After 13 Years, Our Founder Bids Farewell

A Letter from Sam Aquillano

Dear CoDesign Collaborative Community,

On June 7 I informed our Board of Directors that I’ll be resigning from my position as Executive & Creative Director at CoDesign Collaborative.

Starting, launching, and growing the CoDesign Collaborative — in collaboration with you all — has been the joy of my life. Besides my own children, there’s no creation I care more about in this world. I love the museum, our mission, our team, and our community — and I feel so privileged to have been part of bringing a new organization to life and shepherding it through 13 years of dramatic growth and change. I’ve been at the museum for a full third of my life, in many ways the museum is my life. I would do anything for this organization, including step aside, so new leadership can guide our next phase of change.

My life has changed a lot over the last 13 years, and especially after the last few months, welcoming our third child — and thinking about what’s best for me, my family, and for this organization, it’s time for me to make a change. I believe the museum is ready for that change as well — and that’s something I’m really proud of. We have an amazing Board of Directors, Council, community, and most importantly, our staff is incredibly talented and dedicated to this work. I trust them to steward this beautiful organization into what’s ahead, shaping the CoDesign Collaborative into what’s best for our community.

The Board took a great step in naming Maria Villafranca as Interim Executive Director, to lead the transition. Maria is a talented, thoughtful nonprofit leader with nearly 20 years of experience managing arts organizations, and has served as the CoDesign Collaborative’s Marketing Director, and more recently as our Deputy Director.

During these last few weeks I’ve been doing as much as possible to wrap up my duties, train staff, and support the team to ensure a successful transition. CoDesign Collaborative will always be part of me — as I’ve shared with our team, at the Board’s pleasure, I’m happy to serve as an ad hoc consultant to the Board if I can be helpful in the months and years ahead.

I’m grateful to you all for believing so much in me and this mission that you’ve dedicated your support to our people and our work. I feel so fortunate to have been on this journey. I’m excited to remain part of the CoDesign Collaborative community and watch from afar as the museum continues to evolve and change and be a real beacon of light and joy for so many people — now I’ll be one of them, smiling at events, gaining insights from the magazine, and getting so much out of being a member of this dynamic community. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Sam Aquillano

Top Highlights from the 2022 Annual Meeting

Thank you to everyone who attended our 2022 Annual Meeting! There is no better way to start the year than by gathering together, reviewing the last year, and looking forward to the one ahead. 

In case you missed it, or just want to relive some of the magic, here are some of the top highlights:

Year in Review 

Over the course of 2021, together our CoDesign Collaborative community was able to:

• Engage our community through the Bespoke Bodies and We Design exhibitions, as well as the We Design Conversation Cards;
• Host virtual events that brought over 1,000 people together from all 50 states, DC, and 20 countries;
• Achieve over 80,000 downloads of the Design Is Everywhere podcast;
• Publish four issues of Design Museum Magazine, where we covered climate change, policing, and more.

Upcoming Programs

With 2022 already off to an amazing start, this year you can look forward to:

• CoDesign Collaborative Week, taking place April 25-29, 2022;
• Touring exhibitions on play, community, and design and you — including bringing the Bespoke Bodies exhibit to the National WWI Museum and Memorial;
• Reading the new book of We Design stories;
• Four more issues of Design Museum Magazine, with the next one covering design and footwear;
• Events focusing on students, career coaching, and more.

Distinguished Medals of Service

It was our great honor to present Dieter and Karen Reuther with the Distinguished Medals of Service, which recognizes excellence in the mission of bringing the transformative power of design everywhere.

How to Get Involved

Feeling excited about 2022? There are multiple ways to help us spread the power of design everywhere: 

• Get inspired at this April’s CoDesign Collaborative Week;
• Be a part of the groundbreaking We Design Book campaign;
• Join the DME Council, our thought leadership community, or the Partner Program, which connects companies to our design community. For more information, contact us here;
• Sign up for our newsletter to get notified about upcoming programs;
• Become a student mentor. For more information, contact us here.

