I became a designer initially to make things look good; I enjoy the process of creation. As I get older, my take on design has shifted. I see the power it has to make a difference. I design responsibly and I encourage others to do the same. I'm involved in projects I believe in and no longer have the time nor the energy for projects that don’t speak to me or make me think.

Americans are compassionate and pragmatic people, and both compassion and common sense dictate that surplus stem cells should be placed in the hands of researchers, who are looking for cures, rather than be thrown in red plastic bags full of contaminated medical supplies. I’m confident that reason will eventually triumph, despite the extremists’ delay tactics, which continue to prolong the suffering of millions. We need to make visible the fact that we’re the majority, and show our truth, to counter their bogus arguments, so that voters have no choice but to make the right decision and to rally for change. But how do you make the issue visible? What images do we need and how do we generate them?

History tells us that visual symbols play a huge role in this sort of case. Symbols can stand in for an entire story, highlighting values and a mission statement, driving them past our rational filters straight to the gut. This is a well-known and widely exploited concept in the commercial world as well, known simply as branding.

As a preliminary step towards coming up with a symbol I looked into others for various social or political causes. Some have a design that comes directly from a unique concept or history, like the recycling symbol or the pink triangle while others like the AIDS ribbon and the Live Strong wristband developed meaning through their usage.

This concise, but powerful video clip features several well known medical professionals who make a strong case for the benefits of stem cell research. The footage in this clip is taken from a 2004 documentary entitled, "Plan B", which follows Martin Kace (the founder of Ninth Floor Project), as he begins to take back his life after an accident which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Throughout the documentary, Martin strengthens his convictions that stem cell research has the potential to cure many diseases and restore function. The movie concludes with a protest on Capitol Hill for President Bush to rethink his position on stem cell research.

For more information on "Plan B", please contact Caryn at info@ninthfloorproject.org.

Welcome to our kitchen. We’re happy to share some of our preliminary sketches and doodles with you. We haven’t included the napkins, business cards, pizza boxes and backs of hands that we’ve been using – just some work on paper for now. The kitchen is kind of open source, so if you’d like to add your own work, please do. Comments are also important to us, so please express yourself. Thanks.

As we mentioned in our previous post, "Stem Cells for the Greater Good", Plan B is a documentary produced by Empax founder, Martin Kace. Martin was injured in an accident five years ago, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. In 2004, Martin's personal struggle leads him to protest President Bush's decision to ban federal funding for stem cell research. The film follows Martin as he takes his battle to the Capitol where he stages a daring and provocative protest. Although things don't go exactly as planned, the messages contained in the journey ring loud and true. You can view clips from the poignant documentary at:

www.ninthfloorproject.org/video

If you would like more information about the documentary or would like to purchase a copy, please contact Caryn at info@ninthfloorproject.org.

Step inside an American fertility clinic to see what happens to 350,000 unused embryos every year.

This video was produced by the Ninth Floor Project. For more information on this video clip please contact Caryn at info@ninthfloorproject.org.

Stem Cells (We should call them the Primary Cells or Prime Cells) are the future of medicine. Doctors and scientist all over the world agree with the basic medical facts that Prime Cells are the fundamental building blocks of cellular life. We have an opportunity to use this discovery to help millions of people afflicted with potentially curable diseases. As with all things that concern our individual bodies, we should have personal choices and control over what happens to us. We may choose to die from treatable illnesses, choose to wither away from degenerative diseases, choose to live in pain or with blindness, or choose to be compromised by countless other physical conditions - this may be what you choose as your destiny, for whatever reason. But other opportunity and choices exists for those who are not willing to sit back and accept that their diagnoses are death sentences. One should be able to choose to be treated and cured. We should have the right to choose to develop medicine and protocols so that our children and grandchildren can be spared pain, disfigurement, or even death. There are treatments and cures that are possible, based on the basic cellular functions that already sustain and support our bodily functions. Without using these curative scientific approaches that exist, our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands and friends will continue to live with devastating conditions that are directly treatable through Stem Cell therapy.