APRIL 19/13: LET’S TALK ABOUT… CARS

For those of you who know me even remotely, you know that I don’t like cars. I’m talking pretty much everything about them: car culture, car ads (ESPECIALLY car ads), the way they look, the way they feel, driving them, the whole kit and kaboodle. My ears and eyes immediately zone out. Classic example: one time a friend came to pick me up at my place and I saw the white car out front, opened the door, got in. Turned to face the driver. Not my friend. Yup, I got in the wrong car because to me a white car is a white car. Audi what? I actually get angry at the time I must waste flipping through pages of car ads to get to the interesting stuff.

So, I was just listening to Q on CBC radio and one of the topics they discussed was how the auto industry gets women wrong. HA! That’s an understatement. But it got me thinking. If you want to design cars for women (i.e. 50% of the current adult population) YOU SHOULD HIRE WOMEN TO DESIGN THEM. And not just any women, but women who currently loath cars. Women who would rather ride a bicycle. Women who would rather walk. Women who can’t tell the difference between a white Audi and a white Rabbit not because we are stupid but because we are so bored by them that we don’t care. I don’t actually know if a “Rabbit” is even a brand of car or a car style! I might be spelling Audi wrong! Secretly, I kind of hope I am. We are at the far extreme end of a demographic you can’t reach, that will spend thousands of dollars having a custom bookshelf built for their studio apartment, has a driver’s license, lives in freaking oil-central Alberta for godsake, but – yes – still doesn’t own a car. They say you should design for the extreme ends of your demographic, and … yup, just checked, that’s pretty much me.

So pay attention, car company moguls.

No gas, no ugly gas stations! First of all, my perfect car (obviously) wouldn’t run on gas. You’d think it’s because the gas industry is dirty and bad for the environment – which it is – but my distaste for it runs deeper than that. First of all, gas smells awful. Noxious. Also, the place you have to buy it is awful: gas stations contain all the same elements that I dislike about fast food restaurants. You’d think I avoid fas food chains because of the food, but really I avoid them for their cheap, boxy design that supposedly says “fast and functional!” but really just says “obnoxiously bright and ugly”. Fluorescent lighting in the stations, the dingiest bathrooms you’ve ever seen in the great nation of Canada. No shelters from the wind and rain while you’re paying/pumping… seriously, gas stations within themselves are depressing enough to make me not want a car.

The perfect world would have my bath water drain directly into my car’s tank, running through my dishwasher and laundry machine along the way. This would also give my car and the roadways a lovely, fresh tangerine scent that pedestrians and urban folks would greatly appreciate. Old gas stations could be transformed into urban cafés until they’d detoxed long enough to become urban gardens.

Also, in view of water conservation and tank size, surely our wizardly engineers can come up with some way to give us double the mileage on tangerine water, with a tank half the current size? Because the second thing on my Perfect  Car list is…

The tiny, foldable car with titanium strength. Part of my issue with cars are their huge, lumbering size and weight. Especially in North America: so ridiculously large and unwieldy, and difficult to park in urbanized areas. Part of what I love about my bicycle is that it’s so manageable. I can pick it up. I don’t know why that’s so important to me, but it is. My perfect car would have the size, cuteness and light weight of an old Austin Mini, with the unbendable strength, durability and lifespan of titanium. It would also be foldable, so that (to park) you only need fold it to half its size in a few easy, smooth steps (car companies, if you’re looking for inspiration, check out this space saving foldable furniture). Parking stalls could be reduced to scooter-size, meaning more people will be able to find parking, less cursing and driving around searching for parking stalls, more business for downtown restaurants and stores, etc. It also means I could fold up my car and park it at a bike rack in a pinch, or store it in my basement when not in use.

Speaking of bicycles… cars are not great exercise. I’m just saying, maybe a Flinestone-esque pedaling option would be nice when you need to get some cardio in during a longer commute. It would also help save on tangerine water.

