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Alex Calderwood Dies at 47
Death comes even to the best of us. Very sorry to see this loss. Three days back, London. I recall the first time that I'd booked some clients at the [Hotel #1] ACE, Seattle. And I fretted about what they'd think [they were older clients, linked to an American power...
Flow
Optimizing Experience. In the management of any project, when there is the feeling of all-open creativity, everything's working, all systems are go, communications are excellent. How does that happen? • First off -- the link to the client side. Clear inquiry, clean...
The doorway
The Opening of the Next Portal I went through the door from the darkened interior to the light. There is some historical significance to the door -- I think of every door step as a metaphorical movement. The door is a symbol, like a window. It's a movement from one...
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...
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....