More often than not when we think of design, we think of beautiful, or elegant, objects. Or we think in terms of type, color, balance, gestalt, tension etc. The reality is, good design is the product of solving a problem. Filling a need, and many times the end result is not the most beautiful looking thing, but instead the most practical for the problem it needs to solve.

The video below from Makeshift Magazine is about that very fact of good design. “Bicimaquinas” solve a problem. How do you provide tools to the people of Guatemala when the average salary is two dollars a day, and a large portion of the  people can’t afford electricity? The answer is Bicimaquinas. This is a great story about how one individual has set out to provide a force of change through the design and build out of tools that are powered by the remains of discarded bikes. Believe me it’s worth the 3 minutes it takes to watch it.