Friday, October 7
X Inventions
Originally Published
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/10-things-that-women-invented.htm
And some women came up with ideas that would improve life in their households, only to see their inventions treated with scorn for being too domestic and thus unworthy of praise..
Ruth Wakefield had worked as a dietitian and food lecturer before buying an old toll house outside of Boston with her husband. Traditionally, toll houses were places weary travelers paid their road tolls, grabbed a quick bite and fed their horses. Wakefield and her husband converted the toll house into an inn with a restaurant. One day in 1930, Wakefield was baking up a batch of Butter Drop Do cookies for her guests. The recipe called for melted chocolate, but Wakefield had run out of baker's chocolate. She took a Nestle chocolate bar, crumbled it into pieces and threw it into her batter, expecting the chocolate pieces to melt during baking. Instead, the chocolate held its shape, and the chocolate chip cookie was born.
Nestle noticed that sales of its chocolate bars jumped in Mrs. Wakefield's corner of Massachusetts, so they met with her about the cookie, which was fast gaining a reputation among travelers. At Wakefield's suggestion, they began scoring their chocolate (cutting lines into the bar that allow for easier breaking) and then, in 1939, they began selling Nestle Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels. The Wakefield cookie recipe was printed on the back of the package; in exchange, Ruth Wakefield received free chocolate for life.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/10-things-that-women-invented.htm
Top 10 Things That Women Invented
At the end of the 20th century, only 10 percent of all patents were awarded to female inventors [source: Bedi]. When you compile a list of the most famous inventions of the past few centuries, few women will show up as the creators of those items.
It's not that women lack ingenuity or a creative spirit, though; it's just that women have faced many hurdles in receiving credit for their ideas.
Take the case of Sybilla Masters, a woman who lived in the American colonies. After observing Native American women, she came up with a new way to turn corn into cornmeal. She went to England to obtain a patent for her work, but laws at the time stipulated that women couldn't own property, which included intellectual property like a patent. Such property was considered to be owned by the woman's father or husband. In 1715, a patent for Sybilla Masters' product was issued, but the name on the document is that of her husband, Thomas.
Such property laws prevented many women from acquiring patents for inventions several centuries ago.
Women were also less likely to receive a technical education that would help them turn an ingenious idea into an actual product.
Many women faced prejudice and ridicule when they sought help from men in actualizing their idea.
And some women came up with ideas that would improve life in their households, only to see their inventions treated with scorn for being too domestic and thus unworthy of praise..
Mary Kies was the first American woman to earn a patent in her own name. In 1809, she developed a way of weaving straw into hats that was an economic boon for New England. By receiving that piece of paper with her name on it, Kies led the way for other female inventors to take credit for their ideas. In this article, we'll salute 10 things invented by women.
10: Circular Saw
In the late 18th century, a religious sect known as the Shakers emerged. Shakers valued living communally (albeit celibately), equality between the sexes and hard work. Tabitha Babbitt lived in a Shaker community in Massachusetts and worked as a weaver, but in 1810, she came up with a way to lighten the load of her brethren. She observed men cutting wood with a pit saw, which is a two-handled saw that requires two men to pull it back and forth. Though the saw is pulled both ways, it only cuts wood when it's pulled forward; the return stroke is useless. To Babbitt, that was wasted energy, so she created a prototype of the circular saw that would go on to be used in saw mills. She attached a circular blade to her spinning wheel so that every movement of the saw produced results. Because of Shaker precepts, Babbitt didn't apply for a patent for the circular saw she created.
9: Chocolate Chip Cookies
There is no doubt that many treasured recipes came about through accidental invention in the kitchen, but we must single out one of the most enduring -- and delicious -- of these recipes: the chocolate chip cookie.Ruth Wakefield had worked as a dietitian and food lecturer before buying an old toll house outside of Boston with her husband. Traditionally, toll houses were places weary travelers paid their road tolls, grabbed a quick bite and fed their horses. Wakefield and her husband converted the toll house into an inn with a restaurant. One day in 1930, Wakefield was baking up a batch of Butter Drop Do cookies for her guests. The recipe called for melted chocolate, but Wakefield had run out of baker's chocolate. She took a Nestle chocolate bar, crumbled it into pieces and threw it into her batter, expecting the chocolate pieces to melt during baking. Instead, the chocolate held its shape, and the chocolate chip cookie was born.