Get rid of the glare! Really, we can come up with non-glare eyeglasses that are practically invisible, but for some reason car windows still reflect midday sun like alien death rays. Also, what is up with how REFLECTIVE cars are? Who made THAT fashion decision that’s survived through the ages?? Being able to SEE is perhaps the most important thing while driving, but every car on the road is a shiny, metallic surface that reflects light directly into your eyes, ready to blind you at the most inopportune moment. Their glare gives me headaches, both sitting in cars and walking by as a pedestrian. My perfect car would definitely be matte (it’s like we’re all driving around the fashion equivalent of this every day, and are delusional enough to think it looks good. Seriously.).

Pleasant textures. My perfect car would have the nice, soft feel of a brushed cotton shirt.

REAL horse power. Now, if you ask me (which no one did) I would not say that the real power of a horse is in its speed: I would say real “horse power” is in its trainability and brains. Ye old cowboys could whistle and have their mode of transportation trott right up to them. A horse could also neatly avoid obstacles in their path (such as streams and fallen tree branches) without any prompting from their master. I was so excited when I first heard that a SMART car was coming out. Finally! A car that comes to me when I whistle and can avoid obstacles and park itself!! Oh. How disappointing. It’s just a smallish, ugly, shiny car. That doesn’t run on tangerine water.

There are so many other things I would want such as a purse console and woman-sizing (this Q radio episode covered both of these topics pretty well). But perhaps this is enough for the car industry to absorb for now. ALSO you guys should hire me for a few weeks to pick my brain for great ideas – yes, car designers and companies, I’m talking to you. Trust me, there’s more where this came from. I see a car in the future that folds in half and smells of tangerine and I’ll know whose blog you were reading in 2013 (although in terms of foldable designs, these guys are off to a good start).

In the meantime – I guess I’ll keep riding my 1940′s bicycle and spending my money on lattes and bookshelves.

MARCH 25/13: 4 TIPS FOR DOING, NOT JUST DREAMING.

Daydreaming (or night dreaming) about things you might like to do one day is so easy. There are all of those comfortable words that you can hold tightly to: “might”, “like to”, and the king of them all, “one day”.

One day is such a comfortable distance away that anything could happen in the meantime. The world could implode! You could become king! Grow a moustache! Get bitten by a spider and suddenly grow very brave and strong, with sticky fingers that can climb up walls! We lie to ourselves and put disclaimers on our dreams and goals like “when I’m braver”, “when I’m in better shape”, or “if I win a million dollars”.

I am by no means a pro at this but I’ve definitely learned a few tips, particularly in the past 4 years of freelancing and running my studio. Here are 4 of the best tips I’ve found for doing stuff and not just dreaming about it. 

1. Choose something already! If you have a dream or goal, choose a single action that will help get you there – it can be almost anything as long as it’s tangible and can be checked off a list once it’s done. Apply for this conference, email Miss So-and-So, read this book, sign up for this class. The secret is that once you make contact, the thing you’ve contacted tends to ping you back and the next step becomes much easier. They email you back with a question? You answer. The conference sends you registration papers? You fill them out. All of a sudden you have someone or something helping you with the progress-killing question “What do I do next?”.

2. “Being ready” is a ridiculous notion that should be ignored completely. “Are you ready?” is the silliest question in the world. If someone is asking you this question it usually means you are about to do something that you’ve never done before, something that is scary, intimidating, nerve-racking or all the above. Of COURSE you’re not ready!!! There will always be uncertainty when you are talking about a future action that has not happened yet. A ridiculous question like “Are you ready?” should be answered with an equally ridiculous reply, which would sound something like “Yes!”, “Of course!”, or (best/most ridiculous of all) “I WAS BORN READY!!”.

3. Karma is real, and she’s not always a bitch. I really believe that you put something out in the world and you have a 100% better chance of having that thing happen. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve announced blithely to the world “I love doing X!” only to have someone say almost immediately, “Really? Cool, I actually need someone to do X“. At which point I blink and think, oh my god, I’ve just signed up to speak in front of 180 people. And then the person asks me “Are you ready?” and I yell back “I WAS BORN READY!!!”. Or write it in all caps, depending on the situation. Or whisper it to myself as a mantra of survival for the next 4 months.

4. Find the good. Once you’ve checked an item off your list or completed some small part of your goal, scour that experience to find something – anything – that you did really well. Even if 90% of it was a disaster, I want you to find the 10% that was good and focus on that. Pat yourself on the back for that 10% and celebrate it. Then look at the 90% disaster and learn from it. Congratulations, this experience is now a 100% success.