Thank you for helping us make 2022 our best year yet!

CoDesign Collaborative: New Council Members

CoDesign Collaborative is pleased to welcome fifteen new Council members.

By Subin Hyun

CoDesign Collaborative is pleased to welcome fifteen new additions to the Council: 

• Debra Brodsky, Marketing Director, US Lead at Oxford Properties Group
• Tracy Brower, Author, The Secrets of Happiness at Work
• Alfred (Alf) Byun, Design Director of Strategy Lab, Gensler
• Ginger Dhaliwal, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Upflex
• Laura Dye, Human-Centered and Strategic HR Leader
• Richard Eisermann, Head Of Design, Connected Care at Philips
• Sara Hartmann, Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship, MassArt
• Patrice Martin, Cofounder and CEO, The Holding Co.
• Jessie McGuire, Managing Director, ThoughtMatter
• Pam Pease, Founder, Paintbox Press LLC
• George Restrepo, Founder, Creative Director
• Jennifer Rittner, Founder, Content Matters
• Chōkdee Rutirasiri, VP, Experience Strategy & Design, Mad*Pow
• Susan Ryder, Owner, Susan Ryder Design
• Julie Taraska, Founder and President, Content Needs Context

Council members are experts in the Museum’s impact areas and design fields, and advise and support the Staff and Board of Directors, while ensuring adequate resources and strong community are available to accomplish the Museum’s mission.

Three New CoDesign Collaborative Board Members

CoDesign Collaborative is pleased to welcome Gregory Bombard, Dana Chisnell, and Steven Rosen to the board.

By Subin Hyun

CoDesign Collaborative is pleased to welcome Gregory Bombard, Dana Chisnell, and Steven Rosen to the board.

Gregory Bombard
Greg is a partner at the law firm Duane Morris LLP. His practice spans a wide range of legal issues including intellectual property protection, employment law, government investigations, and corporate ethics. His clients include makers of consumer products, architects, real estate developers, and biotech companies. Greg is active in the American Bar Association and Boston Bar Association as a frequent speaker and author. He’s a Massachusetts native and a graduate of Boston College Law School. Greg lives in Boston with his wife and two daughters.

Dana Chisnell
Dana is a pioneer and thought leader in civic design, bringing deep experience to that space. After working with banks, insurance companies, and tech companies for decades to improve experiences for their customers and workers, Dana takes that knowledge to the government space. She has applied this work in dozens of states, and in the U.S. federal government as a policy designer at the U.S. Digital Service in the White House. In 2019, Dana was named one of the world’s most influential people in digital government by Apolitical.

Steven Rosen
It was Steven’s interest in applying theatrical lighting techniques to architectural environments that led to his founding of Available Light in 1990. His passion for light and design spans commercial and educational projects, grandly themed hospitality spaces, dinosaurs sunning themselves in natural history museums, and aliens warring in trade show exhibit displays.
Steven, recipient of LDI Lighting Designer of the Year and the IALD Radiance Award, is a Fellow of the IALD, Past-President of the IALD Education Trust, a member of both the IES Museum Lighting Committee and the IALD LIRC Steering Committee, a board member of CoDesign Everywhere, and teaches in the Exhibit and Experience Design masters program at FIT. He is committed to developing the next generation of lighting designers and elevating the art and science of multi-disciplinary design to the public.

Greg, Dana, and Steven join CoDesign Collaborative’s Board of Directors, which consists of 19 leaders across the museum’s twelve impact areas.

Year in Review

A look back at CoDesign Collaborative in 2020

It’s been a big year for CoDesign Everywhere, utilizing our nomadic structure and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by creating new programs, bringing the We Design exhibition online, starting the Design is Everywhere podcast, and launching a Diversity in Action training program. We are now more true to our mission than ever before: CoDesign Collaborative brings the transformative power of design everywhere.

