Are You Here Yet?
Hereness, Thereness, Whereness? Or are you a way? In the meditations on way-finding, finding a way, and designing experiences to help people to find their way, there is a point to which you ponder "am I lost? Or have I found my way?" There is an alignment to "way" and...
The Stage of a Journey: Rest
Meditations on Respite I was thinking about a remark from Tom Ford, that, to him, the greatest luxury is "sleep." According to Dawn Mello -- in a dinner conversation with her and her pal, Dawn A. Clark -- when she was working with Tom Ford, at Gucci, Milan, she...
Design that didn’t win | One Sheet Campaign Development
Design studies for "The Thing." This isn't my work [it was pointed out by friend Stuart Balcomb and the poster above was designed by Jock] -- but worthy of mention and exploration. It's interesting, as a perpetual student of design [and theatrical advertising] to...
Leo Burnett | Singapore
Small signs that tell a big story Environmental messages in place-making What if, when you came around the corner to a place in your office and there was a delicate message, reminding you of something, like: "Care"? "Do more, because you can." "Be better." What we've...
I’m Okay, You’re OK.
What is Okay, anyway? I was thinking about the notion of OK, what's that mean, really? The state of Okayness seems mediocre -- it's a condition where things are simply "all right," alright. All is right? What's rightness, a place of stability? Who cares about that?...
The Perfume of the Forest
The Pitch for the Pitch; Resins, Sap and Crushed Conifer In the storm, the fragranced molecules of the woods come alive. A shower of pollens, wood dust, and if the storm is fevered enough, conifers snap needles, deciduous trees shear branches and leaves, bark curls...
Game On | A legacy of Gaming Design
Identity, Story & Experience Design When you think about a game, it invariably is about play. Play and game. And, are you having fun? A quick play: see Girvin's gaming movie and specially commissioned sound track. What is play? What is game? Play is an old word....
The Sound and the Fury
The Acoustical Messages of Place In my study of experience narrative design and the experiencer in place -- for me and for others -- I ponder the notion of sound. As a designer of places to be, to tell stories, to share ideas and products, to evoke comfort,...
Wowness
The Quest for Amazement I'm a Scot; and "wow" is a Scottish word from the 1500s. I find another reference of equal interest, the Southern New England Algonquian [Narragansett] framing, the "powwow." powwaw "shaman, medicine man, Indian priest," from a verb meaning "to...
Soul
SOUL, STORY, BRAND In the history of the work of strategy and design, when it comes down to it, what have you done? Is it about the roaring financial success you have achieved? Or is it about the learnings, the journey, the sorting of experiences? For my practice it...