Red Pill

iTablet? Macbook Touch? iMac Tablet? My guess is iBook!

Looks like my prediction is coming true, the new "Tablet" Mac will be in direct competition with the Kindle from Amazon. Yet no one seems to be calling it "iBook" yet. We shall see!

Ten New Details on the Apple Tablet | iLounge Backstage

Project M Detroit - (Part 2) Myths and Realities

The first few days in Detroit were tough on everyone. The unknown of what living and working in the center of Detroit would be like for the next two weeks was looming in the air. Wayne State University and CCS were on summer break when we arrived, adding to the general feeling of desolation. Besides a quick visit to 5e Gallery where many young locals gather for music and art, the night was earily quiet. I expected to hear sirens and thump'in bass, but we mostly only heard crickets and night creatures. It sounded like rural Alabama in the middle of summer.

The first day in the lab at CSS we decided to set out to see the city together. We explored the old Hudson's warehouse which was originally the home of Packard Automobiles until 1956. We ventured into neighborhoods that looked like ghost towns. Littered with crumbling buildings, thugs on some corners but mostly vast swathes of emptiness. We also took in some high culture from Detroit's grand past, we visited the DIA to experience Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" mural, followed by some Eastern Market Coney Island hot dogs. 

Soon we had the M'er split up to explore separate neighborhoods on their own, gathering anything that contributed to making each place unique. Interviewing locals, taking photos, and gathering artifacts while immersing themselves in the local culture.

One of the M'ers landed a ride to a local Coney Island and a free lunch, while another drank shots of Seagram's and played a game of horseshoes with some thugish fellows. The M'ers each challenged themselves to look past the myths that surrounded Detroit and break through perceived barriers to get to the real core of Detroit. They met many interesting and unique individuals who were mostly warm and inviting, not the expected result. On this breakthrough day, everyone felt empowered, doing something that they wouldn't normally do. 

Riding the high from a productive day the M'ers decided to meet up and go shopping for groceries. Armed with a new confidence they let their guard down and left a couple of backpacks in the back seat of their car. Fifteen minutes later they had a Detroit reality slap them in the face. Their bags where swiped, containing two laptops and a camera which where probably part of the local economy within an hour.

True, this could happen in any city, and yes they shouldn't have left bags sitting out in plain site. But when you have a crime happen to you in Detroit it becomes part of the myth, locals react with comments like, "Welcome to the D!" and "At least they left the car". It's as if there's a grand script titled "the Detroit Myth", and everyone from the media to the locals rich and poor, white and black know their lines.

5e Gallery

Sicari, owner 5e Gallery.

M Lab at CCS

Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" mural
 

Local from Mexican Town

The Russell Industrial Complex
 

 

The old Hudson's warehouse. Yes that is a bus on the second floor.

Project M Detroit - (Part 1) Two weeks later.

I thought I would be able to post on the Red Pill everyday while I was conducting Project M in Detroit, not even close, I didn't get a single posting in! From the second I set foot in my hometown I was over run with responsibility and the pain of transitioning away from clients. I left Detroit ten years ago, and though I've returned many times the city seemed completely new to me this trip. Maybe it's because we were based in Corktown, or the fact that we explored many places that I had never visited while growing up here. Mostly I think it was because the city itself seemed deserted, many parts completely void of people.  

Since I have thousands of photos and many stories I'm going to break this up into as many postings as it takes to tell our story.

So here it is...

The first thing we did as a group was meet up at Slows BBQ, famous in Detroit not only for the best BBQ but also for the simple fact that they chose Corktown as their home. Void of businesses and people, Slows relies on a steady stream of clients from the burbs, with some locals mixed in. The fence around back is made from repurposed wood from an abandoned home. Owner Phil Cooley is regarded as a Saint by most of the locals we talked to, donating time, and money to the community, plus some spectacular Q. Besides a few Irish bars in the vicinity, Slows is pretty much alone on the former strip that catered to the old Tiger Stadium. I'm puzzled as to why there aren't more businesses riding the success of Slows, filling up the vacancies surrounding their little oasis.

Next we went to our new home base at 1414 Bagley where we accidently set off the house alarm. Police promptly arrived at the front door, along with the owner's brother and a few neighbors. Our street felt unsafe until this very moment, when we experienced a true community that looked out for one another, watching each others backs. Corktown is an oasis with a post apocalyptic back drop, empty streets and crumbling buildings in every direction. After a second visit from the police and a call from the owner, Project M was fully moved in and we knew immediately that this was going to be a life experience that will never be forgotten. Much more to come...

Project M Detroit Blog

Metropolis Article

Welcome to Corktown..

Final remains of the old Tiger stadium.

 

 

The abandoned Train Depot looming over Corktown.

 

View down Michigan Ave.

Slows BBQ

Doug, Jory, Achille, Mark, Jen and Jasen. Project M (Midwest)

Who says Detroit doesn't have good neighborhoods?

Next week I will be moving into Detroit's Corktown neighborhood with four students from Project M. We wanted to stay in a neighborhood in the city vs. the suburbs to really get a sense of what the city is all about. What I find amazing is most people I have talked to from Detroit said there were no neighborhoods to stay in. The big misconception is Detroit has no functioning neighborhoods. I guess we will find out next week, stay tuned..

Great segment about Detroit and Corktown on NPR

Most of this piece takes place in the Detroit neighborhood of Corktown. This is the same neighborhood that the students of Project M Detroit will be staying in when we arrive there in two weeks.

Take a listen: Download 20090812_atc_13

Apple's new "iTablet" computer? Sorry try again.