Organizational Growth

Thank you to everyone who participated, contributed, and designed with CoDesign Collaborative in 2020. This was a year of growth and gratitude in many ways. From new programs for our virtual reality to new staff members, we didn’t let 2020 stop us.

Growing Team

This year, we were able to grow the team working to make everything at CoDesign Collaborative happen, and we could not do it without each and every one of them. We were able to increase our numbers for our Board of Directors and Advisory Council Members by 10 percent, we welcomed interns and apprentices from 10 different states to our team, and we added three new full-time staff members working in areas including marketing, our newly online We Design initiative, and our podcast Design is Everywhere.

Finances

Without traditional overhead, like a building, CoDesign Collaborative invests primarily in our team and in our programming. Particularly in a time like 2020, this model allows us to continue delivering on our mission. The overwhelming majority of our funds were put into the people that help to bring our expanding programming to life, affirming our commitment to continuing to share valuable information, programming and resources with our community.

The graphic above shows the breakdown of our revenue for 2020. Our most notable areas of funds received included program sponsorship, institutional grants, memberships, and individual donors, in descending order.

The Power of Design

Exhibitions

CoDesign Collaborative toured the We Design and Bespoke Bodies exhibitions to 5 venues across the U.S. and online! Our exhibitions are always free and open to the public, in places people already go.

CoDesign Collaborative is Everywhere

Despite the world slowing down, membership at CoDesign Collaborative expanded globally. With more virtual events and ways to connect, our community comes from all over the world to celebrate design. Members are able to attend events for free and receive Design Museum Magazine. 10,000 copies of Design Museum Magazine were read in 44 states and 19 countries, and more than 100 students and recent graduates were provided with free membership to CoDesign Collaborative. Additionally, our events were attended by over 3,207 people around the world, and our podcast, Design is Everywhere, was downloaded 21,000 times. Design is Everywhere is available for free wherever you stream your podcasts. 

This graphic shows the U.S. states and countries that our CoDesign Collaborative members live. From Canada, to Brazil, to Italy, and Australia, CoDesign Collaborative is proud to engage with a global community.

This graph breaks down the content areas that we showcased in our programming, including health and wellness; diversity, equity, and inclusion; education; and workplace innovation; in descending order. We also engaged with experts in many fields!

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We Design: People. Practice. Progress.

We Design brings together creatives from a wide array of backgrounds to examine and celebrate a range of career paths, applications, and impact areas in design. The collaborative, evolving exhibition features career stories showcasing how people have forged their unique paths into different creative professions, emphasizing the need for more racial and gender diversity in design and innovation fields. Over 32 creative career options have been spotlighted in the online exhibit, with resources and interactive media that allows readers to continue learning about careers that use design.

Bespoke Bodies: The Design & Craft of Prosthetics

Bespoke Bodies features the stories of 44 individuals and companies making change in the lives of people living with limb loss and limb difference, plus 7 original accompanying essays.

Black Lives Matter and Anti-Racism Resources

Our team worked to aggregate 106 anti-racism resources spanning design specific and general self education books, podcasts, and organizations to follow, hosted on a continuously updated webpage.

Diversity in Action

We also launched a series of courses—Diversity in Action—for individuals and organizations to live up to their diversity, equity, and inclusion statements, by designing a culture of diversity in action. Over 300 work hours were dedicated to consistent anti-racism work, diversity, equity, and inclusion training, and facilitated conversations across the entire CoDesign Collaborative team.

Youth Education

Design Together

Our education team led 11+ hours of Design Together activities, we also created an online catalog of activities that learners can do alone or with family and friends to build design skills, geared for learners from ages 7 and up.

Exhibition Conversation Cards

As an accompaniment to the We Design program, we’ve designed a deck of 55 interactive cards to teach young people what’s possible in the design field.

