Design Review
Artifact info
Title:

Innovative Learning and Living Institute Design Collaboration and Assets Update

Engagement:

New Landwell + ILALI Website

Client:

Innovative Learning and Living Institute

Meeting Date:
May 13, 2025
Next Meeting Date:
October 15, 2025
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James Redenbaugh
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Meeting Summary

🎨 Radial Interface Project Showcase

James Redenbaugh shared a significant breakthrough in his radial interface project, demonstrating circular user interfaces designed to break away from traditional grids and lists (06:49). The system creates geometries that work for any number of participants, whether for groups of people or projects, orienting them around a shared center like a campfire (08:17).

He demonstrated a working prototype for the Trifora project with Lauren Tan, showing how participants can be displayed in a circle with integrated questions and responses (08:55). The interface supports both synchronous interactions with live video and asynchronous engagement, allowing groups to build a shared "we space" before, during, and after meetings (09:32). Rako mentioned he's been advising Lauren on this project and expressed enthusiasm about the potential applications (10:39).

[technology="Video Conferencing Solutions"]

[technology="Collaboration Management Tools"]

[technology="Parametric Geometric Interfaces"]

📚 Figma Tutorial Session

Rako requested a Figma tutorial to prepare materials for a presentation on the 17th (12:38). James provided a comprehensive walkthrough, explaining that Figma operates on an infinite canvas where everything destined for export goes into frames (15:46). He demonstrated key functions including:

  • Using Option+drag to duplicate elements on Mac
  • Text editing and styling with predefined colors and styles
  • How style changes propagate across all instances in a document
  • Image placement and manipulation within frames
  • Creating presentation views and sharing links (26:02)

The tutorial covered both basic operations comparable to Canva and more advanced features like the scale tool for proportional resizing (32:18). James recorded the session for future reference and noted the abundance of YouTube resources available (15:46).

🏷️ ALALI Logo Refinement

The team worked on updating the Innovative Learning and Living Institute logo, focusing on layout and typography decisions (33:34). Key refinements included:

  • Moving "and" to the second line for better visual balance (34:20)
  • Testing both bold and semi-bold font weights, ultimately choosing semi-bold to match the logo's visual weight (38:52)
  • Adjusting spacing so the gap between text lines equals the space in the center of the logo symbol (38:32)
  • Creating white versions of the logo for use on dark backgrounds (39:08)

James committed to finalizing these assets with proper colors and making them easily accessible for Rako's design work (40:07).

🌐 Ecosystem Diagram Development

The conversation shifted to updating the ecosystem diagram showing the organization's living practice communities (40:33). James exported the work from Figma to Illustrator for more precise geometric control, explaining his perfectionist approach to geometry from his architecture background (46:36).

Rako clarified the design intent: each living practice community has both a conceptual name and an additional clarifying word. For example, "Sacred Architecture" connects to "Spirit" and "Inhabited Learning" connects to "Habitat" (43:51). The diagram positions these communities around a central logo using its geometric principles (42:28).

James meticulously refined the proportions using phi ratio (golden ratio) for harmonic spacing between inner and outer circles (54:19). The placement decisions included:

  • Inhabited Learning in the top left triangle
  • Transformative Practice where narrative artistry was
  • Sacred Architecture in the lower right triangle
  • Wisdom Economies above Sacred Architecture
  • Initiatives like Land Well, Wayfinders, Novella Center, and Kensha Blooms in the outer ring (01:06:02)

🔄 Wayfinding Method and Additional Assets

Rako identified which versions of organizational diagrams needed updates (01:13:17). The most current version includes language about "Explorer, Inhabiting, Truth Work" for the wayfinding method and "Living Lands Trust" at the top of the stewardship to kinship diagram (01:14:48).

An important design consideration emerged: the color of the "land" circle should match the background color in at least one version to convey that the land transcends and includes the circle (01:15:43). This visual approach communicates the conceptual relationship between elements.

📊 Strategic Design Philosophy

Throughout the session, James demonstrated his approach of building reusable systems that can evolve over time. His radial interface work exemplifies this: "It's something that I can keep evolving and keep developing that can serve all my clients. So like as we add new features and functions, anybody who's using this can benefit from that" (12:18).

The team balanced perfectionism in geometric precision with practical timelines, with James noting the tension between architectural rigor and the imperfections sometimes required in sacred architecture (47:01).

Action Items

James Redenbaugh

  • Finalize and polish the ALALI logo assets with recent adjustments including semi-bold text and proper spacing (40:07)
  • Create a dedicated page in Figma with all up-to-date assets for easy copying and pasting (31:32)
  • Complete the ecosystem diagram with perfected geometry, proper colors, and correct placement of all living practice communities (01:12:44)
  • Update the wayfinding method diagram with correct language (01:13:57)
  • Ensure color matching between land circle and background in at least one diagram version (01:15:43)
  • Send the three main assets (logo, ecosystem diagram, wayfinding method) to Rako by tonight/tomorrow for slide deck work (01:16:45)

Rako Fabionar

  • Review the website structure document and site map that James created with Claude (01:17:39)
  • Send more concise website language when ready (01:17:39)
  • Work with the updated assets to create slide decks starting tomorrow for the presentation on the 17th (01:16:45)
Relevant Initiatives

Website Redesign

Priority: 
Very High
Size: 
L
Creation Stage

Ecosystem Directory & CRM

Priority: 
Medium
Size: 
M
Idea Stage

Radial Interface Development

Priority: 
Medium
Size: 
L
Creation Stage

Brand Assets & Visual Identity

Priority: 
High
Size: 
M
Creation Stage
Transcript