The ring of bone

For maybe some 25 years I’ve been collecting zenga. These are the paintings of Zen masters. They are of the haboku style, which is the most captivating, to my aesthetic, which is called “broken ink”. It’s about saying something in nothing....

Nokiablue

Seen this? I’ve been shooting retail and designspace for a while — and I go in… The Nokia people didn’t like me in there, too much. And I go out. And then I send this to you. I do like the sheer presence of the blue, here — especially...

ob viam

3.25.06 Cairn of lavastone | Mt. Merapi | Java obviate OB-vee-ayt, transitive verb: To prevent by interception; to anticipate and dispose of or make unnecessary. Obviate derives from Latin obviare, “to meet or encounter,” from ob viam, “placed or...

TED / Day one : L O V E

Hi. A LOT of us write about the concepts of emotion in the context of the work that we do. We’d like to think that we know something about it. How you reach in there, capture that — illustrate some sensate connection by virtue of text, imagery. But what...

Notes on The Matrix design

There’s another symbolic value to the O and the 1 beyond the nature of the digital translation of content and interpretation. O, the curved enclosure — is, in sequence etymologically — from Sanskrit — the sunya; Arabic, sifr; Medieval Latin,...

Of course there’s a retort

Weblink to article “Innovation and Sales – Never Say Never, Tim Girvin” —— Never say never. Let’s look back. First of all, can’t quite remember a quote like that, but too, what’s the point of the method, to the medium?...

Brand Braille

*10. MARKETING: INNOVATIVE BRANDING AND MARKETING TRENDS. TIM GIRVIN, designer and founder of GIRVIN, discusses a new expression: Brand Braille. Tim describes this a sa metaphor – a way to transmit a brand message through the creation of a distinctive pattern that...

The concept of the sacred in commerce

The conceptual gesture, to supporting Shawn McNally’s spiritual exploration, is drawing back to manuscripts hundreds of years old to find the archetypal spiritual exploration that captures the needs and quests of the seeker. It’s all about the voice, the...

Luxury in China

Let’s start at the beginning point of our earlier conversations; branding is about people. It’s not merely about the growth figures; there’s no growth if people don’t get the story. The real point, however, is about what luxury means; yes –...