Neighborhood Design Project*

60 teens worked with CoDesign Collaborative in 2020 through the Neighborhood Design Project, learning from and making relationships with 13 local designers to use the design process to self-identify problems and create change in their own communities. Over $18,000 was paid to the teens for their design work.

*Includes Summer Design Project, our virtual version of Neighborhood Design Project (NDP), held in Summer 2020 to offer a continuation of where NDP left off due to interruptions from COVID-19.

I’m excited to learn from this younger generation about the type of issues that they care about and how they use design to try and tackle some of that.

– Lauren Smedley, NDP Design Coach

CoDesign Collaborative LIVE: Sketch Series, Draw Footwear with Michael DiTullo Recap

CoDesign Collaborative LIVE • June 2020

By Sara Magalio

In our June Sketch Series, we welcomed Michael DiTullo, one of the founding board members of CoDesign Collaborative and a prolific and successful designer in his own right, to take viewers step-by-step through the process of sketching an original, functional shoe design. Michael has worked professionally in design for over 20 years, designing noteworthy products and experiences in almost every industry including footwear, consumer electronics, IOT smart devices, medical instruments, robotics, and toys. Michael has been designing shoes specifically for over eight years, working with such renowned labels as Nike, Converse, and Jordan. 

Before beginning the sketching tutorial, Michael noted that even though technological advancements now allow for more complex, three-dimensional models of designs to be produced, being able to sketch a design quickly and effectively remains an important skill for the designer to possess. 

Michael cited a specific example of the value of sketching as the time when he worked with Michael Jordan to design a Nike Jordan sneaker. By hand-sketching his design ideas with Jordan present, Michael was able to receive immediate feedback in real time, something that producing a digital model would not necessarily allow. Michael noted the importance of this immediate feedback to quickly rectify design flaws and foster the inherent collaborative nature of the design process.

Michael also noted that with shoe design specifically, the objects being constructed lend themselves to both creative and functional features. Michael explained that he thinks about the kinds of people he is specifically designing for, from a commuting businesswoman to a professional basketball player, and how they want their shoes to look and feel.

To exemplify how to create a more casual, versatile design, Michael guided viewers through drawing a simple, white summer shoe, with a couple of stylistic design flares. Below are the general steps that Michael enumerated in guiding the sketch session, and relevant tips that Michael shared throughout the process are also included below each step. 

Before beginning the sketch process:

• Michael recommended cutting a pair of old shoes apart to see what the individual components of the shoe are actually composed of. This allows the designer to sketch a more realistic design, because they can better understand how all of the different materials that make up the shoe interact. 
• He noted that it is also important to study how the material works, including how pliant or rigid it is.
• Michael also said that he likes to draw with bold materials, such as markers and pens. He equated this to when someone is having a conversation, they cannot take the words back once they have said them; similarly, when Michael is drawing, he likes to roll with the mistakes and see where they take him.

Drawing the underlay (the imperfect base, or outline) that the design will be based off of.

• Michael recommended starting by drawing the shoe from the side view, because this is the way the customer sees the shoe on the shelf at the store. It is also important to think about the distinctive lines of the silhouette of the shoe, which help the item to stand out in an online shopping setting, where a small icon may be all that is working to catch a customer’s attention.
• The toe spring is the space between the front of the shoe and the ground, and the heel kick is the space between the back of the shoe and the ground. Curving these upward in a sketch makes the shoe look more real. A running shoe will typically have a higher toe spring as compared to a casual shoe like a boat shoe.
• Proportion, or the relative size of all of the parts of the shoe in relation to each other, defines the shoe. It is critical to get these dimensions right early on, or the shoe will look off, according to Michael.
• Clearly mark where the tooling line is. This line separates the upper, primarily cloth portion of the shoe with the sole below, which is generally made of molded rubber.
• The throat of the shoe is where the foot is inserted. Michael noted that a common mistake that people make when sketching the throat is that they make it too narrow, which may look cool, but is not practical for actually fitting a foot in the shoe. 

