davidthedesigner

actually, i didn't say that

Talking of cars, I was pleased to see the Renault ZE launch that I went to featured in an 'advertorial' in last Saturday's Guardian Weekend. I must admit that I never usually read advertorials, but I made an exception for this one. And, oh, what a surprise - there's me quoted in the text:

Now excuse me for splitting hairs, but the thing is I never spoke to anyone from The Guardian. And I certainly never told anyone that my next car will definitely be an EV. For it definitely won't be. Not because I don't think that this - or something very like this - is going to be the future of motoring, nor because I'm wedded to the notion of being a confirmed petrol head. But because I can't rely on a car that only has a range of 100 miles on a full charge, with no assurance that I could find a charging point within a 25-mile radius. My driving needs simply don't fit into a pattern that electric power can currently cater for. When that changes - as it undoubtedly will - I'll be in the queue.

That's a bit naughty of The Guardian, though, don't you think? Or am I biting the hand that feeds? - after all, I was there at their invitation.

silent running

Having secured an invitation via Guardian Extra, I tootled on over to City Hall on Saturday for the UK launch of Renault's Z.E. (for Zero Emission) range of electric vehicles. And that's my driver's-eye view above. For yes, I got to drive them as well. And the driving experience? Fantastic. I've never driven an electric vehicle before, and I'm not sure quite what I was expecting. But certainly what I didn't expect was silence. For there's no noise whatsoever. It's very disconcerting. The weird thing is, though, the disoriantation only lasts for the first 100 metres or so. Once you get going, it feels just like driving any other car (or at least any other car with automatic transmission). But the lack of engine noise has the funny effect of making you feel totally relaxed. So if this is the future of motoring, bring it on I say.

And there really is no doubt that this (or something very like this) is going to be the future for motoring. Some of us may be motivated purely by the wish to reduce our carbon footprint. And that's fine, I have no argument with that. But I suspect that only the ever-increasing cost of petrol and diesel is going to be enough to get the majority of motorists to reconsider the type of car they buy. It will come though: the day that buying this new type of car will be the only sensible choice to make. So I'd suggest that now might be the time to start getting used to the idea.

First up for my test drive was the Kangoo: my chance to become a white van man sans any semblance of van man driving behaviour. If I was running a business that relied upon transporting goods within London or any other major conurbation, I'd be in the queueing round the block to buy one of these. And no doubt you'll start seeing these on the streets after their arrival in September. Not that you'll hear them coming, mind - so watch out when you're crossing the road.

And then there was the Fluence. A lovely car to drive, to be sure. But with so little in the way of personality, it has to pass the same place twice to cast a shadow. Which is rather a shame for the purchaser who may want to be making a statement about their green credentials. I'm really not sure what Renault's idea with this one is: a car that's styled to appeal to the mass market, but without a mass market to sell it to. But it would make for a great mini cab, which is perhaps it's destiny.

But there are some more exciting models in the pipeline: again, rather aimed at the mass market in its styling cues, though somewhat more 'edgy', is the Zoe. But before that will come the one to really get excited about: the Twizy. Yes, I'd like one of those.

Anyway, thanks to Renault for an extremely well-organised preview.

on a roll again

I was listening to Dame Ellen MacArthur the other day (as you do). In fact I was ironing myself a shirt whilst listening to Desert Island Discs.

Anyway, I was struck by what she had to say about sustainable living:  “When you sail on a boat you take with you the minimum of resources. You don’t waste anything. You don’t leave the light on; you don’t leave a computer screen on. And I realised that on land we take what we want.

“You’d never do that on a boat. If you need some kitchen roll, you tear off a corner, not a whole square. But someone somewhere thought that a perforated line was what everyone needs.” 

That's worth remembering the next time somebody tries to greenwash you.

student power?

If you're a regular here, then you'll know that in the past I've regretted the fact that so few design students blogged. And I hope I've done my bit to encourage them.

Well, I think that 2009 will be the turning point. And soon they'll all be wanting to follow Alan Clarke's lovely Olympics posters onto the Creative Review blog. But, of course, you've already seen them, haven't you? But here's another student with another lovely project that you might not have seen already:

Devin MacDonald has just graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design, and for his final major project he contacted the city of Ann Arbor with an idea: to have a guide that showed students living in Ann Arbor how to live more sustainably. Devin explains "there is a lot of information out there about this topic but it is scattered all over. I set out to have a handbook that would encompass it all. The city of Ann Arbor liked the idea so much that they decided to fund the printing and distributing of 10,000 copies for the fall of 2009". You can download the Ann Arbor Green Guide just here.