Nestle noticed that sales of its chocolate bars jumped in Mrs. Wakefield's corner of Massachusetts, so they met with her about the cookie, which was fast gaining a reputation among travelers. At Wakefield's suggestion, they began scoring their chocolate (cutting lines into the bar that allow for easier breaking) and then, in 1939, they began selling Nestle Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels. The Wakefield cookie recipe was printed on the back of the package; in exchange, Ruth Wakefield received free chocolate for life.
8: Liquid Paper
Bette Nesmith Graham was not a very good typist. Still, the high school dropout worked her way through the secretarial pool to become the executive secretary for the chairman of the board of the Texas Bank and Trust. It was the 1950s, and the electric typewriter had just been introduced. Secretaries often found themselves retyping entire pages because of one tiny mistake, as the new model's carbon ribbon made it difficult to correct errors.
One day, Graham watched workers painting a holiday display on a bank window. She noticed that when they made mistakes, they simply added another layer of paint to cover them up, and she thought she could apply that idea to her typing blunders. Using her blender, Graham mixed up a water-based tempera paint with dye that matched her company's stationary. She took it to work and, using a fine watercolor brush, she was able to quickly correct her errors. Soon, the other secretaries were clamoring for the product, which Graham continued to produce in her kitchen. Graham was fired from her job for spending so much time distributing what she called "Mistake Out," but in her unemployment she was able to tweak her mixture, rename the product Liquid Paper and receive a patent in 1958. Even though typewriters have been replaced by computers in many offices, many people still have a bottle or two of that white correction fluid on hand.
One day, Graham watched workers painting a holiday display on a bank window. She noticed that when they made mistakes, they simply added another layer of paint to cover them up, and she thought she could apply that idea to her typing blunders. Using her blender, Graham mixed up a water-based tempera paint with dye that matched her company's stationary. She took it to work and, using a fine watercolor brush, she was able to quickly correct her errors. Soon, the other secretaries were clamoring for the product, which Graham continued to produce in her kitchen. Graham was fired from her job for spending so much time distributing what she called "Mistake Out," but in her unemployment she was able to tweak her mixture, rename the product Liquid Paper and receive a patent in 1958. Even though typewriters have been replaced by computers in many offices, many people still have a bottle or two of that white correction fluid on hand.
7: The Compiler and COBOL Computer Language
When we think about advancements in computers, we tend to think about men like Charles Babbage, Alan Turing and Bill Gates. But Admiral Grace Murray Hopper deserves credit for her role in the computer industry. Admiral Hopper joined the military in 1943 and was stationed at Harvard University, where she worked on IBM's Harvard Mark I computer, the first large-scale computer in the United States. She was the third person to program this computer, and she wrote a manual of operations that lit the path for those that followed her. In the 1950s, Admiral Hopper invented the compiler, which translates English commands into computer code. This device meant that programmers could create code more easily and with fewer errors. Hopper's second compiler, the Flow-Matic, was used to program UNIVAC I and II, which were the first computers available commercially. Admiral Hopper also oversaw the development of the Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL), one of the first computer programming languages. Admiral Hopper received numerous awards for her work, including the honor of having a U.S. warship named after her.
6: Colored Flare System
When Martha Coston was widowed in 1847, she was only 21 years old. She had four children to support, but she hadn't a clue about how to do so. She was flipping through her dead husband's notebooks when she found plans for a flare system that ships could use to communicate at night. Coston requested the system be tested, but it failed.
Coston was undeterred. She spent the next 10 years revising and perfecting her husband's design for a colored flare system. She consulted with scientists and military officers, but she couldn't figure out how to produce flares that were bright and long-lasting while remaining easy to use at the spur of the moment. One night she took her children to see a fireworks display, and that's when she hit upon the idea of applying some pyrotechnic technology to her flare system. The flare system finally worked, and the U.S. Navy bought the rights. The Coston colored flare system was used extensively during the Civil War.
Unfortunately, the flare system wasn't the best way for Coston to support her family. According to military documents, Coston produced 1,200,000 flares for the Navy during the Civil War, which she provided at cost. She was owed $120,000, of which she was only paid $15,000; in her autobiography, Coston attributed the Navy's refusal to pay to the fact that she was a woman [source: Pilato].
