Check me out here
Or here
Or even here
haha ok Im just joking... theyre all the same blog! But long story short, my design blog has moved house :)
xxx
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Denial is not a river in Egypt
I’ve had some interesting comments following the new life of Inspiration Unplugged. Mostly from people who had no idea I was a writer (or blogger, take your pick). I’ve had positive feedback, and that’s kind of nice for someone who never really told anyone about her ‘hobby’. But then I wonder why I’ve never told anybody about something I’ve done all my life? I’ve always been writing, in fact I think I have some sort of obsession with the formation of words. I’m weird, but mind you, so is every other writer out there.
When Im not writing poetry or short stories or sad ramblings or epic twitter & facebook updates (yes, these count!) then Im writing lists, plans, objectives, goals, ideas, introductions, thoughts, quotes and every other little thing that can be on paper or .doc format. I always have done, and notebooks with little ramblings and lists are stacked all over my study, and mostly they don’t make sense. But I need that paper and I need that pen… or my Outlook (in fact Im typing this post into an email as we speak… please tell me somebody else does this!?)
When I was an angst-ridden teen, Id write letters to myself, and to my parents. When I first fell in love I spilled everything onto paper, and when I fell out of love I spilled again. I’ve written hate letters and love letters and poems and short stories and have two of those wonderful little things we called the ‘unfinished novel’. But I’ve never gone, “Hey, I’m a writer”. Ah Kaye but why? I don’t write for a profession, in fact I’m supposed to be a designer, and as a passion I am nowhere near as prolific as some passionate writers. As a rule I generally cant write more than 1000 words… ever, unless its an essay for uni and then well, Im just the Queen of Bullshitting to get to my word count. But I still get really good marks. See? Weird…. And now if I include Inspiration Unplugged, I have a daily planner, three blogs, two twitter accounts, two facebook accounts, a really cute journal, and a university degree to get through. There’s no escaping the truth of the matter – I'm a wr.... wrrrrr... wrrriii
Ive given up trying to pinpoint why I have this word-diarrhoea, my partner thinks its because I have a million cogs turning in my head and the only way to organise them all is to get it out on paper. You’d be surprised how well I sleep after I babbled some useless guff into the notebook on my bedside table. But the more I try to analyse it, the more it doesn’t make any sense, and then I write about my confusion and Im back to square one. Hell, I dont even know if Im any GOOD, maybe you folks are just being nice, but Im pretty sure that Ive worked out that I enjoy doing it. So these days I just go with the flow. Sometimes I won’t write for months, and then write non-stop for a week… it’s just how I do it. In truth, if I was a professional writer, I’d be fired.
So when the crew behind the scenes at Freelancer Unplugged put me forward as a speaker on the panel at the Written Worlds event, I thought I was going to hyperventilate. I truly said to myself, “But Im not a writer!”. But what am I doing now? Writing about it.
Again, Weird.
Im trying not to think about that event too much, yes granted most of the time you cannot get me to shut up, but in front of a room of 50 people?? There’s that voice again, “But Im not a speaker! And what’s worse, I have to speak about writing, and Im not a writer!”. Its enough to give any writer a heart attack.
Written Worlds Event - Melbourne
When Im not writing poetry or short stories or sad ramblings or epic twitter & facebook updates (yes, these count!) then Im writing lists, plans, objectives, goals, ideas, introductions, thoughts, quotes and every other little thing that can be on paper or .doc format. I always have done, and notebooks with little ramblings and lists are stacked all over my study, and mostly they don’t make sense. But I need that paper and I need that pen… or my Outlook (in fact Im typing this post into an email as we speak… please tell me somebody else does this!?)
