wear and no additional hardware is needed, saving resources and materials.

One of the most promising and exciting aspects wearable technologies has to offer is the integration of soft, lightweight and durable solar panels into bags and clothing. Such products allow the environmental conscious use of electrical power to drive all our personal electronic devices.

Bags and clothing provide large areas to collect light. Collecting this light and converting it to electrical power either use it directly to ‘feed’ our power hungry electronic gadgets or storing it in rechargeable batteries for later use.

Parts of clothing or bags can be styled with flexible solar panels make power collection a fashion statement and is adding another practical feature to our clothing.

Wearable technologies are not yet mature enough to attract a wider audience but early adopter in the consumer markets start to discover the unmatched opportunities technology enhanced clothing offers.

Designer and technologist will need to work closer together to be able to utilize all these opportunities wearable electronic technologies offer to create clothing that interacts with the environment and extents the senses of the wearer.

For more information on Eric Zainzinger visit www.talk2myshirt.com.

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Interactive, Sensible Clothing

ERIC ZAINZINGER - contributing technology editor

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INTERACTIVE SOLAR BAG Designed by Erich Zainzinger

I AM EMERALD

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I AM: Ada Zantiton VANESSA VOLTOLINA - contributing fashion editor

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I AM: ADA ZANDITON I am the moonlight. I am the summit rock. I am the vulture. I am Amergin.

Through the many repetitious lines of the 16th century Irish poem, The Incantation of Amergin, U.K. fashion designer Ada Zanditon’s autumn/winter 2009/10 collection was born. The verses of bard Amergin, the first poet of the Irish people, have seeped into her sustainable, organic ideas. “I interpret his [Amergin’s] poems to be about the strength in nature and the strength a

person can embody that echoes this.

The science of global warming is clear and apparent, and it’s very much about preservation; we must also consider and add to the equation that improving and preserving our environment also preserves and improves community, and thus I believe provides the possibility for better social dynamics and cohesion.”

For many, inspiring fashion design is typically pretty. But Zanditon’s latest collection, The Incantation of Amergin, “gets past this

and shows the fight behind sustainable fashion,” she says. “Being an ‘ecowarrior’ is part of my feminist nature.” Aptly named after Amergin’s inspiring poem, Zanditon’s clothing takes cues from strong female figures like Joan of Arc, and brings these designs to life on friend and main model, Magnhild. Out of all of her designs to this point, Zanditon says that “I am the battle” [photo look eight front] is her favorite. In addition to Amergin’s poem, the book, Soil and Soul by Alastair McIntosh, Celtic

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mythology and Megalithic architecture from across the UK and Ireland also played into the basic patterns and strong form of her designs.

THE EVOLUTION From the beginning, Zanditon can remember being taken with fashion. When she was a little girl and saw Vogue for the first time on the shelves at the grocery store, she recalls refusing to leave the shop until her mother purchased a copy for her.

Since her discovery of high fashion at a young age, the designer has aimed to create styles for the 30-something, sophisticated woman. “Any woman can become this; my designs are like wearing a sculpture,” she says. However, “The way I dress is more like my illustrations,” says Zanditon of her own personal style. Some of the designers that she most respects are Jil Sander—“it’s all about the shape and not busy”—Halston, and Anish Kapoor, whose designs are “like Halston, but more pure.”

During her education at the London College of Fashion, Zanditon went against the popular trend to show a real interest in eco-design. “For my first year project, I told my professors that I was going to try and find sustainable cotton for my designs, and they were like, ‘why?’” she recalls.

When the young designer graduated in 2007 with an Alexander McQueen internship and Parisian ready-to-wear design experience under her belt, her graduate collection was selected for the Royal Academy press show. The year she graduated she was also chosen to work on the Shared Talent Project at South African Fashion Week, where the graduates collaborated with crafters from Soweto and Hillbrow.

Now, taking a page from Zanditon’s book, London College of Fashion offers a Center for Sustainable Fashion, launched in early 2008, educating students on companies, support companies, support organizations and NGOs in this area.

