Eskimo Blog

Launching last Friday and running over the next seven weeks, Digital Eskimo will feature in Object Gallery’s exciting new STATE. RESPOND exhibition.

Along with four other NSW-based designers we’ve been invited to respond to a statement addressing the challenges of sustainability in design. These responses have been translated into physical installations that are displayed within the gallery space.

We chose to use this opportunity to introduce our upcoming Change Agents project which is a collaboration with the Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC) at UTS. The project’s ambitious aim is to co-create an open source resource which will aid the design industry as it responds to the rapidly approaching low carbon economy.

We’ve included several participatory design methods in the exhibit to expose elements of our Considered Design methodology, while collecting input from the design community that will help shape the strategic direction of  the project.

You can check out STATE. RESPOND from 6 February – 28 March at Object Gallery, which can be found at 417 Bourke St in Surry Hills.
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Dr. David Vincent, head of International Programs at Carbon Trust and an actual P.h.D. carrying scientist, is visiting Australia hot on the heels of self proclaimed Nobel laurette Lord Monckton. Join us to hear what he has to say about climate skepticism and  how you can position your business for the imminent low carbon economy.

This DE Talk is presented in collaboration with the British High Commission.

When: Thursday 11th February, 7:45am for an 8am start (breakfast!)
Where: Object Gallery, 417 Bourke St, Surry Hills, Sydney

David is currently in Australia on a mission to inspire our small to medium business (SME) owners to start thinking about ways to prepare themselves for the move to a low carbon economy.

Carbon reduction will create significant business opportunities, and not just for the bigger players in the market. Because of their trademark flexibility, innovation and close ties with the community, SMEs are ideally positioned to leverage the low carbon economy for growth.

Carbon Trust has already done some great work with businesses in the UK, helping them identify effective and affordable ways to reduce their carbon footprints, develop low carbon technologies and, ultimately, lower costs.

This DE Talk is in the morning and at a new venue, Object Gallery, where we are currently exhibiting for the State.Respond exhibition. It’s free as usual and includes a tasty local organic breakfast.

Don’t miss out – RSVP now!

(Places are limited so an RSVP is essential!)
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I’m sitting right now in the main presentation room here at DrupalSouth Wellington January 2010, the second ever Kiwi Drupal conference. This is my second time representing Digital Eskimo at a Drupal event (previous one being DrupalCon DC last year), and my third Drupal conference. I was super-excited to be attending the first-ever Drupal event in Australasia to feature international guest speakers. After a full weekend of presentations, hack jams, mingling, and beverage guzzling (in no particular order), things are just about to wrap up.

For those of you whose first language is English rather than binary: Drupal is a software product called a Content Management System (CMS for short). It’s used to power dynamic web sites with features such as blogging, media integration and community participation. Digital Eskimo has been using Drupal for several years, and we’re proud to support Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and its largely volunteer community. In terms of ethics and philosophy, Drupal is closely aligned with Digital Eskimo. We’ve launched several successful Drupal sites recently, including our “experiment full of experiments” live local.

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We’re thrilled to announce that the online presence of the live local project has been listed as a finalist in the 16th AIMIA Awards.

The site has been nominated in both the Best Non-profit or Government and Best Science, Health or Environment categories.

The AIMIA Awards are Australia’s longest running and most prestigious Interactive Media awards and it’s fantastic to be recognised for our work on a low budget not-for-profit project such as live local.

Big ups to Piers Dawson-Damer who had the vision and courage to invest in the project. Also the project team here at Digital Eskimo; John Macfarlane, Jeremy Epstein, Chris Gaul and everyone in the project team for all their hard work. I should also thank all of the live local community who are what it’s all about in the end.  (We haven’t won yet so I’ll hold off continuing the acceptance speech until the awards night perhaps!)
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Local living, global communications

In March 2009 we had just completed live local, an ambitious project which aimed to inspire people to improve their communities by experimenting with new ideas and sharing their stories. With the launch of the live local website fast approaching we needed an online strategy that would enable us to reach a broad audience without much of a media budget and few internal resources.

We decided to challenge two established bloggers, Kate Carruthers and Rebecca Varidel, who collectively have well over 30,000 twitter followers, to ‘live local’ for a week and to document their experiences on Twitter. The subsequent tweets created a fun, authentic real-time story that Kate and Rebecca’s community could  share with the blogger and created a buzz around live local that gathered steady momentum in the lead up to the launch of the site.

Read the full article by John Macfarlane, the Experience Architect on the project.
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(Image courtesy of uBookworm)

If you hang out for any amount of time at the Digital Eskimo studio, you’ll discover that the people who work here are interested in a fascinating array of things.

Have a seat on the couch and chat to someone and you may end up talking about iPhone apps, British comedy, Drupal conferences, Australian indie bands, cultural theory, motorbikes, zombies, or something that I’ve somehow left off that comprehensive list.

Those numerous interests often serve as the inspiration for cool ideas that emerge from Digital Eskimo. But this website divulges very little about the quirks and affections of Digital Eskimo’s staff, save for the fleeting glimpse provided by our compelling, eloquent biographies. Until now.

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Physics and urban funk collided last Thursday as the Eskimos opened up their Lab Research Facility for a night of Droppin’ Science.

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Digital Eskimo develops creative response to freedom of speech campaign

Although you’d never know it from their website, with it’s warm and fuzzy greenwash, Gunns Ltd is a corporation that makes Tony Abbot look like the Dalai Lama. Not satisfied with pulping Tassie’s ancient forests and potentially polluting its waterways the company is determined to silence anyone who dares to publicly question the destruction.

This perversion of the justice system is a serious threat to freedom of speech and must be stopped (it’s already illegal in several US states). Digital Eskimo has stepped up to support the Gunns 20 (the collective name given to the 20 defendants being sued which included Senator Bob Brown) with concept and creative strategy for the “Stop the SLAPP” campaign.

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Next Tuesday December 1, we’ll be celebrating the final greenUps of the year at the Pond, Sydney’s cool new (and sustainable) water hole.

This once derelict stone cottage has been stripped down and reconfigured into an intimate bar/restaurant with salvaged furniture and sustainable materials, making it the perfect venue for the night.

End the year on a high and catch up with your GreenUps mates.

Where: The Pond, 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst (just off Oxford St)

When: Tuesday 1 December, 2009. 6:30pm til late

A ticket for this special event is $40, and includes a complimentary drink and a delicious (locally sourced) buffet dinner.

There’s limited capacity so be quick and buy your ticket now!
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There is a movement afoot globally for governments to provide open access to their public data, so that organisations and citizens may create meaning and value from these often huge but inaccessible data sources. It’s part of what is being called “Gov 2.0″. After following the movement in the UK through initiatives such as Show Us a Better Way, and in the US with heavy support from the Obama administration, it’s been taking off in Australia with the launch of the Government 2.0 Taskforce and their Mashup Australia competition. We’re right behind this because opening up data allows us to expose information to uncover truths, provide valuable services, and promote transparency and accountability in government – the very lifeblood of a working democracy (along with great Design of course!).

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