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Centrifugal Creativity
I was introduced to the idea of “Centrifugal Creativity” a few years ago by Patrick Dodson (listen to his teaching on the topic here). It resonated with me then, and I’ve been chewing it again recently. Dodson talks about a history of art, why our idolization of “the Artist”, self-discovery and self-expression is misled, and…
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O Canada (and the Olympic Team Brand)
Yes, the Olympics are around the corner again. Lately I’ve been inspired by the Canadian Olympic Team brand. Based around a simple, elegant, iconic logo and a bright mosaic of colours, it’s something that should make Canadians proud, and might even make non-Canadians shed a tear as well. Beautiful, no? Below, check out a brief…
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Embrace the Chaos
I recently watched a talk by Ben Chestnut, founder of MailChimp, recently. Being a longtime fan of the Chimp, I was interested to hear what Ben had to say about creativity and encouraging a creative environment in what seems to be a very creative and successful business. Two ideas that I really liked: 1. Humans…
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Burton Kramer
Recently I’ve been checking out Burton Kramer’s design work. NYC-born, Kramer trained in graphic design in the USA, but spent several years in Switzerland (during the hay-days of Helvetica). He later moved to Toronto, where his modernist style became hugely influential in the Canadian design world. Probably most well-known for his iconic 1974 CBC logo…
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Summer in the City
This year I had the opportunity to work with Summer in the City, our local annual arts and culture festival, as part of the Marketing team. In the months leading up to the festival we put together the posters, mail-out postcards, billboards, programs, website, and social media updates. It was my first time working with…
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Liked
An unseemly number of my biggest errors can be traced back to an indiscriminate, undignified urge to be liked. – Alain de Botton
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Be At-Home Good
A while back I read REWORK, written by the founders of 37signals. Lately I’ve been reminded of this idea of “Be At-Home Good.” The idea is that, while a product can be bright and shiny and amazing in the store, a truly great product also is amazing once you bring it home. That’s the real…
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What Do You See?
You know all about optical illusions in colour if you’ve ever tried to pick a paint colour for your house. Or if you’ve had an argument about whether your shirt is black or blue or purple. In his TED talk, Beau Lotto shows us some fascinating optical illusions that reveal just how much what we…