Coston was undeterred. She spent the next 10 years revising and perfecting her husband's design for a colored flare system. She consulted with scientists and military officers, but she couldn't figure out how to produce flares that were bright and long-lasting while remaining easy to use at the spur of the moment. One night she took her children to see a fireworks display, and that's when she hit upon the idea of applying some pyrotechnic technology to her flare system. The flare system finally worked, and the U.S. Navy bought the rights. The Coston colored flare system was used extensively during the Civil War.
Unfortunately, the flare system wasn't the best way for Coston to support her family. According to military documents, Coston produced 1,200,000 flares for the Navy during the Civil War, which she provided at cost. She was owed $120,000, of which she was only paid $15,000; in her autobiography, Coston attributed the Navy's refusal to pay to the fact that she was a woman [source: Pilato].
5: The Square-bottomed Paper Bag
Margaret Knight didn't invent the paper bag, but those first paper bags weren't all that useful for carrying things. They were more like envelopes, so there was no way they'd become the grocery store staple that they are today. For that, we have to thank Knight. Knight realized that paper bags should have a square bottom; when weight was distributed across the base in this way, the bags could carry more things.
In 1870, she created a wooden machine that would cut, fold and glue the square bottoms to paper bags. While she was working on an iron prototype of the machine to use for her patent application, she discovered that her design had been stolen by a man named Charles Annan, who had seen her wooden machine a few months earlier. She filed a patent interference suit against Annan, who claimed that there was no way that a woman could have developed such a complex machine. Knight used her notes and sketches to prove otherwise, and she was granted the patent for the device in 1871.
That was hardly Knight's first patent, though. At the age of 12, Knight had developed a stop-motion device that would automatically bring industrial machines to a halt if something was caught on them, which prevented many injuries; all told, Knight was awarded more than 20 patents.
In 1870, she created a wooden machine that would cut, fold and glue the square bottoms to paper bags. While she was working on an iron prototype of the machine to use for her patent application, she discovered that her design had been stolen by a man named Charles Annan, who had seen her wooden machine a few months earlier. She filed a patent interference suit against Annan, who claimed that there was no way that a woman could have developed such a complex machine. Knight used her notes and sketches to prove otherwise, and she was granted the patent for the device in 1871.
That was hardly Knight's first patent, though. At the age of 12, Knight had developed a stop-motion device that would automatically bring industrial machines to a halt if something was caught on them, which prevented many injuries; all told, Knight was awarded more than 20 patents.
4: Dishwasher
You might think that the first dishwasher was invented by someone who spent years washing dishes, bemoaning the wasted time and the dishpan hands. Actually, Josephine Cochrane, who received the patent for the first working dishwasher, didn't spend that much time washing dishes. The real impetus for her invention was frustration over her servants breaking her heirloom china after fancy dinners.
Cochrane was a socialite who loved to entertain, but after her husband died in 1883, she was left with massive debt. Rather than selling off that beloved china, she focused on building a machine that would wash it properly. Her machine relied upon strong water pressure aimed at a wire rack of dishes, and she received a patent for the device in 1886. Cochrane claimed that inventing the machine was nowhere near as hard as promoting it [source: Lienhard]. At first, the Cochrane dishwasher tanked with individual consumers, as many households lacked the hot water heaters necessary to run it, and those that had the capacity balked at paying for something that housewives did for free. Undaunted, Cochrane sought appointments with large hotels and restaurants, selling them on the fact that the dishwasher could do the job they were paying several dozen employees to do. In time, however, more households acquired the device as greater numbers of women entered the workplace.
Cochrane was a socialite who loved to entertain, but after her husband died in 1883, she was left with massive debt. Rather than selling off that beloved china, she focused on building a machine that would wash it properly. Her machine relied upon strong water pressure aimed at a wire rack of dishes, and she received a patent for the device in 1886. Cochrane claimed that inventing the machine was nowhere near as hard as promoting it [source: Lienhard]. At first, the Cochrane dishwasher tanked with individual consumers, as many households lacked the hot water heaters necessary to run it, and those that had the capacity balked at paying for something that housewives did for free. Undaunted, Cochrane sought appointments with large hotels and restaurants, selling them on the fact that the dishwasher could do the job they were paying several dozen employees to do. In time, however, more households acquired the device as greater numbers of women entered the workplace.
