Digging Deeper 2009
Open call for entries starting Nov. 2009
All entries due by midnight February 15th 2010
The SF Chapter of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) and the Interaction Designers Association (IxDA) would like to introduce you to this year’s ‘Digging Deeper, Building Blocks for Sustainable Design – A multi-disciplinary design competition addressing real urban needs.
On the afternoon of Sunday Sept. 27th the Digging Deeper 2009 program began with two informative and inspiring presentations. A leading systems ecologist teamed up with the Greening Director of the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco to deliver a design brief. They describe issues around urban food supply, health and agriculture relevant to the City of San Francisco and all urban areas. The presentations were specifically formatted to be the foundation of this competition, bringing industrial, graphic and interaction designers, architects and urban planners together to help solve real urban problems. This is a call to action for all design communities.
In the first presentation Gil Friend, acclaimed systems ecologist and CEO of Natural Logic, works through proven techniques on how to break apart complex problems and devise sustainable implementable solutions. The second presentation is an in depth problem statement and call to action delivered by Astrid Haryati, the Greening Director for the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco. She explores the obstacles to, and overarching importance of Sustainable Urban Agriculture for education, health and community development in the context of personal, community and city wide scales.
Part 1: Approach and Inspiration by Gil Friend: http://blip.tv/file/2751265
Part 2: Competition Problem Statement by Astrid Haryati: http://blip.tv/file/2752616
Problem Space:
Within San Francisco and many urban areas, the potential for using community gardens, backyard gardens, vacant or underutilized lots, parks, greenhouses, and rooftops for food cultivation is significant. Urban agriculture is known to encourage community wide benefits in urban neighborhoods as well as wellness and business opportunities on an individual scale. Practicing urban agriculture promotes health, creates gathering spaces for cultural exchange and recreation, revitalizes and beautifies abandoned areas, and provides opportunities for entrepreneurship and active work.
What seems to be an obvious opportunity with a multitude of benefits has not brought in the level of interest, support and complimentary application that it could be. The City of San Francisco and several non-profit organizations have instigated efforts to increase available spaces and services but have not been able to sustain them with their limited resources. Support for urban agriculture, or its intervention into our daily life, has not shown a sustaining promise.
The complexity lies on its’ simple nature – it hasn’t gained universal appeal, nor has it been easy. And yes – that we’ve been talking about it as if it has to be a massive effort, or done by a green thumb, but it should not require either.
Design Brief:
Design an urban agricultural product, system, retrofit, service model or communication campaign / platform that is simple to set up / manufacture / produce / and/or implement / sell / distribute and maintain within the context of the urban environment with existing neighborhood, city and state regulations. It must be scalable and should support wellness and opportunity within communities.
Some Key Areas of Need:
Traceability: Ways to Create awareness about the origin of food sources for any and all stakeholders – distribution centers, grocery stores, consumers etc.
Seasonal Food Education: Ways to educate people about what grows in each season so they can make educated purchasing decisions
Access to Food & Growing Site: Ways to enable individuals, communities and cities to access a place to grow edible food
Successful entries will be clear, compelling, innovative designs that demonstrate three criteria:
- Scalability – Must be able to be implemented in small pilot programs / proof of principle prototype format and then scaled up
- Minimize Trade Offs – Solution must embody sustainable values and be conscious of all phases of the life cycle – extraction, manufacture, transport, use and disposal / recycle / upcycle
- Simple to Use - !
Your entry should be an original concept. Commercially sold products are prohibited. The design need not have been built, and all entries should be submitted digitally (as renderings, photographs, diagrams, and /or interactive tools).
The competition is open to any designer, architect, student, or interested person anywhere. Judging will be anonymous.
Entry Categories:
Urban Agriculture Physical Product / System
This category is for physical products. Products may be part of a larger system or plan, and may be as large as a building or as small as a pin.
Urban Agriculture Social Product / System
This category is for systems that involve on or offline communications, interactions and behaviors. The scope of these systems may be communication between as few as two individuals but must be scalable to be considered viable.
Prize
A set of prizes for each category will be offered. The main prize is the knowledge that you’re helping make the urban environment a better place to live.
- 1st prize: $1000
- 2nd prize $500
- 3rd prize $250
Submission Requirements
Pre-registration. You must pre-register on-line to receive an Eventbrite Order #, which will serve as your entry number. If you attended the Digging Deeper Workshop in San Francisco on September 27, 2009 please use the Eventbrite Order # you received from the event. The registration fee is $45 US for current members of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) and Interaction Designers Association (IxDA), and $60 for non-members, payable through the Digging Deeper SF Eventbrite registration page.
All registrations and fees are due by Jan 10th, 2009. Late registration is acceptable before Jan 30th, 2009, for an additional $25.
http://diggingdeepersf.ning.com/
Submissions. Attach entry form to and submit all entries digitally via e-mail to diggingdeepersf@gmail.com before midnight PST Jan 31st 2010. Please use your Eventbrite Order # in all entry file names. For video entries hosted elsewhere or requiring specific technology, please contact Charlie@idsa-sf.org.
All entries will remain anonymous during judging. Any submissions that include names or affiliations on any documents except the entry form may be disqualified.
Entry Format
- Title. You are encouraged to give a unique name to your design.
- Executive Summary. A clear concise explanation of your entry that intelligently addresses the three key criteria listed above and answers all the relevant questions in the call for entries. If your design is chosen to receive an award, this will serve as the description that accompanies your design in all print and online coverage. Please avoid using industry jargon or highly technical language. Max. 200 words
- Narrative (Optional). This section should answer: What is it in detail? Explain in simple, non-technical terms how the proposed solution works, the intended user and how it is to be used, implemented, scaled and the impact it has on the community Max. 1000 words
- List of materials used (if applicable):
- Technical specs or production method:
- What makes this particularly easy to implement and use in? (200 words)
- Images & Diagrams. Up to three (3) images to help demonstrate the design challenge and up to three (3) images to demonstrate the design solution OR one (1) PDF file, up to 6 pages long (page size 8.5” x 11”), and max file size of 8MB, to demonstrate the design challenge and solution. PDFs can include images with captions, storyboards, etc. All images should be web-standard .JPG or .GIF, 96 dpi, in RGB colorspace, 960 x 720 px and no larger than 1MB each.
- Video (optional): Maximum 60 seconds and 10 MB, acceptable file formats are .MOV, .WMV, .AVI, .SWF, and .MPEG/.MPG
- Interactive Product Experience. If an interactive entry, include a link to the working web page, include date of site launch. As well as the above narrative brief, images and diagrams illustrating the interaction.
Questions
If you have any questions about the design competition, send an e-mail to
To submit entries – e-mail them to: diggingdeepersf@gmail.com
Please do not contact any of the judges, organizers, or sponsors.