Put the underlay sheet under a new sheet of paper. Use the underlay as a type of tracing stencil. Drawing over the underlay, make modifications based off of the original and add more details.

• Throughout the design process, it is important to continue thinking about the function of the design. Michael noted four distinct components to pay attention to:
  • Performance: How far can you walk in the shoes?
  • Manufacturing: How can the materials be combined to make an efficient assembly process?
  • Branding: Does the brand you are designing for have a history or design knowledge that needs to be taken into account?
  • Style: Does the shoe fit stylistically with what people want to buy? Can the design stay relevant over multiple seasons?

Take the underlay out, then begin shading, and use a finer tipped pen to add more detail.

• In this step, Michael recommended using a partially dried out Sharpie marker for shading purposes. He also noted that when adding these details, it is important to keep in mind how the different materials in the shoe design interact with each other.
• Michael also noted that it helps to start shading lightly and build up as you go along, because you can always go darker but can’t go lighter when working with permanent ink.
• Michael also suggested a technique using fabric samples to mimic the texture of mesh in the sketch. He put a square of textured material under the paper and used the broad side of a pencil to rub the paper and imprint the texture onto the sketch.

Sketch the bottom view of the shoe, and take into account any side details that would impact the sole design.

• Michael noted that it takes a lot of practice to draw the footprint of a shoe well, so a helpful trick is to print out an image of the bottom view of a shoe and trace it out.
• Overall, Michael encouraged viewers to not become discouraged if they are new to design, for he equated becoming truly great in design to learning the humor or nuances of a foreign language, which takes consistent, dedicated time and practice.  

Michael’s final notes:

• When designing shoes, it is important to be aware of what’s going on in the industry, but it’s not good to get trapped in the status quo of design.
• Designers are always doing research for their work, whether it’s people watching, going to concerts or walking around museums, inspiration can come from everywhere.
• It is important for the designer to formulate a way to catalog all of this acquired inspiration, because past inspiration even from years ago can still inspire a new idea later down the road. 

The 5 Growing Pains of Global Innovation Recap

CoDesign Collaborative LIVE • June 2020

By Sara Magalio

In June, our CoDesign Collaborative LIVE event focused on the collaborative challenges that companies can face as they grow and change over time, and some tactics that businesses can employ to ease these “growing pains of global innovation.” The event was facilitated by Patricia Wang, a senior design researcher at Steelcase, a Michigan-based company that offers services including architecture, furniture, and technology products, all designed to help people reach their full potential. Wang shared research on global collaboration in companies that has been conducted over the past few years, and she revealed that there have been trends toward shifting organizational structures to increase the speed of development and meet the needs of new customers through more diverse thinking. In working to increase the speed and variability of development, Wang identified five growing pains in globally distributed innovation, and she provided suggestions on how companies can overcome these challenges and continue to evolve, even when many businesses must keep all of their interactions virtual to adhere to social distancing protocol in the wake of COVID-19.

1. Trust across distance

Wang identified the first growing pain of global innovation as, “developing trust across distance, despite limited synchronous interactions.” She noted that especially now, with many companies using Zoom or other video conferencing services to connect with coworkers, developing trust becomes difficult, because surprise, serendipitous, in-person workplace interactions are what build trust traditionally. Wang added that especially in more creative environments, this spontaneous collaboration is sorely missed. Wang then challenged participants to consider ways that their respective companies have been working to build trust in the workplace remotely, through tactics like virtual mixers and randomly pairing co-workers across different departments to foster collaboration that may not normally happen in a given work day. One participant shared that her company has hosted a “DJ competition,” where colleagues team up and draft playlists on Youtube that respond to certain prompts, such as “best songs to listen to while working from home.” The company then comes together through a virtual hangout to share their playlists and vote on the best selections. 