When I was an angst-ridden teen, Id write letters to myself, and to my parents. When I first fell in love I spilled everything onto paper, and when I fell out of love I spilled again. I’ve written hate letters and love letters and poems and short stories and have two of those wonderful little things we called the ‘unfinished novel’. But I’ve never gone, “Hey, I’m a writer”. Ah Kaye but why? I don’t write for a profession, in fact I’m supposed to be a designer, and as a passion I am nowhere near as prolific as some passionate writers. As a rule I generally cant write more than 1000 words… ever, unless its an essay for uni and then well, Im just the Queen of Bullshitting to get to my word count. But I still get really good marks. See? Weird…. And now if I include Inspiration Unplugged, I have a daily planner, three blogs, two twitter accounts, two facebook accounts, a really cute journal, and a university degree to get through. There’s no escaping the truth of the matter – I'm a wr.... wrrrrr... wrrriii
Ive given up trying to pinpoint why I have this word-diarrhoea, my partner thinks its because I have a million cogs turning in my head and the only way to organise them all is to get it out on paper. You’d be surprised how well I sleep after I babbled some useless guff into the notebook on my bedside table. But the more I try to analyse it, the more it doesn’t make any sense, and then I write about my confusion and Im back to square one. Hell, I dont even know if Im any GOOD, maybe you folks are just being nice, but Im pretty sure that Ive worked out that I enjoy doing it. So these days I just go with the flow. Sometimes I won’t write for months, and then write non-stop for a week… it’s just how I do it. In truth, if I was a professional writer, I’d be fired.
So when the crew behind the scenes at Freelancer Unplugged put me forward as a speaker on the panel at the Written Worlds event, I thought I was going to hyperventilate. I truly said to myself, “But Im not a writer!”. But what am I doing now? Writing about it.
Again, Weird.
Im trying not to think about that event too much, yes granted most of the time you cannot get me to shut up, but in front of a room of 50 people?? There’s that voice again, “But Im not a speaker! And what’s worse, I have to speak about writing, and Im not a writer!”. Its enough to give any writer a heart attack.
Written Worlds Event - Melbourne
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Dream Homes
My partner and I went to Tasmania over the New Years break and spent several days traversing the countryside and exploring. This was our second visit to Tassie, our first having been a surprise Valentine’s Day gift to me in February. Bless him.
I fell in love with Tasmania, I truly did. So much of it is still untouched, there are still vast rolling properties and a world heritage area on this tiny island. I want a house here, I do. We fantasised the whole trip about buying 20 acres of rolling pasture by the ocean, and putting a caravan on it, until we had enough money, where the house I was designing in my head could be built.
And then I found it! While browsing HabitusLiving.com, I found somebody had built my dream house in my dream location, the Bay of Fires. Granted, it is a lodge, but I am very much in love with the materials design, the sweeping panorama, the low profile unobtrusive roofline and sustainable principles, and that infinity deck!!
Designed by Ken Latona, on the top of a hill, it rests gently in the environment, able to open to the elements that I love so much down in Tasmania.
http://www.bayoffires.com.au/
I fell in love with Tasmania, I truly did. So much of it is still untouched, there are still vast rolling properties and a world heritage area on this tiny island. I want a house here, I do. We fantasised the whole trip about buying 20 acres of rolling pasture by the ocean, and putting a caravan on it, until we had enough money, where the house I was designing in my head could be built.
And then I found it! While browsing HabitusLiving.com, I found somebody had built my dream house in my dream location, the Bay of Fires. Granted, it is a lodge, but I am very much in love with the materials design, the sweeping panorama, the low profile unobtrusive roofline and sustainable principles, and that infinity deck!!
Designed by Ken Latona, on the top of a hill, it rests gently in the environment, able to open to the elements that I love so much down in Tasmania.
http://www.bayoffires.com.au/
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Times Online - 50 Best!
Welcome to a veritable GOLD MINE of amazing talent, fabulous designs, kooky personalities, and perfect procrastination tools. Times Online has compiled a list of the 50 Best Design Blogs and I am simply salivating :)
Some of these I occasionally visit, other I religiously follow, and I some I simply haven’t seen before.
Times Online UK
Enjoy!
Some of these I occasionally visit, other I religiously follow, and I some I simply haven’t seen before.
Times Online UK
Enjoy!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Inspiration
Having been an avid participator in Freelancer Unplugged, a networking forum for freelancers of all professions, I was asked to co-author an Inspiration blog, where all my worldly thoughts could have a home (as well as on my K&K blog). It’s a wee bit of an honour, to be asked to contribute to something that will ultimately help other people by talking about things that Ive been through socially, professionally, and emotionally. Especially when for the most part I just consider them personal ramblings. Its not until someone says to you, ‘Oh hey, I read your last blog post and it made me cry’. That shit really makes you go ‘wow’, its amazing how a few words can affect someone, especially when you are telling the story of their own life and you haven’t even realised it.