It's worth it for the back cover alone:

(via For Print Only)

is this a great piece of design?

We get lots of junk flyers posted through our letterbox: mostly from pizza parlours and estate agents. I'm sure you do too.

We tend to put them on a step on the stairs until the pile's grown big enough to gather them up and sling them in the recycling bin. What a waste of resources, eh? All that ink and paper, not to mention the creative sweat and tears that goes into producing things that never get read.

Now this had been sitting on the stairs for a couple of days and I thought it was someone's shopping list, or the notes taken during a telephone conversation. So I ignored it, thinking it was someone else's list of something or other.

But I'm looking after a neighbour's house at the moment and when I was picking up her post I noticed exactly the same note sitting on her doormat. So I took a look. And then I came back home and read the whole thing.

So does this make it a great piece of design? The fact that it's been noticed when everything else gets ignored? Maybe it needs to be entered into one of those 'design effectiveness' competitions. Why it's even made it's way into the blogosphere now. And heck, I'll even go so far as to give them a web link.

They'll never persuade me to buy broccoli, though.

urban earth

This is a time-lapse movie of a walk of 26km to the centre of the city of Salisbury, and I urge you to watch it. It was made last weekend by Daniel Raven Ellison and represents the distance that one would need to travel in order to cover the city of Salisbury's ecological footprint (as opposed to its urban footprint which is a mere 2km). So if you've ever wondered what impact you yourself were having on the planet, this gives you some idea. A big one.

More details on the urban adventure blog.

this made me smile #47

From all the way down under.

the green gauge

I know a man (not terribly well, I must admit) who is the embodiment of the term petrol head. And, boy, does he like his cars. Not just any cars, mind you. I haven't seen him for a while, but every time I do he has a different one. Cars like this:

As you might imagine, he has a bob or two. So why not? Good luck to him.

The thing is, though, he emailed me a couple of weeks ago to proudly announce that by 2010 his company is going to be carbon negative. Not even carbon neutral, mind, but negative.

So I'm wondering whether this time he's splashed out on a bandwagon. Shall we all jump on?

an arboreal aberration

I happened to be in Birmingham over the weekend (this one, not that one). I couldn't help noticing that the council seems to have employed somebody to count all of the trees and then to tag each one with its own number. Is that in case they escape?

gimme five

I didn't learn to drive until I was into my forties - and, do you know what? I love it. Absolutely love it. Put me in a car and I'll drive anywhere. (And in case you're thinking that's rather ungreen of me, I would ask you to offset 30+ years of non-driving against my carbon footprint.) And because I started learning late, I decided to carry on the process and went through the advance driving course - thus going from a non-driver to an advanced driver over an 18-month period.

Now, part of the advanced driving test (yes, it's much tougher - and longer - than the regular test) involves remembering all the road signs that you pass. So at some point during the 90-minute test the examiner will ask you what was the last road sign you passed. In my case, that question came a mile further on down the road (and, yes, I got it right - it was a 'low bridge ahead' warning). But I wonder how much longer that particular part of the test is going to remain viable. Because every time I make a journey these days there seems to be another crop of signs which have appeared overnight. So you can hardly go 10 yards, yet alone a mile, without some sort of sign telling you can or can't do this or that.

A while ago I commented upon those digital displays that seem to spend 95% of the time displaying the 'NO REPORTED INCIDENTS' message. But it's not just the big things that our councils like to throw money at. Oh no. Let me show you a little car park - carefully landscaped, with some lovely bushes and card-entry barriers. And it holds perhaps 30 cars - maybe 40 if, as sometimes happens, people disregard the bays. And it's reserved exclusively for council employees and visitors, and you can only gain access with a card issued by the council.

So why is is necessary for the council to put up this large metal sign to tell it's employees and visitors that they can't drive any faster than 5 miles per hour in this particular car park? If it really is necessary to do that, why don't they just send all 30-40 card holders an email? Or tell them on the card that's needed to gain access?

Oh yes, I forgot. It's public money, so cost and common sense don't come into this equation, do they?