THE FORBIDDEN
The Quest for the Hidden, the Secret and the Occult In the journey — for each of us — we might find a certain fascination with that which isn’t allowed, that which is hidden, forbidden, the dark. Fascination speaks, in its history, to fire and spellbinding,...
The Mother
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY Celebrating the Mysteries of The Mother In my journey thus far, I’ve studied the hand-making of things, the creative molding process as a person driven and bidden by the magic spell of making. But that making is a deeper realm, held in the archetype...
You Could Get to Yes
A Meditation on An Answer I was listening to a toddler, who happens to be my year-old grandson Ellis, and he was saying “No.” Meanwhile, my other, first-received 4-year-old grandson Isaiah has a special way of saying “Yes.” It’s a precise diction he offers. He says it...
The Heart in the Hand
The hand with heart holds more I was wandering, looking down old alleys, plazas and ancient streets. And I spied an old friend. The Hamsa. خمسة | חַמְסָה The Five. I used to wear one of these in college, during another phase of talismanic connection. I lost it...
The Layering of Brand Experience
The Walking Senseway to Spectacle and Sensation I was walking the road. And thought of the sound on my feet, scrabbling the gravel, sliding on some hot asphalt, smoother wet concrete, some metals, the swish of grass — then hard wood — the flooring — and another part...
Stories That Feel
BrandStories That Feel Brandstories in the Construct of Emotionality Earlier in our career, I was asked — in the 90s, to present what we thought was the newest context of brand strategy at Building One, downtown Cincinnati, Procter&Gamble. What we thought then was...
Soul Place
The Quest for Soulful Places As a designer, I find that the work on converting spaces to more meaningful places, which more often than not has to do with the very journey of what soul is supposed to be. Soul is a ancient seed sound — a voicing — for sea, and the point...
Typographicum Mysterium | The Warp and Weft of the Alphabet
Branding Buildings | Building Brands — Aligning Typefaces With Architecture In my earlier years I lived in a neighborhood laden with architects — like when I was 12 years old, in Spokane, Washington. I lived in a MidCenturyModern house [the one at 42nd & Perry]...
Look Back
LOOK BACK TO FIND MORE As a designer, many of us watch the trends of design, over time — we look back 10 years, 20 years -- 30, 50 years. We think about the cool airspun design of the 50s. Or we jump back to the 20s and 30s, we study post martial, WWII bulletproof...
ALPHABET MYSTICISM
THE STROKES, THE GRID AND THE CURVES OF MAGIC Mark off the grid of proportion, reach for meaning, touch the reed, learn the language, lean in and listen to the ancient tales. That is where the alphabet comes from: the mists of time and mythic meaning, the archetypes...