2. Overcoming aversion to creative conflict 

For the second growing pain, “overcoming aversion to creative conflict,” Wang noted that even in physical spaces, it is sometimes difficult to discern where someone is coming from in respect to a specific idea, and that it can be hard to build trust with someone in the workplace who you don’t really know. Despite this, Wang emphasized that creative conflict can be difficult to navigate, but is necessary to the evolution of a company. One suggestion Wang made to overcome creative conflict is utilizing the Collective Genius template, created by Linda Hill, which outlines three capabilities that are necessary for engaging successfully in creative conflict. These are:

1. Creative Agility — gathering a broad range of knowledge appropriate to the problem
2. Creative Abrasion — confronting diverging frames of reference and priorities
3. Creative Resolution — reaching a higher, more integrated solution

Wang also made the point that creative conflict is easier to circumvent in the virtual work space, but that emotional connections between colleagues can suffer as a result. “Work is emotional,” Wang said. “While technology like Zoom and Mural have solved some of the mechanics of collaboration, it has not solved the emotional connection.” Reinvigorating these emotional connections and creative conflicts that would normally happen more naturally in an in-person work environment was yet another challenge that Wang cited as stemming from adjusted work environments in a time of social distancing. 

3. Integrated decision-making 

Wang noted that in the third growing pain, “integrated decision-making,” decision-making needs to evolve to account for complex interdependencies. Wang emphasized that effective decision-making requires taking the time to identify key constraints of the different stakeholders and inventing new solutions that fit them, all while making intentional compromises for the greater good. Wang remarked that even the more natural, everyday activities in a work day can create power imbalances. She cited a specific issue that is exacerbated in the virtual workplace as the potential disconnect in access to information resources. Wang explained that sometimes, even if unintentional, those who have more access to information needed to make crucial decisions may fail to share this information with the entire team, creating power imbalances in the decision-making process. When this information is stored in a computer at someone’s home office and not even in a communal workplace, this challenge can become all the more pronounced. However, Wang did note that virtual features such as live polls and recording meetings so individuals who were not present can watch later are tools that can help rectify power imbalances. 

4. Neural network

“Neural network,” the fourth growing pain, involves shifting a company’s tendencies from more isolated thinking to a more interconnected intellectual approach, making it easier to leverage the collective intelligence of the organization and incite progress. Wang noted that hierarchical barriers and functional barriers stemming from a company’s organization can create “islands of communication” that cut off the neural network. One example of an active step toward fostering a neural network that Wang cited is the idea of “poster days” in a format similar to a school science fair, where colleagues take the time to individually share what they are working on and what they are learning with the rest of the company. When these lessons are integrated by other individuals or teams in the company, this can help projects to evolve more quickly and efficiently than if projects are allowed to proceed in isolation and are not revealed to the rest of the company for critique until after they are completed.

5. New expectations, old constraints 

The fifth and final growing pain, “new expectations, old constraints,” acknowledges that organizations may not have the structures to support unfamiliar and disruptive ideas. Wang noted that even with innovative leaders that work to inspire a new, creative vision, an organization may not yet have the fully realized design needed to see this vision to fruition. Employees who attempt to bridge this gap may realize this new vision does not have the adequate support needed to succeed at that moment, and while some may take the leap of faith and try to reach the goal anyway, Wang asserted that this tenacity requires a willingness to take on personal risk that may generate anxiety. Wang presented a simple solution to ease such anxiety and support risk taking through creating a designated space where such innovation is explicitly encouraged. As an example, Wang referenced a corporation with all blue branding and furniture that purchased a red couch as a reminder to employees to think outside the box when sitting on this couch, and that the company encourages such deviation. While distinctive office furniture is not currently a way in which companies can inspire creativity, one attendee shared that her company encourages innovation through a “failing forward” mentality, in which especially the leaders in a company make visible all of their attempts to solve a problem, including the failed ones, thus allowing the business to adapt very quickly in light of the situation and for workers to move forward toward a solution with less fear, knowing that even the leaders in an organization are not immune to failure. 

