Decoding Design

I’ve been reading this book called “Decoding Design” by Maggie Macnab.

It’s such a great read and I’m having a lot of fun trying to see things differently. You can buy it from Amazon and download her pdf of the brief overview.

Do you feel like this?

Sometimes, I feel like life gives me the illusion of an option but not a real option. It feels like it doesn’t matter what I choose, I will end up in the same place anyway, so why bother. This is how I’ve been feeling for a while now…*sigh*

I can’t remember where I found this delightful cartoon and can’t seem to find the “owner” again. If you know who did this so that I can properly credit the artist, please let me know. I don’t like posting images without proper crediting but I really love this cartoon and have to share it.

It’s called Mindset

Having worked at an elephant “sanctuary” for a year, I know this is definitely true and it really holds true for humans as well. I have seen mahouts “tying” an elephant with a piece of flimsy plastic string and the elephant staying in place. But I’ve also seen elephants pull up the stake as well as the concrete block when they feel like taking a walk. It’s a very powerful visualization of a mindset.

How many of you have something you want to do but something is holding you back? Do you know why and what it is that is holding you back? How would you break this “chain” that is holding you back?

Apologies to whoever created this image. I tried to find the right person to give credit to, to no avail. If you know who I can credit this to, please let me know.

I sat on this image for a while, not sure if I should post it because of the image. Please do not send me angry comments about the “cruelty” of chaining elephants. I agree, it’s not a perfect solution, but it is a workable solution that the Thai people have been using since they first domesticated elephants, which was about four thousand years ago. In Thailand, most elephants are domesticated, like horses are here. I have lived and worked at an elephant “sanctuary” in Thailand to know that it is done because of the lack of space and the close physical proximity of living in a town with traffic.

I will post about this on a later date.

Weird. Very weird.

Chair Amie from Pierrad on Vimeo.

Information Visualized

I’ve been drooling over some information graphics for years. The way these designers organized and visualized data is fascinating. Started reading up on this and hopefully one day I have a better understanding of data, statistics and the fine art of visualizing all that information.

Here are some really great and beautiful information graphics I’ve found online. These are just a few of many that’s floating out there on the internet.

The first one is called Information is Beautiful by David McCandless. I have loved his graphs for a while now, but never knew it was by him until now. Don’t you just love moments like this? While not all of his information graphics work, his overall graphics do work. It’s not easy visualizing and organizing information so that it’s easier to understand immediately. I think he’s doing an amazing job.

Second is Visual Complexity based in London. This site is a showcase of visualized networks, some complex, some not. I’m still working my through all of it, there is so much information to digest. But what I’ve seen so far, I like, I had no idea you could visualize any data, pretty much.

I have loved this map since the first time I laid eyes on it. It’s been my wallpaper for weeks. I love it because it’s laid out like a subway map and I have a thing for subway maps.

This is very cool. You get to see where your product is made and how it arrived to you all on an atlas. It has a carbon footprint and all that fancy green stuff, I just love it for the visual aspect of it.

And just because I love maps, these are from Strange Maps.

Look at this hilarious christmas card, images out of maps!

Poodle Workout

I am at a loss for words on this one. This boggles my mind.

C is for Candy

Candy Chang that is. She is a designer, urban planner, architect, onsite installation artist, etc, etc, etc. A multi-talented creative person, she has an impressive resume and an awesome portfolio. I love her work and think she is brilliant.

Check out her projects!

This is about Nairobi Metropolitan Planning.

Post it Notes for Neighbors

Street Vendor Guide

Tenants Rights flash cards

And here is a cute little comic about fear of mediocrity.

J & J Sobota

Jan and Jarmila Sobota are two amazing bookbinders from the Czech Republic. They used to live in the United States for many years and after 1989 when Communism collapsed they returned home to Czech Republic. Their story of flight from Communism is the stuff of movies and books.

Now they live and work in a quaint little town called Loket, a true medieval village. Their home is the kind of home I dream of having one day.

Jan & Jarmila are not only truly gifted master bookbinders, but also incredibly warm and open people. I met Jan & Jarmila when I took a workshop in their studio in 2006. They are so warm, friendly, open and inviting it’s impossible not to fall in love with them.

I still think of them fondly and hope that I can return to take another workshop with them. I highly recommend taking a workshop with them, they are amazing teachers with vast knowledge about bookbinding and great stories. If I had the financial resources, I would be taking a course with them every year.

Jacek Tylkowski

Jacek Tylkowski is a binder living and working in Poznan, Poland. He is an amazingly talented artist and incredibly dedicated to the craft of bookbinding.

I met him four years ago at the Sobota Workshop in Czech Republic, which I highly recommend. He had started learning English on his own because a lot of binding manuals and workshops are done in English. This showed me the level of his dedication to the craft of bookbinding, how cool is that?

It’s always a pleasure meeting other artists and a double bonus when that artist is a lovely human being. Jacek, Jan and Jarmila (Jan’s wife, another master bookbinder herself) are truly talented and an inspiration to me.

Holly Meade

I am really loving Holly Meade’s print works. Check out her work here. I like that she uses minimal amount of color(s) but the prints look bright and well, for a lack of a better word, colorful.