3: Windshield Wiper
At the dawn of the 20th century, Mary Anderson went to New York City for the first time. She saw a much different New York City than the one tourists see today. There were no cabs honking, nor were there thousands of cars vying for position in afternoon traffic. Cars had not yet captured the American imagination and were quite rare when Anderson took that trip, but the woman from Alabama would end up inventing something that has become standard on every automobile. During her trip, Anderson took a tram through the snow-covered city.
She noticed that the driver had to stop the tram every few minutes to wipe the snow off his front window. At the time, all drivers had to do so; rain and snow were thought to be things drivers had to deal with, even though they resulted in poor visibility. When she returned home, Anderson developed a squeegee on a spindle that was attached to a handle on the inside of the vehicle. When the driver needed to clear the glass, he simply pulled on the handle and the squeegee wiped the precipitation from the windshield. Anderson received the patent for her device in 1903; just 10 years later, thousands of Americans owned a car with her invention.
2: Nystatin
She noticed that the driver had to stop the tram every few minutes to wipe the snow off his front window. At the time, all drivers had to do so; rain and snow were thought to be things drivers had to deal with, even though they resulted in poor visibility. When she returned home, Anderson developed a squeegee on a spindle that was attached to a handle on the inside of the vehicle. When the driver needed to clear the glass, he simply pulled on the handle and the squeegee wiped the precipitation from the windshield. Anderson received the patent for her device in 1903; just 10 years later, thousands of Americans owned a car with her invention.
2: Nystatin
Long-distance romantic relationships are often troubled, but Rachel Fuller Brown and Elizabeth Lee Hazen proved that long-distance professional relationships can yield productive results. Both Brown and Hazen worked for the New York State Department of Health in the 1940s, but Hazen was stationed in New York City and Brown was in Albany. Despite the miles, Brown and Hazen collaborated on the first successful fungus-fighting drug.
In New York City, Hazen would test soil samples to see if any of the organisms within would respond to fungi. If there was activity, Hazen would mail the jar of soil to Brown, who would work to extract the agent in the soil that was causing the reaction. Once Brown had found the active ingredient, it went back in the mail to Hazen, who'd check it against the fungi again. If the organism killed the fungi, it would be evaluated for toxicity. Most of the samples proved too toxic for human use, but finally Brown and Hazen happened upon an effective fungus-killing drug in 1950. They named it Nystatin, after New York state. The medication, now sold under a variety of trade names, cures fungal infections that affect the skin, vagina and intestinal system. It's also been used on trees with Dutch elm disease and on artwork affected by mold.
In New York City, Hazen would test soil samples to see if any of the organisms within would respond to fungi. If there was activity, Hazen would mail the jar of soil to Brown, who would work to extract the agent in the soil that was causing the reaction. Once Brown had found the active ingredient, it went back in the mail to Hazen, who'd check it against the fungi again. If the organism killed the fungi, it would be evaluated for toxicity. Most of the samples proved too toxic for human use, but finally Brown and Hazen happened upon an effective fungus-killing drug in 1950. They named it Nystatin, after New York state. The medication, now sold under a variety of trade names, cures fungal infections that affect the skin, vagina and intestinal system. It's also been used on trees with Dutch elm disease and on artwork affected by mold.
1: Kevlar
It was just supposed to be a temporary job. Stephanie Kwolek took a position at DuPont in 1946 so she could save enough money to go to medical school. In 1964, she was still there, researching how to turn polymers into extra strong synthetic fibers. Kwolek was working with polymers that had rod-like molecules that all lined up in one direction.
Compared to the molecules that formed jumbled bundles, Kwolek thought the uniform lines would make the resulting material stronger, though these polymers were very difficult to dissolve into a solution that could be tested. She finally prepared such a solution with the rod-like molecules, but it looked unlike all the other molecular solutions she'd ever made. Her next step was to run it through the spinneret, a machine that would produce the fibers. However, the spinneret operator almost refused to let Kwolek use the machine, so different was this solution from all the others before; he was convinced it would ruin the spinneret.
