I hope you're doing well and the first quarter of 2022 has proved fruitful with ideas and inspiration. If not, then I'm here to rectify that and provide a cradle of content for you to explore.
SIX is a nod to what gets me up in the morning and what keeps me up at night. Things, thoughts, words and wonder that swirl around my head and create new pathways for ideas to stumble upon.
My hope is that the following collection of curiosities generates thought, sparks surprise or propels you into action.
Let's dig in.
Spring Has Sprouted
“On the spectrum of creative work, the difference between the mediocre and the good is vast. Mediocrity is, however, still on the spectrum; you can move from mediocre to good in increments. The real gap is between doing nothing and doing something.” - Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus
The relationship of nature at this time of year is commonly associated with ideas, innovation, growth and things coming to life. In nature this seems to happen all by itself but with humans, we need to actually do. Take action, makes moves. We all have an ability to do just that, to get on the creative spectrum.
Love It or Hate It, You Can’t Ignore It
I don’t know about you but I go through phases of Marmite munching. Buttery Marmite crumpet, obvious one. Marmite with avocado on a corn cracker, one of my favourites. Recently I came across Marmite humous and yep, loved it.
Now, whether you love Marmite or hate the stuff, you can’t help but admire the longevity of the brand and the creativity when launching new products and partnerships. This humous malarkey got me thinking more about Marmite and got me looking back at some advertising campaigns. It got me curious about the creative agencies charged with crafting such magic.
We all know that advertising gets a bad rep, but when it's not crap and creatives such as adam&eveDDB are in charge, broadcasting adds texture and cheeriness to our days.
When it's this good, I would argue it's case for being art >
How We See Ourselves
To celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, a curious collection of self portraits curated by The Luupe. Interesting perspectives and beautiful stories.
What is High Performance?
At the start of this month I found myself for the first time at the O2 Arena. I went to watch The High Performance Podcast live. I’ve been a long time listener of the Podcast. Exploring what high performance means to an array of artists, entrepreneurs and athletes in an insightful and interesting listen.
One of my favourite episodes was an interview with Jonny Wilkinson, not because I’m a massive rugby fan - he barely talked about the sport - but because we got a completely different glimpse of the man which has a public profile I’m sure most of us are familiar with. That’s the beauty of these long form interviews, they dig deeper.
If you've not come across The High Performance Podcast before, I recommend scrolling there list of over 100 episodes and listening to a conversation or two. The podcast is hosted and led by broadcaster Jake Humphries and organisational psychologist Prof Damien Hughes.
Harvesting Colour
The colour curiosity continues! This may be jumping the gun but I think SIX will always include a colourful inclusion because the stimulation from colour and their stories always inspires.
First of all how lovely is that phrase harvesting colour. I recently came across Vibrant Acres, a colour farm in Nova Scotia who grow natural dyes and harvest colour. Just gorgeous!
Maps & Meaning
As a piece of design, a map is the balance of aesthetic & information, art & science. The use of colour, of text, the feel of the paper, and of course the context of what is being communicated is a combination I find thrilling. Good design makes us think. It is the same of maps…always asking questions of us.
Last month I wrote about maps. I love them. I think a lot of people do, maybe for the same reasons as me. If you like maps I'd love to know why.
As always, please reply with your thinks and thoughts, it's great to hear what springs to mind when you engage with SIX. Until next month, be curious, be creative, Lv Kim xx