Rants – designswarm {thoughts}

The end of the useful idiot

This recent piece in Fast Company was bothering me. I’ve been in work for almost 20 years soon and I’ve heard people talk about the lack of business acumen in design since I was a student. I posit that something else is happening as ‘design thinking as a service’ enters its mid life crisis. Design… Continue reading The end of the useful idiot

The road is wider than long

I’m turning 40 in a few weeks and since I have little confidence that anyone will, in fact, ask me ‘anything’ at the Thingscon Thingsfest session I’m taking part in, I thought I’d share some perspectives, probably half way down the wide road of life: A body is a machine. My brain and the rest… Continue reading The road is wider than long

Creativity & Collaboration in the 20th century.

I gave a talk a few weeks ago at Creat_ED and talked about entrepreneurism, fearlessness but really, I suppose I was talking about collaboration in hindsight. I’m reading Prague: Capital of 20th Century Surrealism and what’s immediately obvious is that artists were (maybe still are, I’d have to ask James about that) much better at… Continue reading Creativity & Collaboration in the 20th century.

Fun fun fun

Thanks to Mark Littlewood for this one. Very funny if it wasn’t so true.

Trans vs Inter

Transmedia, transdisciplinary, etc.. are clearly a fashionable expression but really… “Trans is a Latin noun or prefix, meaning “across”, “beyond” or “on the opposite side”.” “Inter is a Latin prefix meaning “between”, among, or “within a group”.” Same difference? Not? Dunno but it’s bugging me.

21st century compliance

I went to a conference and a few days later my friend Michelle came up with “Twitter compliant” as a way of rating presentations. Today I walked around the beautiful new Maxxi museum of Modern Art and Architecture in Rome (another Zaha Hadid project) and thought that some 21st century compliance would really help. The… Continue reading 21st century compliance

Commenting back: a response to "A rant about women"

I’ve specifically _tried_ as much as I can to avoid the subject of women, gender equality and tech in this blog for years but this was an invitation I simply could not refuse. I’m also writing this down running out of time and needing to pack a suitcase, so this should be quick don’t worry.… Continue reading Commenting back: a response to "A rant about women"

The year that was

A bit of a tradition started 3 years ago by a canadian friend. I think it’s as good a way as any to recap. 1.What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Missed a flight. 2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Really… Continue reading The year that was

Thoughts for better conferences

Good conferences are about managing expectations: the speakers’ and the audience’s. They’ve paid to attend, the speaker has probably paid to fly over and add their professional profile to making the event worth going to in the first place. Both parties should be cared for. At the end of a realllly long year and looking… Continue reading Thoughts for better conferences

Design as survival tool for the 21st century

Forgive this: a quick and dirty theory that I’ve been working on passively as I read Novecento this weekend lounging in a metal chair in the jardin Luxembourg in Paris and later as I flicked through this month’s Marie-Claire Maison in one of Brixton’s fashionable cafés. I wonder if design as an activity, a field… Continue reading Design as survival tool for the 21st century