Feel free to check it out… and be inspired!!
www.inspirationunplugged.com
Feel free to check it out… and be inspired!!
www.inspirationunplugged.com
Friday, November 27, 2009
Freedom
Im sitting here on a Thursday evening surfing the internet, ahem, ‘researching’ and eating fairy bread, yes you read correctly, fairy bread. For the uninitiated I’m talking about sliced bread, spread with butter and drowning in rainbow coloured hundreds and thousands. And when I am done I will lick the left over sprinkles from the plate... oh yes indeed I will. Why do I do this? Well, because I live in my own house, I am an adult, and I am home alone (and therefore cannot be scolded by my partner!). I am also endowed with the freedom to do as I please.
Freedom is a wonderful thing, and a precious commodity in the design world. Without freedom, we go insane, bending to the will of others. Freedom invites innovation to the table. There is a common misconception that designers have full creative liberty, when in fact we are merely vessels than translate ideas/notions into life, and to do this, we must be able to predict what our client, the user, or the consumer; wants. More often than not, before they even know it themselves. I give the Ipod as a classic, albeit well-used, example. Apple did not identify a gap in the market and fill it... they created the market, and therefore the demand. But for the men and women who designed it, Apple was the client. Apple had a brief for a product and its parameters that needed to be fulfilled.
Unbridled creative freedom is rare, unless you’re one of the very lucky few whose name surpasses most others in your industry. If I could access an architect like Frank Lloyd Wright, and know that he could create something that rivalled Falling Water in Pennsylvania, I would walk away and give the man his creative freedom. If you could secure Helmut Newton for your fashion spread, you’d give him a model and some clothes and ask him to go nuts. In most instances, our freedom to ‘be a designer’ is in constant battle with client (realistic or otherwise) objectives, marketability, budgets, and environmental and social accountability. A client once said to me, “Go ahead and pick whatever you want, anything really... As long as I like it”. A good designer meets or even exceeds client expectation, and what does the client expect? For you to meet the brief successfully, on time, and on budget, and with beauty (and I don’t just mean aesthetics, I’m talking about a refined, well thought out, quality product).
So how do you push on as a designer and a creative soul if you are constantly having to create within these limitations? How do you keep your sanity, and be proud of your work? How can you fight for your freedom? Well you can start by no longer perceiving these client imposed boundaries as limiting. Be thankful in fact, that you have them. These guides make your job easier, and NO design job should start without a well documented and mutually agreeable brief. A good design brief sets the pace, cuts free any misconceptions, saves you time and money and is a valuable reference point. It allows you to narrow your field of vision to a few concepts, concepts which can be explored in depth with all the creative juices you can muster.
Select design jobs that align with your morals. The ability to express your creative freedom can be cut off at the knees if you disagree with the morality of the design job. The architectural firm I work for is currently in bid phase for a new refugee detention centre, some of the team members refused to work on such a project, and it was such a hotly contested topic. If youre recovering from cancer and are a packaging designer, chances are you will unconsciously sabotage your own work if its a cigarette packet you’ve been asked to design. If you find there are negative implications of doing your job well (and lets face it, you should be doing your best) the parameters will feel so stifling that even if youve done an amazing job, you’ve still failed. And it is that knowledge alone which crushes your freedom. You have the power to choose your client as much as they can choose you.
