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Say Something: Free Card Template
I love making cards for people for two reasons: they’re personal, and they let me avoid the card aisle at the store. I also love things that are FREE and downloadable. So I thought I’d share the love and give you a card template that you can download (for free!), personalize and give to someone…
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Creativity is Subtraction
Austin Kleon has some great advice on creativity, and following his first rule, I stole it (but check out more by clicking on the image): Kleon is a generous artist, and I like that. I also like his art, called “Newspaper Blackout”. Armed with only a Sharpie, he creates poems by removing all the “unnecessary”…
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Authenticity (or, Deep Thoughts from Sesame Street)
Olivia’s been into watching Sesame Street videos on youTube lately. So into it, in fact, that she’ll walk up to our closed laptop, point to it and start singing “Elmo’s Song”. So her parents have also been watching a lot of Sesame Street videos lately too :). But there’s one video that I’ve found myself…
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This is Fall, Enjoy it Now!
There’s a certain urgency about the autumn season this year. As summer has slowly given way to fall (which means that winter is closing in), we’ve started to cherish every family walk, each crisp morning and every sunny day that lets us carve away at our yard work to-do list. Olivia loves playing outside and…
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Magical Northern Lights
Last week my wife stayed up till nearly 3AM to photograph the amazing northern lights display. Anna has incredible patience when she wants to capture a particular photo, and in this case it paid off!
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Online Advertising Video Infographic
Our online creative team at Golden West made this video to communicate the rising importance of the internet in our daily lives, and the importance of businesses realizing this as they invest in advertising. Though there are many videos like this out there, not many feature Canadian stats, so we spent a lot of time…
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You’re Weird
And that’s ok. We were reflecting the other day on how much time most of us spend trying to watch, follow, make and be what’s hot and trendy. Meanwhile, the people we find most interesting are those who have rejected the crowd and embraced their own weirdness. They’re not trying to be different (also a…
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The Delicate Power of Stories
This beautiful talk by writer Elif Shafak has had me thinking about stories. As with any good story, Shafak’s talk is filled with humor, nuance and symbolism, as she gracefully describes her family background and experience of living as a child of a divorced mother in Turkey, going to international schools when her mother became a diplomat,…
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Shirin Neshat, Artist in Exile
Here’s an amazing talk by Shirin Neshat, an Iranian artist in exile, about the importance of art and culture in the West and in Iran. I admit I can’t begin to relate to her experience, but I’m challenged by her determination. Her courage reminds us that art is too powerful a tool to be used…
