The Strangest Secret

I just ran across this on my computer. I think my Grandpa had sent the audio a long time ago. Very inspiring, and still very true to this day.

The only person who succeeds is the person who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal. The person who says, "I'm going to become this"… and then begins to work toward becoming it.

Have you ever wondered why so many men and women work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular? Why others do not seem to work hard at all and yet get everything? We sometimes think it is the magic touch or pure luck. We often say, "Everything they touch turns to gold." Have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue this pattern of success? Or on the other hand, how a person who fails seems to continually fail?

Well, the answer is simple -- those who succeed have established personal goals."

Listen to part 1
Listen to part 2

Does anyone have the whole recording?

Je ne sais quoi

A fellow designer passed this article my way. It really sums up a lot of things I agree with. What’s the point of working on something, or being a part of a group of folks if you are not giving it all that you have?

"What I usually appreciate most, are when the talent shows that they actually care about their work. That they are doing what they really love, and by doing it really well, they earn the respect of the industry, their peers, and the people that see their work. I am always impressed with talent that seem to have a plan about themselves. To a certain degree they are their own project. They have a considered identity for themselves, and a way of capturing what they do."

If You Care, They'll Care.

What Does Your City Say?

What Does Your City Say About You?

How new 'creative classes' are changing cities around the world. Link sent over by Hagel.

Schweppes

Check out this television commercial where ultra slow motion cameras capture Schweppervescence at 10,000 frames per second.

How to be a better designer

How to be a better designer

“Sorta” stealing

There’s little I despise as much as a thievery of others’ ideas. That being said, no one creates in a vacuum. So, while I would never espouse copying the work of another, I do strongly believe in being a cultural sponge and carefully examining the work of others.

An example of this would be in our efforts to define a client’s business as being akin to a luxury brand. I asked our designers to research the treatments, themes, typography and the general approach of companies from other sectors with similar goals. From this, we learned a “visual dialect” of sorts that we later could apply or diverge from as it suited the project.

My point is that we don’t have to “invent” everything; instead, we should concentrate on building our visual literacy.

Atlanta storm damage

I took a drive around the city yesterday. It looked like a war zone.

Modernista

Interesting concept with this site. Check it out.

Typography Friday + sneeze

It's not that far away you know. Sorry, too much going on, I have been sick and had no time to write anything...

Teroforma + working with honest brands

Friends Poke NYC just launched a pretty cool new site called Teroforma. Teroforma is an entirely different type of company. They don’t just turn out tableware, they create reasons for people to come together.

And, the quote I believe made my day:

“At POKE, we work with honest brands. We want to tell only stories that are true, and sell things that are really worth having. (That makes us the weird kid of the advertising world, but we don’t mind.)"

You can read that whole article here.

Firebrand to Close

Too bad, I kinda liked this show.

"NEW YORK Just six months after launching, commercials-as-content player Firebrand is closing.

The board of directors of the company, which used TV spots as programming online and on TV, this morning decided to end the effort after investors balked at pouring more money into it. Firebrand's investors include NBC Universal, Microsoft and General Electric's investment arm."

And my fav quote:

"Ads-as-content service never gained traction"

David Armano + Fuzzy Tail

I just ran across this interesting presentation.

"Being "fuzzy" means unlearning the way we've always done things and moving away from rigidity toward adaptability. The first draft of this presentation will be presented to employees of Critical Mass, a digital experience consultancy based out of Calgary, Canada."

POKE | NYC

Poke put up a new site. Don't worry, the live cam is still there..