The customer is not always right. And I should know, I spent too many years in retail. As a designer, you do not work alone – believe it or not. Your business is a partnership with your clientele; you both have a vested interest in the result. I’ve heard stories of web designers or illustrators working for hours on a fantastic theme, only to present it to the client and a response of ‘No, I don’t like it, No, thats not what I meant’. And they walk out of the presentation at risk of blowing their resource budget, and perhaps their temper, mumbling under their breath about how little the client knows about good design. But where did it go wrong? Sure it may be an amazing concept, but did you respond to the brief properly? Did you communicate effectively in the first instance, did you have a kick off meeting, and did you keep all lines of communication open with the client? When things like this happen, we often here the lament about the lack of creative freedom. But I have been surprised by clients who had been completely taken by an unusual concept because the designer ‘sold’ it to them. And why were they able to sell it? Because the client trusted his/her opinion, and why again? Because the lines of communication were wide open, the client was able to trust the designer, knowing that every move, intent, and objective had been communicated. I’m not talking about an obligatory email every time you want to change a font colour, but a genuine interest in treating the client like a collaborative partner, to facilitate your freedom of creativity.
Have you ever had free reign in a design job? Did it work out as you planned? Or have you ever had what you considered to be the world’s most difficult client!?
Freedom is a wonderful thing, and a precious commodity in the design world. Without freedom, we go insane, bending to the will of others. Freedom invites innovation to the table. There is a common misconception that designers have full creative liberty, when in fact we are merely vessels than translate ideas/notions into life, and to do this, we must be able to predict what our client, the user, or the consumer; wants. More often than not, before they even know it themselves. I give the Ipod as a classic, albeit well-used, example. Apple did not identify a gap in the market and fill it... they created the market, and therefore the demand. But for the men and women who designed it, Apple was the client. Apple had a brief for a product and its parameters that needed to be fulfilled.
Unbridled creative freedom is rare, unless you’re one of the very lucky few whose name surpasses most others in your industry. If I could access an architect like Frank Lloyd Wright, and know that he could create something that rivalled Falling Water in Pennsylvania, I would walk away and give the man his creative freedom. If you could secure Helmut Newton for your fashion spread, you’d give him a model and some clothes and ask him to go nuts. In most instances, our freedom to ‘be a designer’ is in constant battle with client (realistic or otherwise) objectives, marketability, budgets, and environmental and social accountability. A client once said to me, “Go ahead and pick whatever you want, anything really... As long as I like it”. A good designer meets or even exceeds client expectation, and what does the client expect? For you to meet the brief successfully, on time, and on budget, and with beauty (and I don’t just mean aesthetics, I’m talking about a refined, well thought out, quality product).
So how do you push on as a designer and a creative soul if you are constantly having to create within these limitations? How do you keep your sanity, and be proud of your work? How can you fight for your freedom? Well you can start by no longer perceiving these client imposed boundaries as limiting. Be thankful in fact, that you have them. These guides make your job easier, and NO design job should start without a well documented and mutually agreeable brief. A good design brief sets the pace, cuts free any misconceptions, saves you time and money and is a valuable reference point. It allows you to narrow your field of vision to a few concepts, concepts which can be explored in depth with all the creative juices you can muster.
Select design jobs that align with your morals. The ability to express your creative freedom can be cut off at the knees if you disagree with the morality of the design job. The architectural firm I work for is currently in bid phase for a new refugee detention centre, some of the team members refused to work on such a project, and it was such a hotly contested topic. If youre recovering from cancer and are a packaging designer, chances are you will unconsciously sabotage your own work if its a cigarette packet you’ve been asked to design. If you find there are negative implications of doing your job well (and lets face it, you should be doing your best) the parameters will feel so stifling that even if youve done an amazing job, you’ve still failed. And it is that knowledge alone which crushes your freedom. You have the power to choose your client as much as they can choose you.
The customer is not always right. And I should know, I spent too many years in retail. As a designer, you do not work alone – believe it or not. Your business is a partnership with your clientele; you both have a vested interest in the result. I’ve heard stories of web designers or illustrators working for hours on a fantastic theme, only to present it to the client and a response of ‘No, I don’t like it, No, thats not what I meant’. And they walk out of the presentation at risk of blowing their resource budget, and perhaps their temper, mumbling under their breath about how little the client knows about good design. But where did it go wrong? Sure it may be an amazing concept, but did you respond to the brief properly? Did you communicate effectively in the first instance, did you have a kick off meeting, and did you keep all lines of communication open with the client? When things like this happen, we often here the lament about the lack of creative freedom. But I have been surprised by clients who had been completely taken by an unusual concept because the designer ‘sold’ it to them. And why were they able to sell it? Because the client trusted his/her opinion, and why again? Because the lines of communication were wide open, the client was able to trust the designer, knowing that every move, intent, and objective had been communicated. I’m not talking about an obligatory email every time you want to change a font colour, but a genuine interest in treating the client like a collaborative partner, to facilitate your freedom of creativity.
