There’s been a lot written about the evolution of creativity. One hypothesis is that creativity comes from our need to make things special. And this relates to worship because worship allows us to identify things in order to make them special.
We know very little about the symbolic life of animals, but one of the most fascinating aspects of human beings is our great capabilities to create and interpret symbolism, as well as our ability to make abstractions concrete. In many ways, this is the genesis of creativity.
The notion of making things special and the identification of something as special or unique — and the relationship to that thing as special and unique — are the heart of worship and the heart of creativity itself.
”—
Design anthropologist Dori Tunstall connects creativity and the impulse for worship in an exploration of how branding reflects an essential part of what it means to be human. (via explore-blog)
Gotta love me some Dori Tunstall.
(Source: , via explore-blog)
— Soundboy: How the internet influences what we wear (via new-aesthetic)
wnyc:
Take a trip inside the magical world of….The Book of Clocks. This guide sits in the control rooms at WNYC and has the standard “clocks” for each show. How long the segments are, where the breaks come, when the network hands off to the local affiliate, etc… Without this, we’d be flying blind. Also makes for great bedtime reading.
-Jody, BL Show
(via wnycradiolab)
Playing with the new livecontext this morning. very awesome.
Get the beta
David Byrne on his remote collaborations with Brian Eno:
The unwritten game rules in these remote collaborations seem to be to leave the other person’s stuff alone as much as you can. Work with what you’re given; don’t try to imagine it as something other than what it is. … The fact that half the musical decision-making has already been done bypasses a lot of waffling and worrying. I didn’t have to think about what to do and what direction to take musically — the train had already left the station and my job was to see where it wanted to go.He goes on to ask:
Is writing ever NOT collaboration? Doesn’t one collaborate with oneself, in a sense? Don’t we access different aspects of ourselves, different characters and attitudes and then, when they’ve had their say, switch hats and take a more distanced and critical view — editing and structuring our other half’s outpourings? Isn’t the end product sort of the result of two sides collaborating?I like this. Collaboration as the caretaking and guidance of two parts of a moving train.
{the fraud police are this imaginary, terrifying force of experts and real grown-ups who don’t exist and who come knocking on your door at 3am when you least expect it, saying “fraud police. we’ve been watching you and we have evidence that you have no idea what you are doing. and you stand accused of the crime of completely making shit up as you go along. you do not actually deserve your job and we’re taking everything away. and we’re telling everybody.”
and eventually, i promise you, you will get to a point where the fraud police will come knocking. and you will open the door. and when they accuse you of being a fraud, you will honestly be able to say, “you’re right. i still have no idea what i’m actually doing. i am making this shit up as i go along, but it is working out just fine. and also here in behind me is an incredible party with awesome people, a bumping sound system that we built ourselves out of salvaged parts, with a giant electronic glass bubble bath installation filled with escaped pandas and dancing girls that we found on craig’s list, and you are not invited.”}
(watch the full amanda palmer’s speech on youtube.com/watch?v=eA8XiC3m7vw).
A family friendly alternative to the mini.
1964 Peel P50
1956 Heinkel Kabine 150
1960 Fiat Multipla
The Volkswagen Microbus, Austin Mini and the original Dodge Caravan have all been hailed as revolutions in automotive packaging. But it was the Multipla that crammed the most people into the least space. Less than 12 feet long, it seated six. Captain chairs, cup holders and DVD players were not part of the package, but extreme claustrophobia was standard equipment. Sold for $66,125.
The Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, the first mobile research center in Antarctica. via Dezeen
caterpillar!
(Source: chappellellison, via heterochronia)
— Bruno Munari (via explore-blog)
(Source: , via explore-blog)
Imagine if a cereal box could be reused as a USPS package. That’s the notion suggseted in the image above, by recent graduate BYU-Idaho Tyler McCann. He sent us news of his final BFA project, which is pretty cool:
The premise for this project is sustainability and your blog helped inspire my mindset while researching and designing.
The problem I found was that we are not making the best use of our resources … . My solution involves companies packaging together, so that the consumer can use the product and then reuse the package.
This method makes it easy for the consumer and cuts the impact on our resources and environment in half.
I would also like to credit my professor Shawn Randall as a mentor.
Good stuff, Tyler McCann!
More here: Graphic Design of Tyler McCann
Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing
Great essay by the architect Michael Graves, in which he argues for the value of drawing by hand:
For decades I have argued that architectural drawing can be divided into three types, which I call the “referential sketch,” the “preparatory study” and the “definitive drawing.” The definitive drawing, the final and most developed of the three, is almost universally produced on the computer nowadays, and that is appropriate. But what about the other two? What is their value in the creative process? What can they teach us?
The referential sketch serves as a visual diary, a record of an architect’s discovery. It can be as simple as a shorthand notation of a design concept or can describe details of a larger composition. It might not even be a drawing that relates to a building or any time in history. It’s not likely to represent “reality,” but rather to capture an idea.
These sketches are thus inherently fragmentary and selective. When I draw something, I remember it. The drawing is a reminder of the idea that caused me to record it in the first place. That visceral connection, that thought process, cannot be replicated by a computer.
The second type of drawing, the preparatory study, is typically part of a progression of drawings that elaborate a design. Like the referential sketch, it may not reflect a linear process. (I find computer-aided design much more linear.) I personally like to draw on translucent yellow tracing paper, which allows me to layer one drawing on top of another, building on what I’ve drawn before and, again, creating a personal, emotional connection with the work.
With both of these types of drawings, there is a certain joy in their creation, which comes from the interaction between the mind and the hand. Our physical and mental interactions with drawings are formative acts. In a handmade drawing, whether on an electronic tablet or on paper, there are intonations, traces of intentions and speculation. This is not unlike the way a musician might intone a note or how a riff in jazz would be understood subliminally and put a smile on your face.
Interesting to note: Graves mentions that while architectural circles often claim that drawing is dead, original architectural drawings are highly collectible. Yet another example of selling by-products of a process…
Filed under: drawing
Ah yes, industrial design is still happening.
> The Invisible helment site
> Buy it for $600
Over priced now, but give it a few years.
(via nikkigraziano)
OMG. The Little Printer is for sale!!! You’re gonna buy me one, right?