And… repeat indefinitely.

MARCH 7/13: CARDS FOR ALL OCCASIONS

Some fun, neat bundles arrived in my studio today! If you are one of my clients, you will have a lucky little package coming your way soon… if you’re not one my clients, then – obviously – you’re missing out in more ways than one.

Here’s a sneak peak. More of my new identity in the blog soon too… the excitement is palpable, folks.

FEB 27/13: THE SMALL IDEA

I’m talking to design students at the University of Alberta this afternoon about design, process and why purpose is so important. I love talking (read: ranting) about design: it inspires me to rethink my own processes and always strive to do better work. Some of the thoughts that I will be sharing include this one:

“A small, delightful idea can become a big idea if you give it space.”

- from the Office of Sarah

FEB 20/13: What exactly IS gender?

I read the book Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine in 2012, so seeing her name in this CBC Radio Ideas series on gender, with Mary O’Connell, caught my eye. It’s the most fascinating discussion about gender that I’ve heard maybe… ever?

“If you see a sex difference in the brain … does that mean that it’s innate, that it’s fixed? Well, of course not. We know that brain development arises through a constant interaction with experience and environment. If you see a difference in the brain it doesn’t mean that it has some sort genetic cause: we don’t know what the origins of that difference are.”

” … gender stereotyping is the product of a limited imagination, and in the process, it limits childhood.”

” … they believe there is a fluidity to gender …”

If you’re interested in listening to the series, you can find them here: The Gender Trap, Part 1 and The Gender Trap, Part 2. I’d also recommend Cordelia Fine’s book.

FEB 8/13: GOOD KARMA

Yesterday, I was in line at the grocery store around lunchtime. There was an old man in front of me in the line-up and he made a comment about me purchasing a large lunch (in actuality, I had two bottles of wine, cheese, crackers and meat, bananas and Liberte yogurt. I was purchasing weekend snacks and breakfast). Anyways, in response I smiled at him and…  he gave me a shiny rock.

Yup, that’s right. Because I smiled. That’s some immediate karma action, if you ask me.

JAN 30/13: GETTING MY TALK-ON.

After doing a talk for the 3 Designers Speaker Series this past September, people have been asking me to speak at events – FUN! It’s exactly like being famous, except without the paparazzi or the money.

Today I am part of a creative panel speaking at ACE Creative Roundtable. Here’s a secret – when you speak at a panel you don’t really have to prep anything – they have this amazing person called the “Moderator” (ours is Joyce Byrne) who has to do all the prep work instead of you! Easy-peasy. According to the ACE website, tonight we are talking about “what motivates [us], how to get the best work from an agency, and the best ideas that never were”.

Feel like joining in on the fun? It’s gonna be 5:30pm  at The Common (9910 109 St, Edmonton, AB)

JAN 28/13: GDC ANNUAL REPORT RELEASED!

Last Friday I went to the GDC Alberta North General Meeting, where they distributed their 2012 Annual Report that I collaborated on with fellow GDC member and designer Meghan Cooper. The project was Pro Bono and completed over a short timeline over the Christmas holidays: a bit hectic to say the least, but I was glad to be involved and supporting my local graphic design chapter.

The concept we ran with was “playful collaboration”, and we had the GDC Executive Members submit old childhood photos of themselves, along with a quote on one their favorite childhood activities. I hand-illustrated their quotes and illustrated the photos graffiti-style as I felt appropriate. Here are a few of my favorites that I illustrated for the report:

I also got to put my own baby photo in the report, but it had to be squeezed into the corner of one of the last pages, which are already pretty tiny. So, in all it’s full-size glory, my baby portrait (with my older brother Justin beside me)!

A Revelation on the Last Day of the World.

I was thinking about good design advice and quotes to live by, and for the first time EVER, I realized some of the best advice I ever got was in 1989.

“Stop. Collaborate. Listen.”

That’s some really freaking good design advice. Thanks Vanilla Ice!

It’s happening and my jammy goods will be there, plus a few new surprises! DON’T MISS IT IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOUR ART-LOVING SELF. Dec 1 & 2, 2012.