Writing and Teaching

Since 2004, I've been writing to explore where the future of product design is going, and teaching the next generation of designers to build that future.

Green's Not Black and White

In 2009 I wrote a little book that examined the varied aspects of a variety of ecological problems. Should you eat meat? Should you get a hybrid car? Should you buy organic produce? The answers are more complicated than you think. But that's the point - making green decisions requires ongoing thinking.

Humblefacture blog

The Humblefactory is my design lab, working on the concrete solutions that can be used in a more ecologically engaged design future. But there is a whole body of ethical and strategic thinking the underlies these designs, and Humblefacture.com is a the manifesto for this new body of thinking about manufacturing.

I.D. Fuel

Way back when blogging was a new thing, I felt like there weren't enough theoretical design blogs, so I made one. It's no longer active, but it got me connected to a bunch of the folks who I've been lucky to work with over the past almost two decades.

Treehugger

I was one of the early writers for Treehugger.com after Graham Hill founded it, and worked as a writer and editor off and on until it was sold to Discovery Networks.

UW Design Program

I am a Teaching Professor in the Division of Design in the School of Art at the University of Washington. I teach courses about materials, sustainability, design history, electronics prototyping, game design, and how human culture interacts with designed objects.