Have you ever had free reign in a design job? Did it work out as you planned? Or have you ever had what you considered to be the world’s most difficult client!?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Incomplete Manifesto
Sometimes, I spend more time looking for inspiration to be creative than actually being creative! hahahaha, um … *frown*
I have this on the wall of my study at home; The Incomplete Manifesto was written in 1998, and is a collection of statements exemplifying the designer Bruce Mau’s strategies, beliefs and motivations. In the design industry, its probably one of the most recognised collection of design sentiment, and a very popular blog topic! But I think I refer to it every day, just to remind myself that you don’t have to follow a traditional way of working, and that pushing the boundaries is what makes good design, work.
Together, these utterings are how his firm approaches every design project. They are also particularly applicable to the design of our own existence and subsequent happiness. I particularly like the stay-up-late, and dont-clean-your-desk ones…. thats easy done! and I was always looking for an excuse, now I have it!!
Enjoy. (sorry its a bit long!)
http://www.brucemaudesign.com/
_________________________________________________________
-Allow events to change you.
You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
-Forget about good.
Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.
-Process is more important than outcome.
When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
-Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
-Go deep.
The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
-Capture accidents.
The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
-Study.
A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
-Drift.
Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
-Begin anywhere.
John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
-Everyone is a leader.
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
-Harvest ideas.
Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
-Keep moving.
The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.
-Slow down.
Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.
-Don’t be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
-Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
-Collaborate.
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.
-____________________.
Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.
-Stay up late.
Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.
-Work the metaphor.
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
-Be careful to take risks.
Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.
-Repeat yourself.
If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.
-Make your own tools.
Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
-Stand on someone’s shoulders.
You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.
-Avoid software.
The problem with software is that everyone has it.
-Don’t clean your desk.
You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.
-Don’t enter awards competitions.
Just don’t. It’s not good for you.
-Read only left-hand pages.
Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."
-Make new words.
Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
-Think with your mind.
Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
-Organization = Liberty.
Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'
-Don’t borrow money.
Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
-Listen carefully.
Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
-Take field trips.
The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.
-Make mistakes faster.
This isn’t my idea -- I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
-Imitate.
Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
-Scat.
When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.
-Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
-Explore the other edge.
Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
-Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces -- what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference -- the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
-Avoid fields.
Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
-Laugh.
People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.
-Remember.
Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.
-Power to the people.
Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we’re not free.
I have this on the wall of my study at home; The Incomplete Manifesto was written in 1998, and is a collection of statements exemplifying the designer Bruce Mau’s strategies, beliefs and motivations. In the design industry, its probably one of the most recognised collection of design sentiment, and a very popular blog topic! But I think I refer to it every day, just to remind myself that you don’t have to follow a traditional way of working, and that pushing the boundaries is what makes good design, work.
Together, these utterings are how his firm approaches every design project. They are also particularly applicable to the design of our own existence and subsequent happiness. I particularly like the stay-up-late, and dont-clean-your-desk ones…. thats easy done! and I was always looking for an excuse, now I have it!!
Enjoy. (sorry its a bit long!)
http://www.brucemaudesign.com/
_________________________________________________________
-Allow events to change you.
You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
-Forget about good.
Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.
-Process is more important than outcome.
When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
-Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
-Go deep.
The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
-Capture accidents.
The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
-Study.
A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
-Drift.
Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
-Begin anywhere.
John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
-Everyone is a leader.
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
-Harvest ideas.
Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
-Keep moving.
The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.
-Slow down.
Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.
-Don’t be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
-Ask stupid questions.
Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
-Collaborate.
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.
-____________________.
Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.
-Stay up late.
Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world.
-Work the metaphor.
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
-Be careful to take risks.
Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.
-Repeat yourself.
If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.
-Make your own tools.
Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
-Stand on someone’s shoulders.
You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.
-Avoid software.
The problem with software is that everyone has it.