Since launching her two professional lines, Emergence in and The Incantation of Amergin, Zanditon’s fashions have been worn by top model Lisa Snowden in Enigma magazine, pop singers Patrick Wolf in Glamour and musical artist Bishi at the O2 Arena and on BBC1's The Culture Show. Her £2000 note dress was also used for a Ford Fiesta publicity campaign in 2007.

THE COLLECTIONS In March 2008, Zanditon began her first professional collection for spring/summer 2009, Emergence, shown in July through a sponsorship from Aveda Salons and Fashion TV. Zanditon considers Emergence to be her experiential collection, showcasing silver bishi pants [photo:

I AM: Ada Zantiton VANESSA VOLTOLINA - contributing fashion editor

I AM RAVEN

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I AM THE VULTURE

I AM: Ada Zantiton VANESSA VOLTOLINA - contributing fashion editor

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bishipants] and her favorite item, a dress top made from sustainable, British FSC cherry white ash pine wood blocks [photo: wood].

Amerigen, then, would be her wearable collection with pieces like “I am the vulture” and “I am the raven” [photo 10 and photo lookfour] at the center. “It’s sculptural,” she says. For her upcoming spring/summer collection, “my challenge will be to combine these styles into a 50-50 mix [of experiential and wearable].”

While the designer considered giving her designs a brand name, ultimately she determined that she was the brand name. In each collection, Zanditon works to weave ecologically sound fabrics from disparate themes and mix and match. She exhibited Emergence at Ethical Fashion Show in Paris in October 2008 where she won the award for creativity (with a fabric sponsorship from Masters of Linen), and recently showed in Hangzhou, China as the finale collection.

THE ECO-FASHION With her strong core concept of sustainability and ethical design, Zanditon tries to push the boundaries of what sustainable fashion can be. “People have this certain idea of sustainable clothing. Like, for example, many don’t know that nylon is in fact very sustainable because it is recyclable [it’s only sustainable when it is recycled], and in addition, it uses very little water in the recycling process, which is great,” she says. “My goal is to dispel these misconceptions.”

Before launching into Emergence, Zanditon created uniforms using hemp and organic cotton for Gina Conway Aveda Salons, and spent winter 2008 into 2009 creating patterns for the showpiece designs for British designer Gareth Pugh. In February 2008, she made a range of recycled and restyled clothes and accessories for the Oxfam Boutiques in collaboration with LCF, Oxfam and Jane Shepherdson.

In addition to hemp and organic cotton, Zanditon loves working with silk, a predominant material in her collections, as well as tencel (lyocell). For her Amergin dress design, Boadicea [photo boaddress], she and her team tore strips of cotton fabric and dyed them with berries, attaching each strip long-ways in order to create a number of panels, which were then pieced together to form an elegant design. n her Incantation of Amergin collection, her choice of materials very much supports the pure and traditional roots of UK industry.

Throughout Amergin, she uses wool woven by Marling and Evans; silk jacquards, woven, spun, dyed and finished at Sudbury, England’s Vanners mill for over 200 years; fair trade organic cotton certified by SKAL and sourced from English-based Fabrics Limited; and high quality silks from Henry Bertrand in London. “Most importantly, ethical can be any kind of design,” she says, having freelanced for ethical

sportswear and children’s fashion companies.

For her upcoming collection, Zanditon is working with linen, thanks to a generous sponsorship from CELC masters of linen.

Zanditon herself believes in the small, everyday revolutions as a means to making a difference. In her own life, she has employed a zero waste technology by saving the fabric

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residue and shredding this to create padding for scarves and shoulder pads.

THE FUTURE Of the future of sustainable design, both fashion and otherwise, Zanditon says that it’s all about “opening things up, not closing doors. The more materials we find and share, the more we can improve.” And as more and

I AM: Ada Zantiton VANESSA VOLTOLINA - contributing fashion editor

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I AM: SUSTAINABLE FASHION

more designers opt to take a walk down the eco-friendly path, much like the fearlessness her feminist, eco warrior designs inspire, Zanditon is unafraid of the competition. “When others are doing the same kind of things in sustainable design, it really holds a mirror up to the moment. I ultimately want to make clothing that is mass-manufactured and

ethical. There is so much more responsibility in this kind of goal, and a challenge to creation fashion that is both affordable and accessible.�

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TH Ink design and technology

The future of design and technology is eco-conscious.

