— A somewhat surprising assertion from well-known graphic designer, James Victore, speaking at the recent 99% Conference. Victore went on to describe his work for the NYC Department of Probation (see a slideshow of the work in the spacecontext designed by Jim Biber of Biber Architects.) It’s clear that Victore does think that design can make a difference when considered holistically, and he closed with a piece of encouraging advice for the assembled design-centric crowd: “Just ask! Ask for more time. Ask for more creativity. Ask for more money. We always ask, and we sometimes get it.” And, he concluded: “at the risk of sounding like a Miss America runner up, your work is a gift. My work is a gift. My work for the DOP was a gift… The world is waiting for your gift. Give it to them with both barrels.”
— Enjoyed reading this NYT piece gently ribbing huge tech companies for their perks—and making the more serious point that perhaps such luxury actually ends up stifling innovation.
I liked the setup of TED in which curators contrasted the opinion of former Greenpeace CEO and sustainability activist, Paul Gilding, with the take of unapologetic techno-optimist and X-Prize head, Peter Diamandis. I found the former particularly powerful, and I couldn’t help but find myself nodding my head at Janet Ginsburg’s take on the latter, in which she posed the pithy question: Abundance, For Whom? She writes:
Diamandis blames the media for putting us all in a bad mood with nonstop “if it bleeds, it leads” news. The implication: attitude counts. And it does. But there actually are a lot of bad things happening. Those stories are true.
The reality is not so black and white. One can be deeply troubled by world events and inspired by the promise of technology at the same time. What one cannot do is brush away the reality of abundant loss: of species, habitats, biodiversity, clean air and non-record breaking weather.
I haven’t yet finished Diamandis’ book, Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, yet, but did note that he talks excitedly of the potential of Masdar, the acclaimed zero-carbon, self-sustainable planned city being built near Abu Dhabi. Only problem: last time I heard, Foster + Partners were no longer working on the project, which has been scaled down drastically. Optimism is crucial; having the ability to face up to the actual challenges we face —without being blinded by the promise of technology — even more so. As Gilding commented, “It takes a good crisis to get us going.” Now when are we going to realize we’re in the midst of one?
![For A Creativity Boost, Think Outside The Box… Literally reveals results published in Psychological Science magazine in which researchers tested whether *actually* working outside of a box might have any impact on creativity. On the basis of this admittedly small-scale experiment, it seems to.
Of the three groups being tested, one sat in a 5’ by 5’ cardboard box, another sat outside the box, and the third group performed the task without there being a box being in the room at all. I know, it sounds slightly ridiculous, but those sitting outside the box performed much more ably than the other two groups.
This article doesn’t give too much detail, but we know that the design of space has a huge impact on creativity, and we’re always looking to improve them, so for me this provided an interesting thought to mull for the day.
[“Super Cool” cardboard box image by Tuppus on Flickr. Story via Audrey Clarke.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzwt3m6wQ51qikpxao1_1280.jpg)
For A Creativity Boost, Think Outside The Box… Literally reveals results published in Psychological Science magazine in which researchers tested whether *actually* working outside of a box might have any impact on creativity. On the basis of this admittedly small-scale experiment, it seems to.
Of the three groups being tested, one sat in a 5’ by 5’ cardboard box, another sat outside the box, and the third group performed the task without there being a box being in the room at all. I know, it sounds slightly ridiculous, but those sitting outside the box performed much more ably than the other two groups.
This article doesn’t give too much detail, but we know that the design of space has a huge impact on creativity, and we’re always looking to improve them, so for me this provided an interesting thought to mull for the day.
[“Super Cool” cardboard box image by Tuppus on Flickr. Story via Audrey Clarke.]
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Eric Sprunk is the vice president of Merchandising and Product at Nike, and I was really taken with this comment, in a piece looking at the sportswear giant’s recent announcement of a bid to remove water from its apparel dying process. Color It Green: Nike To Adopt Waterless Textile Dying details a new partnership between Nike and the Dutch company, DyeCoo Textile Systems, and is clearly a huge deal for environmentalists. Water is already a focal point in our collective fight for survival, and any initiative that can either remove its use upstream (as it were) in the product development cycle, or prevent rampant pollution of it downstream is significant. As this article notes, up to 150 liters of water are needed to process just one kilogram of textile materials; 39 million tons of polyester will be dyed annually by 2015. That’s an awful lot of water, and the pollution levels in China are already horrible: this piece refers to the “countless billions of gallons of polluted discharges into waterways near manufacturing plants in Asia.”
But look at the quote again. The open admission of the internal resistance to change is really interesting, and an excellent reminder that innovation is never easy, even within those companies such as Nike that are constantly lauded for their innovation prowess. It’s important to remember that every single executive in every single firm meets the same forces, the ones that deliberately—and for the most rational reasons possible—attempt to prevent change. Acknowledging and dealing with these forces consciously and deliberately is the only way to have an impact—both within an organization, and in the world at large.
[Nike announcement via Andrew Zolli; Green Biz story via Adam Aston.]
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Can Jeremy Grantham Profit From Ecological Mayhem? is a simply wonderful NYT Magazine profile of “big-picture pessimist”, Jeremy Grantham, public face of $100 billion asset management firm GMO, who also has a solid sideline in environmental activism as head of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. Might seem like a strange mix, but frustrated ecowarriors should heed his assertion that
The rather burdensome thought is that people won’t listen to environmentalists, but they will sometimes listen to people like me.
There’s a lesson there for environmentalists (speaking in language understood by those with the power and money to make a difference at scale is a critical skill) as well as for anyone thinking about the enormous matter of environmental innovation. And, if recasting global warming or climate change as an issue of finite resources is what it takes to get people to take the action the world needs, well, so be it.
Stop motion loveliness: The Joy of Fix was animated by Claire Lever and Steven Boot, with photography by Martin Kelly and concept by Olivia Knight. It was created to promote Do The Green Thing, a “not-for-profit public service that inspires people to lead a greener life.” Co-founded by newish Pentagram partner, Naresh Ramchandani, the site features “brilliant videos and inspiring stories.” Cynicism alert: I’m not sure this video will actually inspire anyone to mend anything, but it is rather lovely to watch.
