synchronize: what we are all doing at the same time

I watched a tiny piece of Christian Marclay’s The Clock at SF MoMA last week. From 4:37 – 5:05 pm or so. If you’re like me and had not heard of the work before, he (and most likely an army of unpaid interns) stitched together thousands of movie clips that reference time and matched each… Continue reading synchronize: what we are all doing at the same time

A Typology of Selfies

Most people I know take selfies. And some of us have the decency to be embarrassed about it. Why? Because most of them are examples of us trying to show off for the social media world –  lips pursed, hand in hair, chin down (aka jowls hidden). I just took these, but you get the… Continue reading A Typology of Selfies

Portraits of Strangers

I recently went on a business trip to Shanghai and Seoul. One week in each city. Like many folks on Instagram, I enjoy taking photographs of people I don’t know in public. Strangely, I realized that the majority of photographs I take on the street are of men. MEN Often, these men were in motion…… Continue reading Portraits of Strangers

Corporate v. Studio Work Environments

This list is going to look pretty stereotypical. Which, you know, it is. But it is also based on my transition from corporate work environments to design studios and consultancies. These differences are so stark, it’s almost laughable. Obviously I prefer the studio style work environment. You can read more about corporate purgatory in a… Continue reading Corporate v. Studio Work Environments

The “insights” process is not mystical, but it is creative

The most common output of my work are “Insights.” Yes, capitalized, because that is usually the title of the report or slide deck or presentation or whatever it is that I am producing for a client. I usually do ethnography (“ethnography lite” to real anthropologists or just “ethnographies” to most regular folks in the know).… Continue reading The “insights” process is not mystical, but it is creative

What your notebook says about you

I was scrambling to get ready for my morning meeting last Friday and realized that I was out of notebooks. I had just finished my Creativity Explored one, which is tiny and noncommittal, the equivalent of a hotel notepad with a cute cover. I flipped through my red moleskine, just in case there were any… Continue reading What your notebook says about you

12 to 13 inclinations

We had a great time musing and rambling this year about art, design, and social awkwardness. Thanks for reading. I hate the word “trend” so we’ve compiled “inclinations” for you instead. These are some of our favorite things from 2012 that we hope will continue into 2013. We love: 1. All that is hand-crafted, locally-produced,… Continue reading 12 to 13 inclinations

Holiday Cookie Binge Recipe

Ingredients: 3+ lbs unsalted butter (“European style” preferred) 1 bag unbleached flour sugar, sugar, sugar (white, brown, molasses, crystallized, powdered, candies…bring on the sugar) 1 bag 99% cacao, unpronounceable, super snobby chocolate chips accoutrements of your liking: walnuts, pecans, rolled oats, seeds (poppy, sesame etc.), spices, jams, and so on. a pinch of self-loathing baking… Continue reading Holiday Cookie Binge Recipe

oh man, way to party foul, Instagram

Just as I was finishing up a nice little blog post about all the fun social connections and playful experiments that can happen on Instagram, they go and change their Terms of Service and piss everyone off. I saw people dropping like flies yesterday, announcing their departure from instagram before the new year. We’re talkin… Continue reading oh man, way to party foul, Instagram

Time savers (& other baked goods)

You have to have time to figure out how to save time. A rockin Saturday night to me means making bereshke (kinda like a pierogi). It’s fried dough stuffed with goodies – potato, ground beef, or jam, they’re super versatile. I’ve found most people (as in peoples) eat some kind of stuffed fried dough thing,… Continue reading Time savers (& other baked goods)