Our Space

A reminder that people – children and adults alike – respond not just to free stuff but also to FUN. Whether it’s a proposal to the IRS to help them convince people to pay their taxes, or a healthcare client trying to convince a salesforce that they really CAN add a product to their bag, FUN can play an important role in persuasion.      

Making Good Citizenship Fun

Perspective plays an enormous role in shaping the way we view life and our surroundings. In the hand of artists and designers perspective has contributed to the evolution of artistic compositions, taking us from cave drawings through the Renaissance and to modern 3D renderings. This evolving perspective has arguably affected our collective consciousness as we can visualize far more dynamic views of our world. Nowhere is this modern perspective more interestingly and pleasantly depicted than in the world of 'Tilt Shift Photography'. The tilt shift lens rotates on multiple axes and gives the viewer the sense that real world environments are being somehow observed through a magnifying glass from some otherworldly plane. Seeing the real and often challenging world we all live in depicted as some faraway lilliputian land offers a very unique and possibly reassuring perspective; quite a gift.

 Photo Credit: Jose Minarro Vivancos

HERE are some great examples of this style of photography. Note: These are real photographs.

Excerpts from archival interviews with Ernest Hemingway, Dieter Rams, Patti Smith, Steve Jobs, Ansel Adams, Tina Brown, Chuck Close, Maria Abramovic, Arianna Huffington

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I recently read this quote from the curator of the TED conferences, Chris Anderson. It’s taken from his commencement address to the Harvard Graduate School of Design. It’s a good reminder of the importance of clear communication and engagement...

“Well, usually a single person can't make a big idea come true (unless they have extremely rich parents). In almost every case an idea needs multiple backers. So it must first spread from one brain to many, spreading excitement as it goes. So what makes THAT happen? It certainly helps if the idea itself is powerful. By which I mean some combination of beautiful, ingenious, and... affordable. But there's something else. It needs to be communicated with power. One of the most tragic things in the world is a powerful idea stuck inside the head of someone who can't actually explain it to anyone else. At TED over the years, we've had a lot of architects come and share their visions with us, and a good number of them have been absolutely... awful.  How can that be?  They have the most compelling subject matter imaginable. Giant designs at a scale that impacts thousands or millions of people... Yet when it come to articulating them, they descend into gibberish - the abstract, over-intellectual language of architectural criticism that makes an audience's eyes glaze over and their brains numb.  This is an utter tragedy!  Whatever else you do in the coming years of your life, I beg you, I truly beg you to find a way of sharing your dreams in a way that truly reveals the excitement and passion and possibility behind them.”

Shanghai has launched an effort to open 100 museums in the next decade. Check out the Museum of Glass, one of the newest museums.

Museum of Glass