Posting just this once, to tell you we’ve unplugged for a week…
… and to let you know we didn’t forget about this week’s “P” design, which (appropriately) stands for “play!” (proper embellishment will follow…)
Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you. ~ Aldous Huxley
A friend brought this story of a woman designer to my attention, thinking I might find it inspiring.
It most definitely is.
The world is full of talent, full of success stories and tales of old glories ~ and new this and that’s roll in as steadily as tides hit shorelines. But how often do you hear of someone still producing marketable stuff at the tender age of 104?
It goes to show that discipline, passion, and vision are not bounded by age ~ and that experience counts. Just think of all that life going into works of art!
Eva Zeisel’s story is fascinating, her work remarkable, her longevity dazzling.
……………………..
The following is an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal Article.
When the lighting company Leucos announced recently that it was debuting a line of lamps by Eva Zeisel, even the collecting cognoscenti had to do a double take.
Ms. Zeisel is one of the great modernist designers of the 20th century. But what was she doing in the 21st? She was born around the same time as W.H. Auden, who’s been gone for nearly 40 years, and Frida Kahlo, nearly 60. Turns out that at 104, Ms. Zeisel is still creating her “things,” as she calls her designs, for companies ranging from Kleinreid to Design Within Reach.
The definition of a survivor, Ms. Zeisel was born in Budapest, went to Berlin for the glamorous period of the 1920s and then to Russia in the ’30s. “The arts from Russia seemed fresh and appealing,” she said. “So I decided to go and see what was behind the mountain.” There she had a run-in with Stalin, who imprisoned her for 16 months.
In 1938, she arrived in New York with $67 in her pocket and was given the first-ever one-woman show, seven years later, at MoMA. These days, she weekends near Nyack, N.Y., where she spoke to us about her life and latest works. (Read the full article here.)
Eva Zeisel was born in Budapest, Hungary on November 13, 1906. Over the last 86 years, she has become a world-renowned and honored designer. The most prestigious of all Eva’s accolades came in 2005 when she received the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement by the National Design Museum, Smithsonian. At 99 years old, she could have used the award to bring closure to a very successful and productive career. However, Eva chose to continue to design new works of art to share with all of us.
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
Few games are more fun than a battle of ping pong. It’s blood-pumping, spirit-lifting, good old-fashioned fun. And that’s really about all there is to to say ~ except maybe to suggest you find a friend, a table and go play!
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
Pinwheels serve no purpose other than bringing smiles to children when the wind blows, spinning the wheel in a colorful dance, round and round ~ and that delight is purpose enough.
But there’s more … because the child’s delight brings us delight, so for a moment in time smiles spread like ripples in a pond.
I think we would all do well with more pinwheel moments ~ appreciating the dance of life’s colors, and delighting in other’s delight.
Smiles are sure to follow.
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
This week’s inspiration came from a friend in Tennessee who saw a cool “P”, took a picture and sent it to me. I love the image, and imagine the inhabitants settling in, holding court and squawking defensively at the parking lot below.
And the thought it provoked is this: that life… wherever it calls home, wherever it thrives, feeds, flies, laughs, cries, loves … is precious. Yours, mine, the new baby’s, the old man’s, the birds in flight, the rivers and trees and fairies and whales and clouds and rocks and deserts and mountains and suns and moons.
It reminded me that life is a gift, a tapestry of twists and turns, of madness, hopes and dreams, offering a nest of precious treasures in sometimes unexpected places.
I love this! It’s just superb, and completely delightful, from the great artist/author Shaun Tan.
With good reason, The Lost Thing won Best Animated Short Film at this year’s 83rd Academy Awards. And there’s an extra bonus ~ because the behind-the-scenes telling of how the film’s sounds are created is a fascinating treat of its own. In the video below, supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer John Kassab shares his experience working on this animated treasure.
Very cool stuff all around. Enjoy!
Since it’s National Ice Cream Month, I thought I’d use a famous ice cream company for Part 3 of my branding chatter … after all, “it’s only fair…”
What’s so good about this is that the video not only shows the integrity and consistency of Ben & Jerry’s folksy branding in action, it’s also a great example of authenticity.
Just to clarify, authenticity means that the message (the visual voice) rings true. And there’s very little that can replace, go above or beyond being genuine.
In this particular case, the element of authenticity underscores a product that’s been proven worthy and continues to breed the important ingredient of trust, therefore keeping ~ and gaining ~ a loyal following.
I really like how Ben & Jerry’s found a way to keep their classically down-home look, feel and messaging steady, vital and relevant in a technological environment. From the start they’ve been about extra good ice cream with an organic bent and a social conscience, and they haven’t skipped a beat.
(Makes you want a quart or two …!)
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
Patriotism is like a giant batch of team spirit… loyalty to your own, devotion to shared values, an overriding love of country, flaws and all. It’s a heartfelt high-five for freedom and a star-bangled banner ever waving o’er the land of the free and home of the brave. ~ Happy 4th of July, America! ~
Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos. ~Don Kardon
(above illustration from the Pencil Point series)
You do understand what this means, right? You can have ice cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner ~ any time is ice cream time!
It also makes it a bit more “legit” for those of us who already imbibe freely…. for those of us with a couple of quarts in the freezer at all times and hot fudge at the ready …. And it provides another opportunity to show that it’s next to impossible to be anything but happy while eating ice cream.
What’s your favorite? We have the whole month to explore… scoop up!
Beer, Chocolate and the Web … for some reason makes me think of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” ~ maybe not with such an intricate storyline, and I’m not sure C.S. Lewis would like the comparison, unless perhaps, he was a beer and chocolate person… but either way he would certainly appreciate the imaginative quality.
So, thanks to my good friend and fellow designer Jim for knowing that I would love this. Sagres, Portugal’s leading beer brand, launched a new product this year: Sagres Preta Chocolate, a chocolate flavoured stout beer.
I can’t attest to the beer itself, but their decision to launch the product with a website crafted entirely from chocolate gets a big thumbs up from this corner.
Personally, I’m not convinced of the “rightness” of beer and chocolate co-mingling in one drink, but I definitely give these guys credit for ingenuity. And (for possible future reference) I’d have gladly been on the team that made all the chocolate pieces!
Here’s how they did it:
And here’s the final website for Sagres Preta Chocolate. Enjoy!