The rumors are flying today about the new tablet computer Apple will be releasing this Fall. They shot a commercial in a Truckee, CA diner today featuring a flat device being dubbed the iTablet computer. I have heard many other predications for the name including, MacBook Touch, iPhone Pro, and MacBook Tablet. It seems most predictions revolve around this being a tablet computer with OS X or a high level iPhone (I'd love to see someone holding one of these up to their head).

I believe this is all wrong, and it seems very obvious why.

1. The new device will be called the iBook. Duh! They dumped the name last year for Mac Book and Mac Book pro while developing this device.

2. Why would they want the name iBook? To compete directly with Amazon's Kindle! 

Prediction:

Apple will be pushing downloadable books from the iTunes store to read on your new iBook. Think about it, for a little more money than a Kindle you can listen to some music, surf the web, and check email if you need to. I don't think this will be a full blown Mac complete with OSX because it would cost too much but I could be wrong on that one.

Mark my words, you heard it hear first! The all New iBook

What are your thoughts?

Detroit has cheap houses, acres of green space, and a strong artist community. Thats a start...

I will be entering the city of Detroit with Project M at the end of August, and the first thing we are sure to notice is the overwhelming number of abandoned homes. At it's post WWII peak Detroit was the fourth largest city in the country with 1.8 million residents. Today it has roughly 900,000 residents, nearly 1 million people have abandoned the city, mostly for the suburbs.

Is there a silver lining in all this misery? Can we find some opportunity in this situation? The average price of a house in Detroit is $16,000.00 less than most cars cost. There is also endless amounts of green space in Detroit due to the demolition of thousands of house over the last twenty years.

There are many small grassroots organizations finding creative solutions to some of the tough challenges facing the city. Recently a handful of these organizations have gained national attention and will hopefully materialize into a full blown movement. These organizations are part of the reason we are bringing Project M to Detroit.

Some of these organizations include:

Powerhouse Project which was started by artists Gina Reichert and Mitch Cope in March of 2008. They began by purchasing a house and two plots of land for $4,900.00. They kept their house off the grid by adding solar heat and power in addition to fixing it up and painting it very creatively. They are now trying to get other artists to join them in there new neigborhood.

Object Orange was also started by artists, for different reasons though. They wanted to call attention to delapitated houses that needed to be bulldozed. By painting these houses "Triggerific Orange" they call attention to these abandoned homes in the hopes that the city will demolish them.

100 Abandoned houses website showes phot of 100 abandoned homes, it not only spread awarness and puts the issue into prospective but it also has liks to buy some of these homes.

We obviously have some major challenges facing us as we try to jump in and become part of the possative change that may or may or may not come to Detroit. Many of us that will be part of Project M Detroit are originally from this once great city. We can't ignore the enormous oppurtunities that exist in this current environment. And we can't help but hope that Detroit will be reborn like cities a century ago that were destryed by fires and earthquakes emerging fromthe ruble to become great again.

the Heidelberg Project - Detroit

We will be bringing Project M to Detroit MI on August 26th which we are very excited about. Until then I'll be randomly posting inspirational pieces about Detroit. I thought the Heidelberg Project would be a great starting point. Began in 1986 by artist Tyree Guyton, it's an outdoor, block long, year round, urban art exhibit. There really is no place like it. If you have suggestions for future postings send us a comment.

Elliott Earls - rebelartistmusiciandesigner

I was lucky enough to meet Elliott Earls when I was still in school. At the time he was a recent grad from Cranbrook and had just thrown a perfectly good design career in the music industry out the window. He was fired for refusal to assimilate to corporate culture. Instead he followed his passion and started his studio "the Apollo Program" where he designed a series of fonts. David Carson and the "grunge" movement were in full force in the mid 90's, design was pushing boundaries never before possible thanks to the computer. But even in this chaotic environment Elliot stood out. He was the first designer that I had known to successfully blend the boundaries between fine arts and graphic design. His work had layers of meaning and depth that simply hadn't been explored by anyone at this point. He was a true innovator in every sense of the term. When I saw him speak it was his first time, he was promoting his new multimedia CD "Throwing Apples at the Sun" along with a new font "Venus Dioxide". It was an awkward engagement, nobody knew what to make of what they where seeing, even the Venus Dioxide poster was a bit disturbing since it had a twisted image of his naked wife as the main subject. The strangest thing was the Q&A, nobody knew what to say about what he presented, it was so far out there. So everyone focused on the music he created for the Multimedia CD when making comments. Someone asked if he was a musician and he laughed, quickly saying "no", he claimed to have thrown the music together in a program on his computer and had little interest in music. Since that day Elliott has become head of the Design Department at Cranbrook Academy. He pursued music, releasing a few albums with various bands, and became a very successful performance artist. Not to mention the posters and fonts that he has designed over the years that have gained him national notoriety. I ran across this video and it sparked my memory of meeting Elliott and it reminded me of how much his message had stuck with me to this day. It also made me question if his story would resonate with young designers today, where there seems to be very little debate about whether design is art, or if art even has a place within design. Self expression? High level concept? What's that?

Project M is Coming to Detroit

Jeff has been an advisor at Project M for a couple of years now and will be leading a Project M in Detroit Michigan this fall — August 26th through September 11th. John Bielenberg will be checking in with us, as well as Doug Kisor, other CCS faculty and advisors.

If you are interested in joining us as a participant, download an application. Applications are due by July 31st, 2009.

If you are interested in joining us as an advisor or would like more information about Project M, visit our website or send us an email.