-Don’t clean your desk.
You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.
-Don’t enter awards competitions.
Just don’t. It’s not good for you.
-Read only left-hand pages.
Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our "noodle."
-Make new words.
Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
-Think with your mind.
Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
-Organization = Liberty.
Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between "creatives" and "suits" is what Leonard Cohen calls a 'charming artifact of the past.'
-Don’t borrow money.
Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
-Listen carefully.
Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
-Take field trips.
The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.
-Make mistakes faster.
This isn’t my idea -- I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
-Imitate.
Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You'll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
-Scat.
When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else ... but not words.
-Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
-Explore the other edge.
Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
-Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces -- what Dr. Seuss calls "the waiting place." Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference -- the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
-Avoid fields.
Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
-Laugh.
People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I've become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.
-Remember.
Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.
-Power to the people.
Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can't be free agents if we’re not free.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Beautiful Things - Vol. 2
Ah such wonderful little discoveries today! (click any picture to enlarge)
Maria Cristine Bellucci is a jewellery maker who uses coloured wooden pencils, reformed into beautiful organic shapes, to create one of a kind iterations of a playful, child-like quality. I want to scribble on the walls in rainbows!
They’re just adorable, and yet with all my searching it appears they are exhibition pieces and not yet available for my grubby little fingers.
Source: Designboom & http://www.klimt02.net/jewellers/index.php?item_id=11203
Timothy Liles is a designer out of the US of A, whose latest creation again, makes me want to scrawl on the walls of my bedroom and drive my mother mad!!
I just think these (they come in a set of 8) would make the perfect gift for your slightly left of centre artist friend (that you know we all have! :P)
Source: timothyliles.com
Maria Cristine Bellucci is a jewellery maker who uses coloured wooden pencils, reformed into beautiful organic shapes, to create one of a kind iterations of a playful, child-like quality. I want to scribble on the walls in rainbows!
They’re just adorable, and yet with all my searching it appears they are exhibition pieces and not yet available for my grubby little fingers.
Source: Designboom & http://www.klimt02.net/jewellers/index.php?item_id=11203
Timothy Liles is a designer out of the US of A, whose latest creation again, makes me want to scrawl on the walls of my bedroom and drive my mother mad!!
I just think these (they come in a set of 8) would make the perfect gift for your slightly left of centre artist friend (that you know we all have! :P)
Source: timothyliles.com
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Freelancer Unplugged
Hi!
Welcome to my blog and business portal! My name is Kaye and I shall be your guide on this lovely little journey. To your left you shall see design finds, and inspiration bits and bobs, including links to some of my favourite writers and designers, and on the right, you shall see some of my very own creations and foray into the design world. It is my sister blog to another site, where I generally keep a more personal collection of creative ramblings, venting, and adoration.
Well, a little about myself;
I was born and raised in regional Western Australia, moving to Melbourne in 2007 to chase dreams. I’ve since found myself to be one of the many Generation Y’ers who are multi-occupational(!). I combine my study in Interior Design with work for an architecture firm, as well as writing, modelling, and stints in acting. I also have experience hosting media and events, and presenting on dvd productions.
I recently established my own part time creative consulting business, offering interior design and styling advice to small scale post-construction developers and renovators. This baby of mine is a teeny-tiny newborn for me, so I am treading nice and slowly, although it keeps trying to grow up too fast! My intention is to branch into collaborative design work, working with photographers to style interiors & architecture or product shoots, or the design of temporary exhibition spaces for events or galleries.
My personal interests include blogging, home renovation, bargain hunting and way too much online ‘research’ …aka surfing! And to keep my sanity I love travel and exploring… my ultimate weekend away is hiking in country Victoria.
Wow, I hope that doesn’t sound too much like a personal ad! :)
And now… the purpose for my entry today... Freelancer Unplugged. I was introduced to Freelancer Unplugged by two freelancin’ friends of mine, Diesel Laws, a graphic designer, and the writer Flic Manning.
Freelancer Unplugged is a new collaborative online community where Freelancers from various professions (currently mostly creative, hopefully soon to expand to include business-orientated freelancers) can network.
