Welcome to the Miscellaneous Materials Reading Club MM026 (Season 3 issue 6)



Current daily average CO2 PPM: November 13:  414.67 ppm 
https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/monthly.html

This Twenty Sixth collection of Miscellaneous Materials was actually collected back in July of 2021. But! Just wait! Next time you'll get the super holiday season bonus and just get MM027, 028, 029, and 030 all in one go!? There are a couple of extra links to some things in the are.na channel — but the dropbox links in this email contain PDFs you can immediately download and peruse.  

MM026 has the normal dose of (probably too many) PDFs to download; but it also has a lot of links. One of the more impressive things I found this past July was a treasure trove of amazing documentary film making by Colin Low. Colin did all kinds of work for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Low helped to pioneer large format film for IMAX and the like, his shots and expertise and new approaches apparently influenced the likes of Stanley Kubrick and Ken Burns… And he worked on some 200+ productions for the NFB… Anyway, I somehow came across his work "Momentum" while looking for some motion graphics related materials and it blew me away. You can watch it on the NFB's website. https://www.nfb.ca/film/momentum_en/ — There are plenty of other Colin Low pieces on NFB's site and on YouTube. I recommend exploring his work.

In general, the theme is of course, climate change! And what we as designers might do about it. There are some other bits and bobs about where materials come from, the harm "making" takes on the world around us, feminist critique of the built environments around us, anthropology and modernity, some climate lectures from various people/places/times... a collection of New Alchemist publications... an excerpt from a graphic novel... there's a lot here. 

I'm really hoping to get into the new alchemist stuff...  
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w3tebdvc2sgp0or/20_journal-of-the-new-alchemists-no-1-1973.pdf?dl=0

"The Best Solution to the Climate Crisis Is Community Building"
By Amy Westervelt
https://hot-take.ghost.io/otherposts/the-best-solution-to-the-climate-crisis-is-community-building-2/

I found this podcast, Hot Take, and it is a great addition to your listening rotation if you want to help do something about the climate crisis. 

"Design started out as a craft, primarily focusing upon the creation of beautiful objects to become a powerful force in industry. Today, design has gone far beyond its simple origins as a craft to develop powerful new ways for people to interact with the world, emphasizing experience, not technology. "
By Don Norman
https://jnd.org/the_future_of_design_when_you_come_to_a_fork_in_the_road_take_it/

Thanks. Get to reading, and as always, let me know what you found interesting.

View MM026 as folder on Dropbox
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5jvbgpidjgxudw8/AAC9JM37l32K_hWpxF5UnvHea?dl=0
or, Download a zip of Miscellaneous Materials 026 from dropbox!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdaegrriq7un671/20210701-MM026.zip?dl=0
And! Collected on Are.na too: https://www.are.na/kristian-bjornard/mm-mm026

My email (or phone) is always open for response and conversation.

Kristian Bjornard
507 301 8402
bjornmeansbear@pm.me
http://tinyletter.com/bjornmeansbear
https://www.bjornpaedia.com/

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Font: Arbutus and Arbutus Slab, from Google Fonts/Karolina Lach: https://fonts.google.com/?query=Karolina+Lach
Image: Stand of Douglas fir, Washington, 1926 / no known copyright restrictions, https://www.flickr.com/photos/uw_digital_images/4557924411/in/gallery-bjornmeansbear-72157717369041302/