Plane tree, Hyde Park, Sydney. 2007.

Times Online article Living without money

A German woman has lived 13 years without money. She set up a successful “Tauschring — a sort of swap shop — a place where people can exchange their skills or possessions for other skills and possessions…”

As one of the comments (Marco V) pointed out, bartering “may even bring a community feel back to the country.”

Many small and …

We are AIA.
We are here to create a lasting impression for you and your loved ones.
This is the collective force of AIA.
This is the Power of We.

Is the new tagline focused on building employee togetherness? “We can change the world…”

Or is it about creating a sense of oneness with customers? “We are all in this together, lets work together…”

Does the “We” refer to the …

One thing I noticed in my short time in Tokyo – the pavements are flawlessly even. This photo shows a perfectly level walking surface transitioning across three different materials: bitumen, flagstones and wood.

Excellence because someone gave a damn about what they do. Wow.

There’s beauty around us that we take for granted. When things work well, we stop noticing them. And then we go travelling…

I spotted this movie poster in a Tokyo subway tunnel. Please savour the richness of layered visuals and the attendant vast range of implied meanings!

This is useful as a complete, rich, idea-generation device in and of itself.

Wonderful!

Light fitting, Sydney Town Hall, 2007.

A friend recently asked me: “you can help others see patterns in situations, and find clear ways through difficulties. So how come you can’t do it for yourself?” (I am going through a what-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life phase…)

Many designers find it hard to design for themselves. The removal of many of the constraints associated with clients, plus working with personal, emotionally-charged requirements, can be debilitating for a designer.

The same situation exists …

I registered to attend a TEDxSingapore event last week.

The form wanted three things people should talk to me about on my name tag. These would be the three things that matter most to me.

Design Thinking
Business Innovation
Empowerment

That was a good moment of clarity. These are the things I am most passionate about. I know “Design Thinking” and “Business Innovation” are in the description of my blog, …

R&D in products is often clearly separated from production and sales of the products. R&D can happen in isolation from other aspects of the operations, and also in isolation from customers.

An engineer and industrial designer can design a new toy without meeting a single child (customer). After the toy goes to market, feedback will eventually trickle back from the market. This then triggers the …