Launching the Design Amigos field team

(from John Connell)

And then suddenly, there were fifteen!

1.    Steve Badanes

2.    Kyle Bergman

3.    John Boecker

4.    John Connell

5.    Andrew Eisen

6.    Martin Gehner

7.    Paul Hanke

8.    Erik Hegre

9.    Gunnar Hubbard

10.  Kevin Lichten

11.  Kathy Meyer

12.  Matthew O’Connell

13.  Jeff Schoellkopf

14.  Katrina Spade

15.  Gio Susini

This is the official launch.  Applications are closed (for now).

Yestermorrow is deeply appreciative of any time and effort you may dedicate to this endeavor.  It is not a trivial undertaking and we can’t allow it to be marginalized due to lack of time or other things.  Progress must be substantial and continuous.

The Design Amigos are assembled with a very simple agenda: 
To reignite the pursuit of formal design at Yestermorrow and to make it accessible to everyone in the Yestermorrow community including staff, interns, students, visitor, fans and even the UPS delivery guy.
A simple agenda, yes, but a daunting challenge.  And we may all be better designers for the effort.

A core priority will be to discuss design with words and syntax that anyone can understand.  In this regard, we are all arriving from different backgrounds and various traditions.  So I want to launch our work together with a simple book-club type exercise that I hope will serve better than going around the table and explaining who you are why you’re here.  Eventually we will need to overcome distance and schedules, perhaps using GoToMeetings, wiki exchanges, and similar online contrivances.  But for starters I’d like to ask that everyone introduce themselves through the following:

·         Three (or four at the most) architects or designers that inspire you in your own work.  Explaining why is optional.

·         Two books that help you think about design fundamentals.  Again, any annotation is optional.

Let’s put a deadline on this, say June 25^th?

I think this process will work best if we approach it with open minds and a willingness to explore our own visual intelligence as well as others.
Soon we will discuss and write about specific projects both large and small.  But for now, let’s just get acquainted.
I’m anticipating a fantastic ride!

All good,

John