Let's face it, WorldChanging's formula for success so far has been to create great original content, add a healthy dose of blogged innovation and then combine the two with a sucky visual sensibility (where "sucky" is a technical term meaning really freaking awful).
We will be redesigning the whole site (just as soon as we get up the courage to break our piggy bank), but for right now, what we really, really need is a handful of designers and artists who can make compelling visuals to accompany the work we're doing. We don't pay. We do give credit where credit is due, and we throw great parties -- and if you make cool images for us, we'll let you be our friend.
Here's our first design competition: we need a series of buttons and little banner ads that say "The debate about climate change is over." It would also be fun to have various cute photoshopped images (for instance, why has no one yet spray-painted those words on a polar bear? I hope some of our Canadian readers will get right on that.) but more than anything, we need those buttons and banners.
Leave a URL linking to your submission in the comments. The winner (as judged by some anonymous people in some arbitrary process - just like in the real art world) will get a WorldChanging T-shirt with real kitsch appeal. Contest closes June 9th.
Yeah, but it's not over. That's the whole point about science of any sort - it's never over, even the well established stuff. To say the debate about climate change (or any other scientific topic, for that matter) is just plain silly. The debate may be won, lost, drawn, etc, and have moved on to the next debate, but its never over. To say the debate is over is to go into the realms of politics, which always screws it up with regards to science.
Posted by: Dr Zane on May 24, 2006 9:20 PM
Ah, third sentence in above comment should read "To say the debate about climate change is over (...) is just plain silly."
Posted by: Dr Zane on May 24, 2006 9:21 PM
It's much like the evolution 'debate.' Creationists say that evolution is a 'theory,' and therefore not fact. Ignorance of the scientific meaning of terms with other meanings outside the context of science leads to confusion at best, and manipulation at worst. In the case of creationism, the 'debate' ends up being one of definition.
The political situation is that there's a bunch of handwaving about how climate change isn't that big a deal, or that people aren't responsible for it, or whatever. A scientist is asked: 'Is it possible that the estimations are wrong?' A reasonable scientist answers honestly: 'Yes, it's possible.' And that's the end of that political discussion, even though it's just the beginning of the scientific discussion.
Are you talking about design competition for solutions? Because I have an idea. You take an old naval factory ship and retrofit it with some modified fishing equipment and install a high temperature gasifier (w or w/o hydrogen gas produciton) on board. Then you head out to that zone north of Hawaii where all the floating garbage collects and start harvesting it (pulling out any valuables), dry it, shred it and make some energy. You could make it some whole floating island concept. Or for quicker financing; reality TV.
Posted by: LTM on May 27, 2006 7:45 AM
Hello WorldChanging readers!
Is this competition still on? Not very people have submitted anything... :>( I will have mine up in a few days.
Posted by: Melissa on June 1, 2006 9:44 PM
my humble submission ... I chose to go vertical because it went better with the picture i chose.
