SmashLAB
Encyclopedia
This article is about the Canadian design company. For the Discovery Channel
show see Smash Lab
smashLAB is an interaction design
firm based in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, founded in 2000 by Eric Karjaluoto and Eric Shelkie. The firm originally offered a wide range of design services, from identity to advertising. Now it focuses on interactive strategy.
, an initiative to unite the world's graphic designers and address climate change
. One of its objectives was to highlight the fact that designers influence the buying decisions of businesses and organizations with massive advertising budgets and being in control of such vast purse strings gives committed designers the ability to make a huge difference. Design Can Change asks designers to sign an online pledge to show commitment to sustainable design practice. Signatories are listed in a searchable directory of like-minded studios.
Design Can Change was featured on popular online design magazines including Design Observer
and PingMag and in design publications such as HOW, Applied Arts and Metropolis
. The initiative also received press from The Globe and Mail
, The Vancouver Sun
, The Weather Network
, and was named one of “today's most influential designs” by TIME Magazine's Design 100.
.
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
show see Smash Lab
Smash Lab
Smash Lab is a reality television series that premiered on December 26, 2007, on the Discovery Channel. The idea of the show is to take everyday technology and test it in "extraordinary ways."-Cast:...
Interaction design
In design, human–computer interaction, and software development, interaction design, often abbreviated IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." Like many other design fields interaction design also has an interest in form but its main...
firm based in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, founded in 2000 by Eric Karjaluoto and Eric Shelkie. The firm originally offered a wide range of design services, from identity to advertising. Now it focuses on interactive strategy.
Design Can Change
In early 2007, smashLAB launched Design Can ChangeDesign Can Change
-Background:Design Can Change is an initiative aimed at uniting the world's graphic designers to use their influence and purchasing power to combat climate change...
, an initiative to unite the world's graphic designers and address climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. One of its objectives was to highlight the fact that designers influence the buying decisions of businesses and organizations with massive advertising budgets and being in control of such vast purse strings gives committed designers the ability to make a huge difference. Design Can Change asks designers to sign an online pledge to show commitment to sustainable design practice. Signatories are listed in a searchable directory of like-minded studios.
Design Can Change was featured on popular online design magazines including Design Observer
Design Observer
Design Observer is a website devoted to a broad range of design topics centered on graphic design, communications arts, print, typography and criticism. The content of the site is composed of short essays and articles...
and PingMag and in design publications such as HOW, Applied Arts and Metropolis
Metropolis (American magazine)
Metropolis is a monthly magazine about architecture and design, with a focus on sustainability. It is based in New York and has been published since 1981, with the current print circulation around 57,000....
. The initiative also received press from The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
, The Weather Network
The Weather Network
The Weather Network is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts weather-related news and information 24 hours a day....
, and was named one of “today's most influential designs” by TIME Magazine's Design 100.
"A Primer in Social Media"
In March 2008, smashLAB developed a white paper titled “A Primer on Social Media”, which they freely distributed on their website. Excerpts were reprinted in the May 2008 issue of Advertising AgeAdvertising Age
Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
.