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Posts by: Ariel Newland

TEDxBrooklyn: One Moves Many

By Ariel Newland
November 17, 2010
Design

TED launched TEDx as a platform for people around the globe “to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.” With events from Kibera to Amsterdam, TEDx came to Brooklyn for the first time over the weekend. The event centered on the idea of “one moves many” or the making of a movement.

As the New Yorker magazine put it "naturally, Brooklyn, a hotbed of freethinkers, is having its own [TEDx] get-together.” So what is it about Brooklyn these days? It’s New York City’s most populous borough with roughly 2.5 million inhabitants. The affordability, amenities, community and beauty have attracted a strong creative class—from artists and designers to writers and inventors—to live and work in the borough. At ESI, nearly half of our staff lives in Brooklyn!

Here are some of the highlights of impressive Brooklynites from TEDxBrooklyn:

Swoon

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The “Why Design Now?” Conference: Solving Complex Problems Through Design

By Ariel Newland
October 8, 2010
Design
A view of the stage at the “Why Design Now? Solving Global Challenges” Confence.

The “Why Design Now? Solving Global Challenges” Conference sponsored by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and GE brought together some of the world’s leaders in design to talk about how design can help solve complex problems. Some major themes emerged throughout the day that touch on many of the aspects of contemporary design practice:

1.    We work collaboratively in teams.

Most of the projects shared at “Why Design Now?” came to life through a team-based approach. There was very little “I” or “me” but a lot of “we” talk throughout the day. As designers, we are finding we cannot solve these complex problems alone; we need a team. Best said by our principal designer here at ESI Design, Ed Schlossberg, “We must work in teams to do the work we do. No one is smart enough to do it alone.”

2.    We co-create with our clients.

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News Corporation and Sony Unveil New Interactive Sign at One Times Square

By Ariel Newland
July 8, 2010
Digital Signage

The sign invites users to submit their responses to poll questions via text messaging.

We’re live at the Cross Roads of the World! Today, ESI Design launched a new sign at 1 Times Square that enables partners News Corporation and Sony, as well as third-party advertisers, to break through the noise of Times Square and engage visitors in dynamic new ways.
 
In addition to showing rich video content, such as movie trailers, sport events, newscasts and commercials, the sign invites users to submit their responses to poll questions via text messaging. The responses come together to create a collective, dynamic real-time data visualization of the thoughts, feelings and opinions of the visitors in Times Square. This sign creates a highly-interactive media experience for all of those who pass by and contains features that are both iconic and unique among other signs within the area. Send in a text the next time you’re in the Square!
 
Along with the interactive features, ESI created the media master plan for the sign, including the branding motion graphics for News Corporation and its divisions, as well as the flexible set of template layouts for supporting a wide variety of video from the many parties using the sign. We partnered with NY-based interaction and media technology firm Audio, Video & Controls, Inc to create a range of custom software for both the public-facing and backend features of the sign.
 
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