Open Source Wellness Recap

CoDesign Collaborative LIVE • May 2020

By Sabaat Kareem

May’s CoDesign Collaborative LIVE explored our national health care system with Open Source Wellness founders Dr. Elizabeth Markle and Dr. Ben Emmert-Aronson, two psychologists. Open Source Wellness is a radical reinvention of our healthcare system that is working to provide prescription behavioral practices. The project launched after Elizabeth and Ben observed that their patients were often instructed to change their lifestyles without receiving a structured plan to help them change. The pair noted that doctors frequently give the following advice: get more exercise, decrease stress, eat healthier, and surround yourself with social relationships. Open Source Wellness, through what they call their “behavioral pharmacy,” provides training, peer support, and activities that help people take their doctor’s advice. 

Elizabeth and Ben began the event by giving us a description of what one of their sessions looks like. The Open Source Wellness sessions are trans-diagnostic, meaning they bring together rather than separate people with different diagnoses. Each patient gets a health coach to help them begin their process. They then sign up for weekly, two-hour sessions, which are supplemented with frequent communication with their session group. Each session consists of group physical activity, stress reduction practices, a mini lesson on healthy lifestyles, and, finally, a group meal full of healthy foods and good conversation. The sessions, while structured, are oriented toward having fun and feeling free. The goal is to make people feel comfortable and supported while moving their bodies and reflecting. 

In a video shown by Elizabeth and Ben, patients of Open Source Wellness reported improvements after attending sessions. The sessions have helped patients feel lighter, freer, and happier, while providing everyone with a community of peers to lean on. The connectivity and accessibility aspects of Open Source Wellness are of utmost importance to Elizabeth and Ben. They make sure to hold their events in existing, easily reachable structures, and have taken caution to stay away from the potentially harmful, glamorized elements of meditation and self care. Open Source Wellness, while still in experimental mode, hopes to be fully funded by insurance, similar to some prescription medications and procedures. They are currently partnered with a local Bay Area insurance company to test their practices before expanding. 

During quarantine, like many organizations, Open Source Wellness’ practices have become increasingly experimental. Before the COVID-19 crisis, the Open Source Wellness sessions were centered on physical togetherness. Now, the organization continues to emphasize the importance of connectivity through virtual sessions. Elizabeth and Ben report that digital sessions have led to increased involvement and accessibility. Patients who were otherwise unable to make it to in-person sessions are now able to participate, making the project stronger than ever. Participation and connectivity are still primary concerns during this digital wave. Going forward, Open Source Wellness hopes to be an example of how the boundaries of healthcare and medical treatments can be redesigned. 

Sketch Series: Draw Architecture with Patrick Cunningham Recap

CoDesign Collaborative LIVE • May 2020

By Sabaat Kareem

CoDesign Collaborative’s May CoDesign Collaborative LIVE Sketch Series featured Patrick Cunningham of Perkins and Will and his lesson on architectural sketching. The sketch series highlighted Patrick’s major drawing tips and led the viewers through the process of creating an architecturally styled drawing, even if it’s not a building.

Patrick’s Tips and Techniques to Improve Your Sketching 

• Don’t treat sketches like precious artifacts: draw messy, draw fast, don’t get obsessed. Sketching is to record fleeting ideas.
• Use sketches to understand other designers’ ideas—visit buildings and draw them while you’re there.
• Architectural drawing unlocks a couple “super powers.” It allows you to see through forms, slice through objects, and move pieces around in ways you could not in real life.
• Make sure to draw a building in perspective as well as from above to observe your building in real life viewpoints.
• Feel free to hold your pencil and adjust your paper in whatever way feels most natural and allows you to make the strokes you want to make—there are no rules!
• Add marks to your drawing to put emphasis on certain aspects of your drawing—for example add a shadowy foreground to bring out texture in the object.
• To anyone just starting out in architecture, try a lot of different things and find the drawing tools that really work for you.