Have a new photo essay in Design Observer this week. This time, I’m focused on Manila’s rich SMS/texting culture, and how that influences the design of storefronts, public space and even Starbucks trinkets. Did you know that the Philippines is the world leader in texting per user? In the United States, users send, on average, 420 messages per month. In the Philippines, it’s 600:
Statistics are interesting, as are anecdotes. But what does this look like on the ground? The last time I visited the country, it was 2005, and texting was already firmly established. When I returned a half decade later, I found it’s become an institution. After trading business cards, we trade phone numbers, and a lot of follow-up is done over text messages. An entire text messaging dialect has arisen just for texting that even native speakers have trouble understanding (think of “lol” “brb” and “g2g” applied to almost every word).
My photos look at the culture of “load na dito” (which means “load up your phone here”), and what it looks like on the ground when a country is saturated with texting.
And then there’s my chat with Zara Arshad for A Good Week, a weeklong “Global Celebration of Good”. I looked at how good design can encourage ethical/sustainable action, and I focused on two wonderful initiatives in Southeast Asia and China:
When good design meets good living, magic happens. ULTRA, a Malaysia-based fashion label, combines high-quality design with sustainability. They recently unveiled 10 items that can serve as the majority (or all) of your wardrobe for a year. JeepneED aims to provide much-needed science education to rural Philippine schools, modeled after the colorful “jeepney” designs used as public transportation throughout the country.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these essays come after I spent a couple months in Manila. Southeast Asia isn’t generally on the radar for folks outside the region, but I’ve been finding exciting examples of innovation in design and sustainability. We Are ULTRA, of the world’s most creative sustainable fashion collectives is based in Kuala Lumpur (and one member in Shanghai), where they’re seamlessly blending sustainability, quality design and social media outreach. And Txtfire, the world’s first SMS-based dispatch system, arose in Manila, as a response to a hampered fire response system.
Whether in formal or informal design, Southeast Asia hosts a number of exciting developments that work well in the region and could be applied anywhere in the world. I’m really excited that I can share just a bit of what’s going on with a broader audience. Stay tuned for more…
