iDo Colombia – Two Powerful Videos Thanks to Steve Jobs

Yesterday, I spent all day editing two videos from the iDo Colombia final graduation ceremonies delivered at Fundacion Niños de Los Andes. Despite the fact that this was a time-consuming process, I was overjoyed by the fact that I could be my own video editor. This experience was facilitated by iMovie and my iMac, both by Apple. Thanks to Steve Jobs and  his vision of making technology accessible to everyone, I was able to choose what to share with the world. Cheers to his life and his direct influence in the work I do.

Today, I am asking you a favor. Please take twenty minutes of your time to watch these two videos. I would like to pick the best one to share at my graduate final presentation and to send to people interested in learning and hopefully supporting iDo Colombia. Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions. If you don’t know what iDo Colombia is, please check my March 2011 post. You can also see the process on my June and July 2011 posts.

Thank you for your time and help,

~Isabel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPayulijOk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sys_8zSgwa8

Love doesn’t know age

Today’s post is not Design related, yet it was inspired by the design of love.

Last week, I began the Design workshops at a new house called Albachiara which is also an emergency center where street kids are taken to be put into rehabilitation programs. When I started the workshop one of the kids caught my attention as his face’s left side was all bitten up. To be honest, I felt intimidated by him no only because of his face’s wounds, but also because he didn’t speak to the other kids and felt disconnected.

On the second day, he came to me and asked me if he could tell me something. I said yes. He told me that he was worried about his “woman” as he had been taken into the emergency center and his family probably didn’t know he was there. I asked, why are you worried about your “woman”? He told me she was pregnant and he didn’t want her to think that he had disappeared of her life just because she was pregnant. I asked him to give me what he wanted to tell her that I would do something to make sure his “woman” knew he was living now at the emergency center.

He wrote this letter to his “woman”

Love letter from sixteen year old boy to his "woman"

(Translation)

Hi:

My love, I only write to let you know that “I haven’t left you” and to tell you that I love you specially because of that little person that you have in your belly. I will never leave you!. My little princess I am in Albachiara in the neighborhood xx xx. I will be here for about fifteen days. I only ask you to wait for me to raise the baby that is on its way. I only ask you to wait for me that as soon as I can, I will go to your side because I love you and I am not an inept to raise our baby. Try to survive these days that as soon as I get there, believe me, you won’t have necessities. I love you.

A big kiss to you and the baby.

Soon to be father ... here his facial wounds are almost healed.

I was no able to get the letter to the girl, but I was able to make sure his family and specially his aunt (which lived in the same neighborhood as the pregnant girl) knew he was now in a rehabilitation center. Today, he wasn’t part of the Albachiara house anymore, as he had been taken to a stable home where he can be in touch with his “woman” and his baby.

With this letter, he taught me that Love has no age, social status, nor education. This boy will do what it takes to be a responsible father even if he has to be so at the age of sixteen.

Much love,

~Isa

Prototype development at Fundacion Niños de Los Andes

Hi all. I wanted to share with you the latest images of prototypes that the teenagers at Fundacion Niños de Los Andes and I have been working on for the last couple of weeks. These are musical instruments made with reclaimed plastic lids and inspired in the teenagers’ personal experiences.

Hope you enjoy them …

iDo Colombia: Week 1 at Fundación Niños de Los Andes

Did you know that your body is capable of getting used to many environments? including highly polluted ones? Yes! Finally my throat doesn’t hurt and my eyes don’t cry any more. I have assimilated Bogota’s pollution.

On Tuesday June 13th, I began to apply my design curriculum with the teenagers from the Children of the Andes Foundation. Although the first day was overwhelming and challenging, as of today, I have learned so much from the kids and am more than happy to have the opportunity of working with them.

Day 1: I introduced the kids to the world of design by presenting a visual gallery with designs made by Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarine, Le Corbusier, Carlos Montana, Custo Barcelona, Desigual and truly yours Isabel Perdomo. I also shared with them inspiring art by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rodin, Botero and Guayasamin.

They thought about identification through art and design, as well as the different ways design affects their life and they affect design. At the end of the class they made road maps on how they identify themselves through design and exposed their ideas to the class.

Creating road maps in relation to Identification and Design

Day 2 & 3: I introduced them to the creative process by creating a visual gallery in which I showed my personal process to produce the Albero Lamp and the Gaudi Pen. They learned the words sketch and prototype.

After understanding the process of design, they began the sketching process in which they explored their inspirations and how they could transform them into musical instruments.

At the beginning of day 3, I showed them their constrains (exclusive materials they could use when making a musical instrument) that way they could start thinking as a designer (within constrains). In addition, I created a visual gallery with different instruments around the world that could serve as inspiration. On this day their sketches started taking a much more design oriented form. At the end of the day, we had a critique session in which each student exposed his inspiration and possible idea for his design.

Sketching and Critiquing work in order to design a musical instrument

Day 4: Today we began making the first prototype of what will be a musical instrument made with reclaimed plastic lids and leather. I showed them how to use the crop-a-dile, gave them materials to build their prototype and helped them to solve design problems.

We played music and enjoyed ourselves as we wandered around the world of design with our own hands. Today, was the most productive day and, to be honest, the most exciting. Indeed, they like to use their hands and their imagination. Some kids worked on their own, while others partnered with a close friend in order to explore and create.

Exploring, creating, working together, Designing!

Please feel free to comment and of course to follow this blog in order to receive updates of this exciting and inspiring project.

Warm regards,

Isabel