Kwolek persisted, and after the spinneret had done its work, Kwolek had a fiber that was ounce-for-ounce as strong as steel. This material was dubbed Kevlar, and it's been used to manufacture skis, radial tires and brake pads, suspension bridge cables, helmets, and hiking and camping gear. Most notably, Kevlar is used to make bulletproof vests, so even though Kwolek didn't make it to medical school, she still saved plenty of lives.
Compared to the molecules that formed jumbled bundles, Kwolek thought the uniform lines would make the resulting material stronger, though these polymers were very difficult to dissolve into a solution that could be tested. She finally prepared such a solution with the rod-like molecules, but it looked unlike all the other molecular solutions she'd ever made. Her next step was to run it through the spinneret, a machine that would produce the fibers. However, the spinneret operator almost refused to let Kwolek use the machine, so different was this solution from all the others before; he was convinced it would ruin the spinneret.
Kwolek persisted, and after the spinneret had done its work, Kwolek had a fiber that was ounce-for-ounce as strong as steel. This material was dubbed Kevlar, and it's been used to manufacture skis, radial tires and brake pads, suspension bridge cables, helmets, and hiking and camping gear. Most notably, Kevlar is used to make bulletproof vests, so even though Kwolek didn't make it to medical school, she still saved plenty of lives.
Wednesday, October 5
redesignarabia.com
شهد العام ٢٠١١ مظاهرات وثورات أفضت إلى إنتخابات حرة في عدة بلدان عربية.
وكانت تلك ولادة أول موجة من الدول الديمقراطية العربية.
عقب الإنتخابات بدء بعض النشطاء والسياسيين والأحزاب في هذه البلدان
بالمطالبة بخطوات تعزز التعاون بينها. وقد كانت مطالب فتح الحدود وإلغاء
الجمارك واستحداث عملة موحدة وحرية حركة العمالة من أبرز تلك المطالبات.
واجتمع وزراء الخارجية العرب في تلك البلدان عام ٢٠١٢ نزولا عند رغبة
وضغوط مجموعات الناشطين المختلفة. وخرج الوزراء بإعلان يدعم التعاون بين
الديمقراطيات العربية.
لحق اجتماع وزراء الخارجية إجتماع لقادة الدول العربية الديمقراطية في
القاهرة أعلنوا فيه عن ولادة (الإتحاد العربي الحر) وهو إتحاد عربي جديد
يقوم على مبادئ التعاون الاقتصادي والثقافي والسياسي وفتح الحدود بين الدول
الأعضاء.
أعد الإتحاد ميثاق يحفظ لكل دولة سيادتها واستقلاليتها وبنفس الوقت يحقق
توافقا عربيا وحدويا ويحدد إطار تعاون على المستوى الإقتصادي والاجتماعي
والثقافي وسياسة الحدود المفتوحة بين الديمقراطيات
الجديدة.
المبادئ العامة
يقوم الإتحاد العربي الحر على مبادئ الحرية والديمقراطية والإستقلالية
والتقبل لأطياف المجتمعات العربية المختلفة دون تمييز أو تفضيل لشعب على
آخر أو إقليم على آخر. ويرحب الإتحاد بعضوية أية دولة عربية يحكمها نظام
ديمقراطي يرضى عنه الشعب.
وقد نص البيان الذي صدر عن الإتحاد في أكتوبر ٢٠١٣ على مبادئ كانت
الشعوب تطالب فيها السنة الفائتة. والمقتطافات التالية هي من بنوده:
١- تعزيز الديمقراطية في دول الإتحاد عن طريق إطلاق نظام إنتخابي موحد للمجالس البرلمانية يقوم على مبدأ توسيع رقعة التمثيل الشعبي.
٢- حرية التنقل بين بلدان الإتحاد دون الحاجة الى تأشيرات سفر.
٣- إيجاد عملة موحدة.
٤- توحيد التعرفات العامة ونظام الضرائب.
٥- إحترام الحرية الفردية في التعبير العام سواء أكان سياسيا أم اجتماعيا أم اقتصاديا.
٦- تشجيع المشاركة الشعبية في الحياة المدنية والسياسية وخلق أماكن تجمعات حيوية في المدن الرئيسية لتكون منابر حرة للشعب.
تفاصيل المسابقة
يحتاج الإتحاد الآن إلى هوية بصرية مؤسسية.