The ‘blurb’ – “We host Freelancer Profiles and Group Forums, allowing freelancers to connect with clients, visitors and other professionals. We also encourage real world networking, hence the “Unplugged”. We run events where you will get to hear from freelancers just like you on how they go about creating an online presence as well as creating an identity for themselves”.
Last night I went to the first ‘real-world’ networking event, where we listened to a discussion panel talk about a range of topics, followed by question time, and some networking. Working in an international and corporate environment, not only is my exposure to the university based networking limited, but I am limited in my exposure to cross-discipline collaboration. Naturally I am exposed to facets of Architecture, Interior Design, Modelling etc as standalone fields, but rarely can I use/expand my skills base by working with other disciplines. I learnt some very interesting things that I didn’t think I would too, including how to raise your web presence, the business side of running a small business, and how to decide to charge or work for free. The people in the room tended to be writers, photographers, graphics based people (ie I was the only Interior Designer) but that was ok. The topics were broad enough to be applicable to my profession too. I will definitely go to the next event. Thanks guys!
Welcome to my blog and business portal! My name is Kaye and I shall be your guide on this lovely little journey. To your left you shall see design finds, and inspiration bits and bobs, including links to some of my favourite writers and designers, and on the right, you shall see some of my very own creations and foray into the design world. It is my sister blog to another site, where I generally keep a more personal collection of creative ramblings, venting, and adoration.
Well, a little about myself;
I was born and raised in regional Western Australia, moving to Melbourne in 2007 to chase dreams. I’ve since found myself to be one of the many Generation Y’ers who are multi-occupational(!). I combine my study in Interior Design with work for an architecture firm, as well as writing, modelling, and stints in acting. I also have experience hosting media and events, and presenting on dvd productions.
I recently established my own part time creative consulting business, offering interior design and styling advice to small scale post-construction developers and renovators. This baby of mine is a teeny-tiny newborn for me, so I am treading nice and slowly, although it keeps trying to grow up too fast! My intention is to branch into collaborative design work, working with photographers to style interiors & architecture or product shoots, or the design of temporary exhibition spaces for events or galleries.
My personal interests include blogging, home renovation, bargain hunting and way too much online ‘research’ …aka surfing! And to keep my sanity I love travel and exploring… my ultimate weekend away is hiking in country Victoria.
Wow, I hope that doesn’t sound too much like a personal ad! :)
And now… the purpose for my entry today... Freelancer Unplugged. I was introduced to Freelancer Unplugged by two freelancin’ friends of mine, Diesel Laws, a graphic designer, and the writer Flic Manning.
Freelancer Unplugged is a new collaborative online community where Freelancers from various professions (currently mostly creative, hopefully soon to expand to include business-orientated freelancers) can network.
The ‘blurb’ – “We host Freelancer Profiles and Group Forums, allowing freelancers to connect with clients, visitors and other professionals. We also encourage real world networking, hence the “Unplugged”. We run events where you will get to hear from freelancers just like you on how they go about creating an online presence as well as creating an identity for themselves”.
Last night I went to the first ‘real-world’ networking event, where we listened to a discussion panel talk about a range of topics, followed by question time, and some networking. Working in an international and corporate environment, not only is my exposure to the university based networking limited, but I am limited in my exposure to cross-discipline collaboration. Naturally I am exposed to facets of Architecture, Interior Design, Modelling etc as standalone fields, but rarely can I use/expand my skills base by working with other disciplines. I learnt some very interesting things that I didn’t think I would too, including how to raise your web presence, the business side of running a small business, and how to decide to charge or work for free. The people in the room tended to be writers, photographers, graphics based people (ie I was the only Interior Designer) but that was ok. The topics were broad enough to be applicable to my profession too. I will definitely go to the next event. Thanks guys!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Beautiful Things – Vol 1.
1.
The Jewellery Tree, by Louise Christ for Menu.
Fluid, sensuous, feminine, and bold. If I had a jewellery tree like this I would certainly purchase more jewellery!
Available from Top 3
The Jewellery Tree, by Louise Christ for Menu.
Fluid, sensuous, feminine, and bold. If I had a jewellery tree like this I would certainly purchase more jewellery!
Available from Top 3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