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SWITCH GRASS LIGHT Designed by Andrew Haarsager

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Beyond the Tipping Point DIGITAL CONVERSATION - JACQUELINE CARLISLE - editor

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BEYOND THE TIPPING POINT A digital conversation with designer Andrew Haarsager 18:02 THINK: Hi Andrew, are you ready to begin?

18:03 Andrew: Yep, ready 18:04 THINK: Where are located?

18:05 Andrew: Providence, RI 18:06 THINK: Judging by your surname I thought you were from Sweden?

18:07 Andrew: My family is Norwegian and Swedish - I grew up in Idaho USA, but lived in Sweden for a large part of 2007 18:10 THINK: Did industrial design choose you or did you choose it?

18:13 Andrew: Ha - I guess you could say it

chose me. When I was a child I spent most of my time "inventing" things such as hamster-escape alarms and tools to steal food and drink from my sister at the dinner table (which is to say, extra long forks and drinking straws). Anyway, I had to help it along though - I had originally planned to do Architecture in college. No one really knew of Industrial Design as a profession where I grew up.

18:15 THINK: That's funny and also quite interesting I have read in the past that some

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PROPFOLD CHAIR Designed by Andrew Haarsager

designers studied architecture first, then went on to be an industrial or fashion designer.

Do you feel there are similarities?

18:16 are you still there?

18:17 Andrew: Yep - sorry, just thinking how to respond :) 18:18 THINK: Okay, please take your time :) 18:23 Andrew: Of course, there are

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many similarities - designing for either, signals a desire to change a spacial environment - be it a specific one, in the case of architecture, or many environments if you are designing mass-produced products. Both require consideration for engineering, aesthetics, and human instinct and semiotics. Both are ulti-

mately not just the designed object, but the service that the object gives you - they are the interaction you have with it.

So yes, in these ways I feel that they are similar.

18:24 Of course, I didn't study architecture, so perhaps I'm not a reliable source of opinion on the matter :) 18:25 THINK: Do you think indus-

Beyond the Tipping Point DIGITAL CONVERSATION - JACQUELINE CARLISLE - editor

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trial design is moving forward, in other words do you think there are distinct designs that reflect the 21st century.

18:26 Andrew:: It's funny - Taschen came out with a book "design for the 21st century," presumably after "Design of the 20th century" sold well and I remember thinking, isn't it a bit early for this?:) 18:29But to answer your question - I think it is safe to say that this part of the 21st century will be remembered as the time we had sort of a cultural awakening. Something that is not stylistic. It's more analogous to the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. It is the time when we realized that our resources are not infinite and started behaving accordingly with our objects and built environment.

18:31 THINK: I have to agree with you re: Taschen it is too early for a retrospective, on the other hand we are 9 years into the 21 century and I for one was starving for significant signs in design that marked the 21st century 18:32 THINK: Would you consider yourself an industrial designer who will take part in the industrial revolution of the 21st century?

18:33 Andrew: Absolutely - it would be reprehensible (not to mention business suicide) not to take part in this 18:37 I believe we've reached the tipping point, where sustainable design no longer has to subscribe to a specific style or appeal to a certain type of person - sustainable thinking is becoming so mainstream that things existing outside it are starting to be perceived as the outlier. And this is something that I believe will only increase as time passes.

18:38 which is good for people like me - we get to design products for everyone! Not just people who are already interested in protecting the earth. :) 18:40THINK: Did you start out wanting to design sustainably?

18:41 Andrew:: Actually no, though interestingly enough I was the president of the "Environmental Club" at my high school 18:42 at the time I didn't see the connection between

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protecting the earth and design - when I chose to go to RISD I was a bit worried that I would experience some kind of existential crisis about how I was selfishly adding more products to the landfills 18:43 and at some point it occurred to me that design was EXACTLY the way I could help things out. And I believe with all my heart that it is more useful to be a responsible designer than to be an activist.

18:44 THINK:: Don't you think you're a bit of both, part activist and part designer?

18:47 Andrew: In some ways that is true, although I think that was truer a few years ago than now.