لغاية ترسيخ فكر ومبادئ الإتحاد في وجدان الناس وإضافة رمز بصري جديد،
قرر الإتحاد تطوير إستراتيجية كاملة للهوية البصرية المؤسسية له. تأتي
أهمية هذه الهوية في توفير وسائل الاتصال الأساسية بما في ذلك العلم
والشعار والألوان، ومواد العرض لإستخدامها في مجالات عدة من مؤتمرات
الإتحاد إلى ترويج الثقافة والسياحة في الدول الأعضاء. لقد قام مكتب
الاتصال بإعداد موجز لمهمة تصميم الهوية البصرية المؤسسية للإتحاد
ليجد الفريق التصميمي المناسب.
هل أنت المصمم الذي يجب أن يستعين به الإتحاد؟
يدعوكم موقع تصميم عربي إلى الاستجابة لهذا التحدي الذي يهدف إلى تشجيع
التفكير بقضايا العالم العربي الجديدة من منطلق تصميمي وإبداعي.
يمكنك المساعدة في تطوير هوية فعالة وعلامة جديدة وحيوية تتصل بالعالم
العربي عن طريق إعداد متطلبات التصميم المذكورة في الموجز التصميمي على
النحو التالي:
متطلبات اجبارية
١- تصميم علم الاتحاد بحيث يعبر عن هوية ومبادئ شعوب الدول الاعضاء.
أطلق العنان لخيالك وارنا هذا العلم يرفرف على سارية في شوارع أحد العواصم
للدول المشاركة – صورة مونتاج.
٢- تصميم شعار حفل إطلاق الاتحاد والحملة الاعلانية.
٣- عملة موحدة (ورقية ومعدنية) أو طوابع بريدية موحدة.
٤- الصفحة الرئيسية للموقع الالكتروني للاتحاد وتطبيق للهواتف الذكية
متطلبات اختيارية
ابتدأ الاتحاد بالعمل على ثلاثة مشاريع هامة وعليكم كمصممين إختيار
واحداً منها على الأقل للعمل عليه (مع المتطلبات العامة المذكورة أعلاه):
١- شعار إتحاد النقل الذي يخدم جميع هذه الدول بباصات وقطارات سريعة
بالاضافة لتطبيقات إستعماله على لوحات الاستعلام عن مواعيد المغادرة
والوصول والبطاقات الذكية.
٢- شعار المهرجان السنوي الثقافي.
٣- كتيب ترويج سياحي.
يترك المجال للمشاركين لإقتراح أية مواد أخرى لتقديمها للمشاركة.
تعليمات التقديم
- هذه المسابقة مفتوحة للمصممين الأفراد ولمكاتب الدعايات والاعلان ولدور التصميم من كافة أنحاء العالم.
- يحقق للمشاركين أن يتقدموا بأكثر من تصميم على أن يلبوا جميع المتطلبات.
- تقدم التصاميم المشاركة على شكل ملف PDF واحد لا يتجاوز حجمه MB 20.
إذا اقتضت الحاجة إلى إرسال ملف أكبر من هذا الحجم، فيجب إرساله على أجزاء.
- ورقة تشرح الفلسفة التصميمية في ٥٠٠ كلمة كحد اقصى.
- ترسل المشاركات على العنوان التالي challenge [at] redesignarabia
[dot] com
الموعد النهائي للتقديم
٥ أكتوبر٢٠١١
التحكيم
سيتم الاعلان لاحقاً عن لجنة التحكيم. سيتم عرض المشاركات على موقعنا
الالكتروني وسيفتح المجال للتعليق عليها. ستوخذ نوعية التعليقات الدائرة
حاول المشاركات بعين الاعتبار في التحكيم. لن يكون هنالك تصويت على
المشاركات.
وسيحكم على المشاركات دون التعريف باصحابها خلال عملية التحكيم.
ينبغي عدم ذكر إسم الفرد أو المجموعات المشاركة إلى على صفحة الغلاف ويجب
أن ترفق بشكل منفصل عن الطلب.
حقوق الطبع والنشر
سيتم عرض المشاركات الفائزة ومشاركات أخرى منتقاة في أحد المساحات والمعارض الفنية في العاصمة الاردنية، عمان.
يحتفظ تصميم عربي بحقه في نشر جميع
المشاركات على الموقع الالكتروني وفي أية وسائل إعلامية أخرى.
