Jeff Werner was born in Vancouver, Canada, a Canadian Canuck
through and through. He grew up half in Vancouver, half in
the small mountain town of Nelson, so he has spent much of
his childhood lugging a backpack or under a tent. He cherishes
childhood memories of his adventures on wheels with his younger
brother, be it a skateboard, Tonka truck or bicycle. True
to his love of mountains, presently he runs the bicycle program
and website development at John Hardy’s School for Life
on the Ayung River just south Ubud.
What are your hobbies?
A little digital photography, a little blogging and listening
to indy rock music while riding my bicycle at 1 a.m.
What is your professional/educational background?
I have a BA in Art History and Journalism. I also put in a
few years of freelance web designing before returning to an
ongoing second degree in Design at the Emily Carr Institute
in Vancouver.
What kinds of jobs have you had in your life?
Bicycle mechanic for six years, copywriter for the Canadian
Government, a journalist, web designer. These entailed a lot
of WD-40, a lot of Starbucks, a police scanner, and exposure
to a lot of nerdy websites learning HTML. As it turns out,
I’ve also become somewhat of a professional student.
How did you become interested in design?
The web. Anyone can make a website, so I started making mine
in 1995. It was then that I realized that there’s 500
years of graphic design history to draw upon. And then you
realize design is everywhere, from the page we read to the
products we buy to the buildings we live in to the furniture
we live on.
What kinds of design are you most interested in?
I have an ongoing love for all things graphic. But I’m
delving deeper into system and needs-based design. It’s
not just designing a better bicycle, for example, but looking
at why people ride bikes, where they ride them, and if bicycles
are even the best solution.
Have you traveled to many interesting places?
My first backpacking excursion was to the Middle East, including
a brief stint in Baghdad. I once rode my bicycle from Canada
to Mexico and more recently from Jakarta to Bali.
What kind of work are you involved in now?
I divide my time between offering skills I already have and
developing skills I don’t have. I’m helping build
a web site, establish an intern program, coordinate the Communication
Design Team, and organize a bicycle program at the School
of Life. I am also apprenticing under architects, industrial
designers, permaculturalists and artists.
What’s the Bicycle Program all about?
I noticed workers started borrowing my bicycle to get around
the campus. This opened my eyes to the need for alternative
and easy-to-use transportation. I want everyone at the school
to have access to a free, shared bicycle. This led to fixing
up antique bikes and building trails. Wherever you are on
campus there will be a bicycle close by. As much as possible
we want to use existing bicycles and bicycle parts rather
than polluting the earth by buying new ones.
What other projects are you involved in?
I’m developing an advanced website and blog for the
school and its students. I’m also establishing an internship
program with universities from around the world. Personally,
I’m involved in adding my mini-adventures to adventureeveryday.com.
This website is an experiment I’m conducting in seeing
the extraordinary in everyday occurrences.
Are the Balinese receptive to your ideas and innovations?
Yes and no. People get a kick out of seeing me ride a contraption
their grandfathers once did. But it’s also hard to substitute
a bicycle for a motorbike.
How are the Balinese to work with?
Everyone always says Selamat Pagi or Hello, shakes my hand.
No matter the problem, the Balinese are always smiling. And
their pace is steady; it can be leisurely but it’s reliable.
If we need to finish redesigning a bicycle path I’ll
have three instead of one co-worker there to help me out.
In what ways could the various projects at the school actually
benefit Balinese farming communities?
We’d like to help improve existing trails in neighboring
banjar to make cycling an even more viable and fun alternative.
From our architecture to agriculture to bicycles, we’d
like to demonstrate that alternative materials that we find
all around us can be better for the environment and the pocketbook.
Can you think of any programs that would benefit the island’s
urban dwellers?
If there were specific lanes in the cities designated for
shared bicycle use, it would encourage more people to ride
bicycles. Bringing your own bag to market instead of using
a single-use plastic one is a small and unobtrusive way to
improve the future. Hmm…what about urban micro-farms
or rooftop gardens?
What are you personally gaining from your internship experience
on Bali?
That it’s possible to stand by your convictions, act
on them, and find others who share them. I’ve really
appreciated the encouragement to be creative, experiment and
to value mistakes rather than be penalized for them. I’ve
multitasked like never before and am learning the basics of
good management.
Do you have any future plans?
I’ve applied to study for one term at a progressive
design school in Europe in January. I generally don’t
think farther ahead than that.
Where can readers learn more about the work you do?
Check out jeffwerner.ca and theschoolforlife.org.
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please
contact: <pakbill2003@yahoo.com>