When I first became interested in sustainable design, people still called it "Green Design" and it was sort of its own category of thing. But now, basically all product designers, at least as students, are educating themselves in it and incorporating this thoughtfulness into everything they work on. So if everyone is doing it, I think it would be hard to call myself an activist! Perhaps designers as a whole are being activists toward industry. That I think is true.

18:49 THINK: What are some of your favourite materials to use and how do they affect the planet?

18:54 Andrew: Interesting question. It is fun to start with an ordinary material and try to transcend it in the design phase - such as with the cardboard lamp frequently though, at least at my age, that exercise is limited to studies such as this. In designing more ordinary products, I think you have to take it on a case-by-case basis. I was recently in the position of designing a fitness product - a small piece of electronics that attaches to your clothing and monitors your physical activity. Part of it needed to be flexible in order to clip onto something. Given that, what do you do?

You could make it out of multiple parts, with a spring - but that requires more assembly and would likely be thrown away without recycling because of the complexity involved in disassembling it. Yet, it could be made out of a relatively environmentally benign plastic 18:58 or, one could make it out of PVC, which is a super toxic plastic to manufacture. However, it is flexible enough that it can be one part, which can

Beyond the Tipping Point DIGITAL CONVERSATION - JACQUELINE CARLISLE - editor

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r[ev] Mortorcycles for hire.

easily be recycled with no downgrade in material quality. This, then, becomes the better choice in that instance. Even though in most cases I would not wish PVC on my worst enemy! :) 19:00 THINK: The cardboard lamp for example is to me the definitive sustainable product. How do you feel about it?

19:04 Andrew: Truthfully, it is one of my

favorite pieces. People have critiqued it in the past as being conceptually heavy-handed, and I would be forced to agree :) Yet still, as an object it turns a utilitarian, durable, ugly material into something delicate and precious.

This is a quality that I would love more of my work to have. I think it needs to see some more iterations before it is ready for action,

WISENSE one ID for every purpose

perhaps.

19:06 THINK: : I have to confess it's my favourite also it’s very appealing esthetically. Heavy handed in what way?

19:09 Andrew: The idea with it is this: it would live in the garden, with the base buried in the ground. The light that shows through it is dappled and shifting, like sunlight through branches. Eventually, as the cardboard breaks down in the outdoor weather, the lamp would wilt and experience death like the seasonal plants it is surrounded by. Since it is an object one can easily build themselves, the light bulb and hardware can live on, like a seed, to the next version - planted again when the nice weather returns.

19:10 Andrew: Some perceive this narrative as unnecessary to the reality of the object - and

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I see their point :) 19:11 THINK: Gosh, I had no idea it was intended for outdoor use.

You're saying that new cardboard can be added once the old cardboard breaks down?

19:12 Andrew: Yes exactly. It is to embrace the degradability of the material, rather than try to hide it.

19:14 THINK: That's quite poignant and poetic in many ways. Do you believe your designs hold a romantic quality?

19:18 Andrew: My favorite ones do. It is not always possible or appropriate to inject romance in something, but whenever possible I try to give people something to chew on that is not simply a pleasing shape or a sustainable material, something that stimulates the mind.

19:19 THINK: What is your age and how long have you been an industrial designer?

19:20 Andrew: I'm 23 - not long enough :) 19:21 THINK: lol...long enough for what exactly?

19:24 Andrew: Well, to be candid - there's a public radio show called "This American Life," which is hosted by a guy named Ira Glass.

It's all stories about "real people" and the interesting things that happen to them. Well, one show he did about himself, about becoming a radio journalist and the path that led him to this show, which is one of the most popular radio programs in the country.

And he told the story of when he was in his twenties, he was trying to do investigative journalism - and failing. He said listening to tapes of himself from that time made something apparent; that as a creative person, you reach a point in your education and early career where your ability to recognize good things in your field exceeds your ability to create them. So you end up in this awkward phase until those two things match up. In some ways I feel that now.

19:26 An easier answer to that question is that I feel a hunger to keep designing more and more things, yet there is not time in life (especially with a full time job) to keep up with that. And it’s easy to feel stunted when there is this forced slowness.

