Winnipeg, Manitoba
Yesterday, Circle’s founder Robert L. Peters gave a presentation at TEDxManitoba about Solace House, the super-insulated passive-solar home he designed and built in the woods of eastern Manitoba in 1980, and that he has been living in (without a furnace) ever since. On Wednesday morning he was interviewed by Terry MacLeod on CBC’s Information Radio program (listen here). Rob’s talk comes up at 02:51:53 in TEDxManitoba’s livestream morning session which you can access here.
Individual videos will be processed and put online within the next few weeks.
Winnipeg, Canada
We’re very pleased to have had the opportunity over the last six months of working with an exciting new First Nations initiative—TIPI (TWCC Insurance Partners LP)—on the creation, naming, and design of branding and communications materials. TIPI fulfills the dream of a single, national pension and benefit plan for Aboriginal People and First Nations organizations, and holds the potential to bring together more than 490 separate plans currently scattered across Canada.
Combining pension assets into a single plan will dramatically lower fees charged to First Nations pension accounts. This in turn means that more money stays in the communities, reversing the “economic leakage” that is currently the norm. TIPI will also lead to the creation of numerous jobs for Aboriginal people; and TIPI raises the bar with ethics based on honesty, openness, social responsibility, and regard for the well-being of People (vs. the well-being of the “corporate bottom line”).
Part of Circle’s work on behalf of TIPI has been the design and development of a launch website, where you can learn more about this exciting initiative.
Shown above is a screen-shot of the new WordPress-powered TIPI website, along with some of the key messages that appear on the splash page.
Winnipeg, Canada
The statistics are in… this year’s Movember event is an unprecedented success, raising a total of $113,931,103 for the cause. The lads at Circle are chuffed to have contributed to the effort through their sacrificial facial dedication—Canada was the world’s single largest contributor this year, with a whopping $39.8 million!
Thanks to those who contributed to the cause (during November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces… raising vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer). See full Movember stats here.
The handsome swashbuckler above is Circle’s Adrian Shum.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Excerpt from the Movember website…
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in Canada and around the world. With their “Mo’s,” these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.
On Movember 1st, guys register at Movember.com with a clean-shaven face. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts. Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words, they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.
At the end of the month, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas celebrate their gallantry and valor by either throwing their own Movember party or attending one of the infamous Gala Partés held around the world by Movember, for Movember.
Several members of the Circle team are participating in this year’s movement, and we’d be delighted if you chose to make a donation to the cause… donate to Rob’s efforts here, and Adrian’s efforts here. Cheers!
Taipei, Taiwan
Robert L. Peters has just returned from the 2011 IDA World Design Congress in Taipei (IDA = the International Design Alliance, comprised of Icograda, Icsid, and IFI) and the 24th General Assembly of Icograda, the International Council of Communication Design.
The sold-out benchmark congress event drew together over 3000 delegates from around the globe, and was accompanied by a successful Design Expo (which enjoyed over 1 million visitors); scores of parallel exhibitions, conferences, and seminars further illuminated the city of Taipei’s position during this time as the centre of attention in the world of design.
The 2011 IDA Congress lived up to its billing as a unique gathering of thought leadership exploring the intersection between design and five key sectors of global relevance: economic development, the Internet, biotechnology, urbanism, and international migration. As such, it brought together designers with non-design stakeholders to promote the value of design and explore design-led approaches as an enabler of innovation. “The Congress theme—Design at the Edges—highlights the edges between design practice and other fields having a stake in design; the blurring of the boundaries between the design disciplines, as well as their unique attributes; and ‘cutting edge’ work and ideas—thinking that pushes the boundaries of all disciplines.”
Over the past two years, Peters has had the pleasure of acting as an adviser to the Taiwanese hosts/organizers, and he was also pleased to have the opportunity of presenting a keynote lecture in the ‘Economic Development’ stream. He’s learned a lot about Taiwan (this was his 7th trip there), in no small part through the process of researching and writing a feature article that appears in the current issue of Communication Arts magazine (November/December 2011 issue, download a 1.7MB PDF here).
