Pixelgawker

Main Street at Dusk. Photo courtesy of Brian W. Jones. alwaysfeelwelcome.com

 

In the past few months, my voice has been missing from Pixelgawker. This isn’t a first. When both the days and the “to-do-lists” get longer, keeping up with umpteen blogs, let alone writing for one of them, becomes quite a challenge. It’s a survival of the fittest kind of game, and all to often I find myself having to forfeit. But this post, my first one since April, isn’t about gaining better time management skills any more then its about how to tactfully avoid the continual addition of projects/events/involvement onto an already full plate. Instead, I would like to briefly outline an experience that I’ve been involved with since this past March, and how through this experience (and a stroke of good luck) I’ve found myself living, working and writing this essay in rural Alabama. It’s called Project M, and in more ways then one, its changed my life.

Thinking Wrong 

John Bielenberg describes Project M as an “intense program designed to inspire young graphic designers, photographers, writers, and other creatives that their work can have a positive and significant impact on the world.” I tend to liken the experience more to a designer’s boot camp without the buzz-cuts. Project M is not run like a school course, nor is it operated like a design office. Rather, it’s made up of a handful of passionate young people living, working, playing, and breathing together 24/7 – tangled up with a stellar line-up of advisors – mishmashed with a hefty list of worldly problems to address – jumbled with enough skill, optimism, and imagination to truly make a difference. That’s the Project M I know. And that’s what I was lucky enough to experience in early March of this past year. 

One Slice of Pie at a Time

During this special 2-week session, 14 of us gathered in cold and muddy Belfast Maine faced with the challenge of an accelerated time line and a larger then usual group. We hit the ground running and spent the first couple of days getting to know the people of Belfast, while exploring some of the surrounding areas. During this time, we immersed ourselves in a new environment hoping that something we saw or experienced would inspire a project. By day 3, we had already begun to freak out. With all the challenges facing our world (global warming, financial meltdown, water shortages, etc) we wondered how a small group of graphic designers like ourselves could actually do anything relatively useful in only 2 weeks. After much discussion and exploration we collectively decided that maybe we couldn’t do anything to stop all these daunting issues, but what we could offer was a way to embrace the good that already exists in our world (and particularly in Belfast) by uniting people of all kinds within the community. Our vehicle? Pie. So on 3/14 (Pi Day) we surprised downtown Belfast with a pop-up pie stand. Our message was simple, unassuming and honest: Sometimes life is bad; free pie isn’t. 

This first Free Pie Event, (what these pop-up pie gatherings would later be termed) was planned, promoted, and executed all within a 48 hour period. During those two days, we designed and printed flyers to hand out all over town, we made whip cream pies and covertly planted them around the town’s sidewalks, we decorated our delivery vehicle, we stenciled a campaign in the snow, we contacted the local press, we made nearly 40 pies, and we paraded through downtown to excite the locals. The day of the event, more then 200 people came to enjoy a delicious slice of free pie, which we served on real plates so as to encourage our guests to linger and enjoy each other’s company. The event was wildly successful and proved how much can actually be accomplished through collaboration. 

After the Free Pie Event, the question on everyone’s mind was “what next?” With a week of Project M to go, we wondered if pie was really the direction we wanted to pursue. We first thought that maybe we could ‘package’ this Free Pie Event idea and encourage others to hold similar pop-up pie days in their hometowns. This seemed manageable enough to pull off, but we all felt like it needed something more. What developed next is something we call Pie Lab. Pie Lab is an actual place where visitors can come enjoy a slice of pie, a cup of coffee and some good conversation. It serves as an interface between the community in which it exists and the graphic designers who operate it. Much like Free Pie, the idea driving Pie Lab is simple: a neutral place + a slice of pie = conversation; conversation = ideas; ideas + design = positive change. In May, the first prototype Pie Lab opened in Greensboro, Alabama, where it has been very well received, both by town locals and the greater design community.

Why Greensboro?

Greensboro is a small, catfish exporting, town in central Alabama. 35% of the town’s population live at or below the line of poverty. Greensboro, along with the surrounding towns in Hale County and across the Black Belt region, have become increasingly well known in recent years due in part to the work of Auburn’s Rural Studio. Started in 1993 by the late Samuel Mockbee, the Rural Studio gives architecture students the opportunity to form “workable solutions” based upon the “needs of the community.” Working within the community’s own context, the resulting projects are derived from “real human contact” and a “gained appreciation for the culture.”  It was this philosophy that originally inspired John to start Project M some eight years ago. So in 2007, John brought the group of M’ers down to Greensboro to the place where it all began. That year, the eight designers learned that one in four families in Hale County are not connected to the municipal water system. Without this service, these rural families often get water contaminated with sewage. With the help of Pam Dorr and HERO, (the Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization) the M’ers discovered that for merely $425 a household these families could be hooked up to the municipal system and have clean water delivered to their home. To date, their buy-a-meter campaign has raised more then $40,000, enough to put water meters in at least 100 homes. In 2008, a new group of Mer’s returned to Greensboro, this time focusing their energy on creating a permanent Project M Lab. The M Lab is situated on the HERO campus and is intended to be a permanent studio space for young designers and students who want to do meaningful work in Hale County.

Evolving Project M

So what does all this mean, and why did I move from my comfortable studio in Lafayette Park, in a city that I’ve grown to respect, down to the rural south? It’s a question I’ve been continually grappling with. I’d imagine it will take more time for me to fully comprehend the effects of this decision. For the next year I will be working with MICA’s own Ryan LeCluyse at the M Lab, serving as the Lab’s very first designers. Together, we will work closely with both John and HERO to develop sustainable systems and structures within the community. We’ll be tackling projects of many kinds, some focused specifically here in Hale County and some tackling broader issues beyond our immediate surroundings. Our exact roles are being more clearly defined each day and with each new experience. 

So all this aside…

From its inception, Pixelgawker has been an experiment. No longer just a forum for students to discuss design related issues, this blog is evolving into a viable resource for Detroit-based designers to share and connect by offering new insight and ideas. We’re still young. But I’m confident that with our continually growing base of contributors, our multiplying engaged readership, and our willingness to evolve when necessary, Pixelgawker will boldly proceed forward. Though I will not be making regular contributions this upcoming year, I’m excited and anxious to read what new insight Chad, Colleen and others will bring. There’s a new energy brewing in Detroit. You can feel it from the inside, and detect it from the outside. Lets enjoy the journey.

 

 

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