19:28 THINK: I think that comes with the pressure in today's society. We are meant to hit certainl life targets quicker than ever before and truth be told it's seems overwhelming to many including myself.

Do you feel you still have more to give?

19:30 Andrew: Absolutely - I'm currently holding a full-time job as an interaction designer, maintain 2 blogs and contribute to a third, take on odd freelance jobs, and build objects in my spare time. I don't want to slow down - losing energy is an unappealing idea that I hope doesn't happen for a long while. :) 19:33 THINK: You have to diversify in today's world in order to get

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noticed. Part of think magazine's mandate is to expose new designers who are making a difference, who are creating original designs and processes. If you could collaborate with anyone who would your top three choices be?

19:34 Andrew: Stefan Boublil, Philip Wood, or Tokujin Yoshioka 19:36 THINK: Are they like rock stars for you? I know if were to meet Fabien Baron I'd probably faint he's one of my rock stars in the publishing world.

19:38 Andrew: Haha, I suppose they are.

Actually I've met the first two, briefly - I met Stefan at a party he was hosting at The Apartment during design week NY last year. My cell phone was dead and I desperately needed to find someone who is a mutual friend of ours, so I basically shook

his hand and said "Hey Stefan, great party.

Where's Sally?" I think it went well.

19:39 THINK: I think meeting people you aspire to is always a wee bit comical.

Andrew:: [speaking of, you might check out Sally's blog - she is an interior designer in San Francisco who is obsessed with things sustainable - sallytv.com] [might be another good interview] 19:40 THINK: Well this was great, very insightful. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me.

19:41 Andrew: Awesome. Good luck!

19:42 THINK: Thanks and best of luck to you also. I'll say goodbye now will keep you posted.

19:43 Andrew: Nice to chat. Goodnight 19:44 THINK: And to you, goodnight.

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The Car for Green Living WRITER - KJ

MULLINS

THE CAR FOR GREEN LIVING The compressed-air powered AIRPod is the car for green living Designers of the AIRPod took into consideration large cities and the environment when putting their cars on the drawing board. What came from those considerations is a car that is perfect for the city dweller and leaves zero pollution in its wake.

Using the Swiss company MDI’s

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engine designs and adapting the technologies to enable an oxygen powered engine to fuel a car, AIRPod is able to do the impossible, use compressed air to power a car. For those who are focused on preserving the environment AIRPod is a dream for consumers.

The AIRPod was on display this winter at the International Geneva Motor Show 2009. During the ten

events the MDI stand saw almost 700,000 visitors. Some of those that hit the stand had check books in hand ready to be one of the first to own an AIRPod or at the very least to rent one.

According to those who worked the event’s stand on average 200 people wanted their own AIRPod daily.

AIRPod is a revolutionary vehicle that takes green living to the streets. The

AIRPOD CAR

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The Car for Green Living WRITER - KJ

Swiss-made car uses compressed air instead of gasoline for fuel. The concept car left the production line in spring 2009.

The AIRPod is a fantastic car for city dwellers with a small price tag and zero pollution it is a welcome change for the road.

The car uses a joystick for steering. A fill-up only costs a single euro per 200 km. On busy city streets the AIRPod breezes in and out of tight parking spaces enabling the driver a wider range of parking spots. The sharp design is an added plus for stylish city drivers.

The compact AIRPod car can seat three adults and one child and still provide room for luggage. Dedicated to both the private and public consumer the AIRPod delivers a sound investment.

The AIRPod Baby is a two-seater with a luggage area of more than 500 litres. The Baby was designed with the city driver’s needs with enough flexibility to be used for deliveries, municipal services, roads and small logistics.

Need more room? The AIRPod Cargo was designed for those that need cargo space. The cargo area can hold up to a meter cube making it easy to shuttle deliveries around town.

The AIRPod has even made it into children’s storybooks.

“From the Air for the Planet” written by Mr. Jean-Marie Defossez raises awareness about environmental protection for the next generation. The book tells the adventures the characters face while they look for pollution free vehicles to get around in. Published by Flammarion the book can be found on the Internet.

While the AIRPod is still hard to get soon air-powered cars will be pulling into a parking spot close to you.

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