A huge ‘thank-you’ goes out to the local hosts in Taipei; the Taiwan Design Centre, as well as to the visionary Taiwanese ministries whose mission for sustainable economic development has placed Design at the center of their strategic thinking for the future. Thanks also to the many Taiwanese designers who contributed their works and viewpoints to Peters’ CA article… 謝謝!
Winnipeg, Manitoba
In preparation for the upcoming provincial elections in Manitoba (slated for 4 October) we’ve contributed design services to neighborhood community organizations in Winnipeg’s West End for three posters promoting the 2011 Provincial Election Forum—your vote counts!
Vilnius, Lithuania
Circle’s founder, Robert L. Peters, has spent the better part of the past week in Vilnius, capital city of the Baltic state of Lithuania, as an invited speaker and active participant in the Spring: Icograda Design Week. Official activities included attendance of the Icograda Regional Meeting, delivery of a lecture entitle Welcome Change at the International Conference held at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and acting as a presenter at the European Design Awards 2011.
Highlights of Peters’ week included numerous design exhibitions that ran in the old city (concurrent to the Design Week), meeting with old and new designer colleagues from some 20 different countries, and spending time in some excellent art galleries and historic cultural venues. A big thanks goes out to the organizers and to Gediminas Lasas and his colleagues at the Lithuanian Graphic Design Association in particular…
Photos (by Ines Subtil): participants of the Icograda Regional Meeting outside the Vilnius Academy of Arts; an on-stage group shot of all of the winners and presenters of the European Design Awards 2011; Peters and MTV hostess Ugne Skonsmanaite presenting a silver award to Beetroot Design Group from Greece for their packaging work “Konva.”
Toronto, Canada
Circle’s founder, Robert L. Peters, gave a presentation at FITC Toronto 2011 earlier today… exploring “why” we as designers do what we do, and “to what end.” His talk included a personal existential narrative (tracing back to the 16th-century Holy Roman Empire) wrapped in a “big-picture exposition” on the power of design to shape culture and influence our tomorrows. Thanks to Shawn Pucknell for bringing Peters back to FITC on this special 10th-anniversary occasion (his 8th time giving a talk at FITC).
DesignEdge Canada has a writeup of Peters’ talk in its May 4th news, here.
Winnipeg, Canada
We’re looking forward to the gala black-tie dinner fundraiser tonight at the Hotel Fort Garry on Broadway—the special honoree is Manitoba’s former Premier, and now Canada’s Ambassador to the USA, Gary Doer. This event is the 28th annual for the Concordia Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to preserving the high quality of health and wellness services provided by Concordia (Concordia Hospital, Concordia Place, Concordia Hip & Knee Institute, Concordia Wellness Projects and Concordia Village).
Circle is a sponsor of the gala event, and we also designed the related graphics and collateral materials. Find out more about the Concordia Foundation at the recently-launched website we designed, here.
Postscript (6 June 2011): The fundraiser proved to be a resounding success, with over $100,000 raised. View a summary by the Winnipeg Free Press here.
Rome, Italy
Congratulations(!) to our longstanding client The North West Company (NWC) on the successful run by their Team Diabetes group last week—73 of 77 runners from NWC completed the 2011 Maratona di Roma, raising over $500,000 in donations to fight the debilitating disease (a serious condition that affects more than 3 million Canadians, with those of Aboriginal descent being three to five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes).
Another client of ours, MKO Grand Chief David Harper (of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc., the non-profit, political advocacy organization that represents 30 First Nation communities in Manitoba’s North) ran the Rome Marathon alongside the NWC team. Chief Harper later had the opportunity to meet Pope Benedict at St. Peter’s Square, where he raised the issue of the urgent need for clean, running water in northern First Nations. The Pope indicated that there was indeed a need for greater advocacy on this issue, and promised to issue an urgent call for same. Chief Harper also extended an invitation to the Pope to visit Manitoba’s northern First Nation communities when the Pope makes his first visit to Canada.
Images: Edward Kennedy, President and CEO of NWC, after the finish; David Lui, NWC’s Marketing Director (who ran for his diabetic dad, Andrew Lui); Grand Chief David Harper with Pope Benedict (photo from the Winnipeg Free Press).
