Occupy Wall Street : Shifting Ideas, and Creating Art.

Designed by Richard Perez. Purchase from

Occupyposterproject.com

This year we were witness to huge historical political events. The Arab Spring and Occupy Movements will be talked about by future generations. In 2011, people all over the world demanded change.

*Something is afoot. And it feels like something big.* Paradigm shift? 

Even those of us who like to check out of reality by tuning in to realities - couldn't escape these ones. They were bigger than that!

So with a huge salute to those brave souls that are defiant enough to demand change, I am posting a few of my favourite Occupy Poster Goodies.

These bits of historical illustration and design are available from $10 screened onto newsprint.
I would purchase a higher quality paper stock if I were you. Your great grand kids will cherish these!

Designed by Laura Dickens available for purchase at the OccupyPosterProject.com

Designed by Dan Cassaro and available at http://occupyposterproject.com

My obsession with skid pallet decor continues....

PART 1: Repurposed Skid Pallets, A Way to Look at the World here.

(The recycle-upcycle-repurpose movement has truly mainstreamed.)
It's wonderful!
We already know that we need to slow down our over-zealous desires to consume shiny new things.... right? But it can be so hard!

So, here are some guilt-free ideas to spice up your interior. New materials optional.


Unique Palette Ideas & Furniture Made to Measure: Creative ways to use wooden pallets!

Pallet Accent Wall, DIY !
(Please sand and seal.. pallets are sprayed with pesticides during shipping)

Wooden Skids Used as Shelving

Desk Love.

More Wood Palette Coffee Tables: These just keep getting better.

Okay, so this is more of a desk than a coffee table. STILL, AMAZING.

Who would have thought they could look so classy?

Painted Union Jack Repurposed Skid Palette Wonder

Bright Chartreuse Coffee Table. Modern Interior Decor!

How NOT to save the planet with persuasive advertising

If there's one thing that working in advertising has made me- it's a critical viewer of all ads.
Creative copy writers can spin a lie on it's head and make it look as innocent as Pollyanna herself. When they add a little heart-string-rhetoric to the mix, they can effectively create an ad that delivers just about any message, and still have us shaking our heads in approval at the end of the clip.

It took a few minutes for my alarm bells to go off on this one.  
This is one of those "It's so good it's scary" ads.
Quite literally.

The persuasive rhetoric promotes ethical tar-sands oil.
(Ethical oil?)

It suggests that by purchasing oil from Saudi Arabia, we are inadvertently backing the discrimination of women in those countries. It says that we are "funding their opression." Instead, we should buy ethical oil.... (and if we continue using this same string of logic) by not buying this "unethical" oil, we can then help to liberate those same women? Right? (No!)

This backwards half-truth rhetoric is so pervasive in political ads and campaigns; we must be easily swayed by flags and trumpets and pretty green fields, and anything that makes us feel proud of our home country. It is stunningly scary when we see these same tactics being used to sell us a point of view on something that is so blatently harmful to the environment.
Tar sands oil is not ethical. 
Spin it as you will master spinsters, I will not buy it. 
Sell me a story of solar power, wind energy, or about cars that run on water using hydrogen. Please stop assuming that our vision is so easily blinded by pulling the wool of "liberation" over our eyes. 

Repurposed Skid Pallets - a way to look at the world

The organic / upcycled / repurposed fad must be reaching its peak.
While wonderful to see, my wish is that people add a few trendy pieces to their decor and stop for a moment to think about the why and the how of it all.
The why:
We desperately need to change our habits if we want the earth to sustain our human population and the growth of developing nations.  Culturally, we are changing some of our habits (recycling, composting, and "going-green", if you will.) The eco-trend has found its way into every corner of our lives... and that includes every corner of your home. Eco-fashionable home decor makes sense. Start with what you can, and change as you can.
The how: 
By repurposing waste, we are doing the good green thing. On some level it makes us feel like better citizens of the earth. (In the 80s I got the same fuzzy feeling when I bought bottled Evian.)
The caveat: 
Decoration is just frills. Yes, it's true.
(I am a designer. Please realize that frills are very important to my life / environment /overall well-being. Yes, perhaps that is  shallow. Moving forwards.) 

Let's keep the momentum (which is amazing) and start to examine the other important things in our lives. Things like the food we eat and where it comes from, the supply chain of the things we buy, the politicians that we vote for and the repercussions of our choices - our use of the world's resources and our community, our dependence on oil...

It's a lot to think about. And home decor is, by comparison, so mild. I don't mean that we should strip away any of the great eco-things that are popping up everywhere. They're great! They're phenomenal. 

Meaningful. 

Hopeful. 

Inspiring.

If nothing else, I hope we embrace these trends with a vigour that inspires even more humanity and compassion - and positive change.  If we can change ugly, old and dirty skid pallets into works of modern eco art- we can do.. well,  just about anything.

Without further ado - my selection of repurposed skid pallets:

From Creature comforts

From Apartment Therapy

From /caisak.blogspot.com/

Pallet Garden

The grandaddy of upcycles: from skid pallet to Barcelon-esque Daybed