كما يحتفظ
تصميم العرب بحق إقامة معرض حول المشاركات المقدمة
After the elections, activists, politicians and political parties in these countries started demanding various measures of cooperation between the new Arab democracies. The opening of their borders, the cancellation of import tariffs between them, a unified currency and the freedom of labor movement where some of the strongest demands put forward.
In 2012, the demands intensified and cross border cooperation between activists emerged. Responding to that, the foreign ministers of the new Arab democracies held a meeting in Cairo to discuss implementing such requests. They came out with a declaration supporting closer cooperation between their countries.
Then, the leaders of the Arab democracies met on the 2nd of March 2013, and announced the birth of the Free Arab Union, a new cooperation body of democratic Arab states based on the principles of freedom, economic and cultural cooperation and open borders.
The Free Arab Union charter was announced. While it kept the independence and sovereignty of its members intact, it aimed at achieving a unified framework for political, economic, social and cultural cooperation among the newly formed democracies.
General Principles
The Free Arab Union is established on the premise of freedom, democracy and independence. It accepts the diversity of Arab societies without discrimination or favoritism for one society over another, or one region over another.
The Union welcomes the membership of any Arab country governed by democratic rule that has gained popular acceptance.
The Union issued the following statement on October 2013, which reflects the principles the citizens were calling for the previous year. The following represents a summary of its main points:
1- Strengthening democracy among members of the Union by launching a unified electoral system for Arab parliaments that expands popular representation of various societal groups.
2- Freedom of movement between member countries without visa requirements.
3- Creation of a single currency.
4- Unification of the general tariffs and taxes.
5- Respect of the right of expression whether on political, social or economic subjects.
6- Encouragement of popular participation in civic and political life and the establishment of vital public spaces in major cities for free public expression.
Challenge Details
The Free Arab Union now needs a visual identity.
In order to embody the principles and philosophy of the Union, it has been decided that a full branding strategy will be developed. The brand will provide the principle communication tools for the Union, including the flag, logo, color schemes, presentation materials for conferences and festivals, and for the promotion of culture and tourism in its member countries. The communications office at the Union has already prepared a design brief and is now scouting for the perfect team to participate in the competition.
Are you the designer they should turn to?
Redesign Arabia invites you to participate in a competition that aims to encourage thinking about the Arab World’s contemporary issues from a design and creative perspective.
You can help develop a vibrant, dynamic and relevant new brand for the Arab World by preparing the design requirements in the following brief:
Mandatory Requirements
1. Design the Union’s flag so that it represents the identity and principles that member countries have adopted. (Set your imagination free, and show us the flag in a photo montage flying on a pole in one of the capitals of a member country)
2. Design the logo of the Union as seen at the launching ceremony and its advertisement campaign.
3. Design its unified currency (paper and coin) or unified postal stamps.
4. Design the homepage of the website of the Union and a smartphone e-government application.
Optional Requirements
The Union has started to work on three major projects. As a designer, you have to choose one of them at least to work on (in addition to the mandatory requirements above).
1. Logo of the Regional Transport Authority (which serves all of the countries by rapid bus and train services) in addition to applications of the logo on information billboards at terminals and smart payment cards.
2. Logo of the annual cultural festival.
3. A tourism handbook.
The floor is open for participants to suggest any other design items they would like to submit.
Submission Instructions
- This competition is open to individual designers, advertisement agencies, media and design firms from all around the world.
- Participants can send multiple entries as long as each fulfills all requirements.
- All entries should be submitted in a single PDF file with a maximum size of 20MB. If the need arises to send an entry with a larger file size, you can split it into multiple files.
- A 500-word (maximum) concept paper must also be attached.
- All entries should be sent to challenge [at] redesignarabia [dot] com
Deadline
October 5 2011
Jury
The jury will be announced at a later stage. Entries will be shared on our website and open to comments. The quality of discussion generated around them will be taken into consideration by the jury. There will be no voting system on entries.
All entries will be judged anonymously. The name of participant(s) should be mentioned on a separate cover letter only.
Printing & Publishing Rights
Winning and select entries will be exhibited in one of the gallery spaces in Amman, Jordan.
Redesign Arabia reserves its right to publish all entries on its website and any other media outlet. Redesign Arabia also reserves its right to exhibit entries.
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