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PDA Turns One!

January 19, 2016

Happy New Year from Sarah Sandman and Jill Peterson!


It’s been an exciting first year for Public Displays of Affection, the design studio in downtown Brooklyn that ignites social causes through experiential design. Whether we’re making brosters about community energy initiatives, or mini-golf courses for Airbnb, we’re always thinking about how a design brief becomes an experience, and how that experience becomes a participatory, share-worthy moment.

This year PDA had the pleasure of working with many amazing clients and causes, such as Planned Parenthood, Airbnb, Acadia Center, TED Fellows, The Establishment and Radiate, helping them to spark change and build communities. Read on and get involved...

 
PPAF_PDA_IVOTE.jpg

Supporting Planned Parenthood

We were proud to help design the identity for I Vote Planned Parenthood Action - an initiative by Planned Parenthood Action Fund to get out the vote for women’s health. During a year when supporting women’s access to health care was as important an issue as it has ever been, it is an honor to call Planned Parenthood a client.

 

Taking IDEAs on the road

This year PDA brought the IDEA cards on the road to Arizona State University as part of our presentation on Participatory Design Strategies for Phoenix Design Week. We brought Community Jenga to the TED Fellows retreat, and were visiting critics at the Rhode Island School of Design.
 

 

Getting WILDER

Get ready for WILDER Labs - a combination of PDA's WILDER and Design Lab - coming this Spring! PDA will bring a select group of young women embarking on a career in design to travel upstate to The Wassaic Project. There, we will explore new questions and build self-reliance skills with sustainable design objectives. WILDER Labs aims to both inspire up-and-coming female designers as well as bring their creativity to the challenges presented by climate change. 

 

Making it Public

We had a blast this holiday season bestowing public displays of affection on New York City, including sharing kisses with train conductors and leaving loot for letter carriers. See our top ten public displays of the #santakwanzaakkah spirit at @pdastudio on Instagram, and join us in #makingitpublic!

 

Calling all collaborators! Are you...

++ Excited about design activations that connect people and causes?

++ Involved in corporate social responsibility initiatives?

++ Fascinated by geodesic domes?

++ Looking for participatory design consultants for your next project?

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In projects Tags year one, birthday, anniversary
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Heavy themes emerge from Design Taboo for branding

Adapting the game Taboo for Branding

November 2, 2015

Here at PDA Studio we like to use something we call Design Taboo to help us move forward in defining and developing our projects. To play it, you come up with a list of 10 questions to which each person on the project has to give a one-word answer that they write at the top of a card. They then draw a line underneath that word and come up with 5 words that they think most people would use to describe that word. A deck of Design Taboo cards is thus created and shuffled, and the game begins.

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In projects, repurpose existing models Tags Establishment, Taboo, branding, website, web design, process, design strategies for participation, games, identity, collaboration, participation
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Sarah testing out the  Green-Wood Cemetery "green"

Sarah testing out the  Green-Wood Cemetery "green"

Mini-golf, anyone?

May 13, 2015

PDA is excited to announce our latest collaboration with Airbnb for the 2015 Brooklyn Half Marathon pre-race event! Come down to Brooklyn Bridge Park this Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and enjoy 6 holes of Brooklyn-themed mini-golf, as well as music, food, drinks, workshops, installations and all-around good times right on the water looking out on lower Manhattan. It's a great backdrop for a little putt-putt!

It was really fun choosing six iconic Brooklyn locations and designing mini courses around their essential elements, like Grand Army Plaza's rotary or Coney Island's Cyclone rollercoaster. Also amazing was seeing these ideas translated into illustration by Agnes Lee and how the talented fabricators at Hewn Bros. brought it to life!

Head down to Pier 2, 150 Furman Street in Brooklyn: 

Wednesday, May 13 from 12 pm to 9 pm

Thursday, May 14 from 12 pm to 9 pm

Friday, May 15 from 10 am to 9 p.m

Grand Army Plaza As Mini Golf Course

Grand Army Plaza As Mini Golf Course

In projects Tags Minigolf, mini-golf, Brooklyn, Half Marathon, Race, pre-race, Airbnb
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VISUAL AID SOCIETY is a graphic design agency that helps social impact organizations and businesses tell their story. Located in BRISTOL, VT 🌳

Send us a note! hello@visualaidsociety.com