CAN YOU BE BLANK?

INTENTIONALLY BLANK? I found this in a hospital room. And I was thinking, “what is it for, really?” This room is intentionally supposed to be blank? Empty? An interesting discovery for a patient. Welcome? You’re here, but you’re not supposed to...

WHAT IS YOUR TYPE?

WHAT THAT COMES DOWN TO, IS WHAT TYPE, ARE YOU? When I interview people, prospective employees, client and team interviews, I watch for handwriting. How does a person sign their name, how do they take notes, how do they hold a pen? Everything tells a story. In...

THE CONCEPT OF TRUST

I want to trust you, but should I? Do you trust me? Do I trust myself, my instincts — what’s true? Pondering trust and inspiration, I was thinking about Rei Kawakubo, foundress of Comme des Garçons, a hands-on woman entrepreneur, designer and innovator...

NO GO

Don’t go here. Walking an old and beautiful island road, I found this turn off, along with a metal cut-out signing warning: “No.” Why not? What “no” out there?” Of course, I went out there. I can recall a time when I saw a Charles...

Sweet Being

A Sense of Place, Design and Experience When I was studying with Reed College’s rockstar+poet+calligrapher Lloyd Reynolds, I spent time with him at his home in Portland, talking, exploring and pouring over his enormous library. We’d write out broadsides,...

The Goodness of Truth

It would be better if it was true In the soul-searching of positioning and the right angle of brand, to story, cult and culture and truth in the telling, the woven fabric of brand experience and the personality of that narrative will be far better if the foundations...