Starfish / rip curl

Sweat it out!
5 interesting perspectives on how to boost your creativity. Growing up in a maritime environment gave early lessons to the importance of anchors. But even more interesting; the article supports the idea for making your way to the gym to "disconnect" the brain, leaving everything to a cardiovascular heartbeat and rhythm.

To read article: Uncertainty, Innovation, and the Alchemy of Fear

Captivating cave art

"Panel of Horses" - Chauvet Cave, France

Just the other day I received a link to a blog / website which gives insight to  archeological treasures in Europe, Russia and Australia.

It has lots of great photos and info about the findings.  You can enjoy the art and learn new and surprising facts about pre-historic times.

My link send you straight to the Chauvet cave in France where you can take a look at  incredible wallpaintings created more than 30 000 years ago. The fascinating element with these paintings is that you can feel the artists effort in trying to understand the animals physics. It is truly a study in ani-motions! From my little journey I found these other amazing photos: 

Disc of Nebra - Bronze age

To the right you see a 3 600 year old sky disc from the Bronze age; believed to have been used as an advanced astronomical clock. The design could just as well been from a present fancy product design.

Lapti - Russian bast sandals

And what about some Stone age shoe trends? These bast sandals belongs to findings in Russia and are believed to have been available
5 500 years ago.

To take the journey and be an explorer yourself, visit:

Chauvet cave w/navigation to other archeological sites

Divine disconnection

In this post you will find a link to an article about management of quality time versus staying connected.

Let's face it: Computers, cellulars and all kinds of digital gadgets are not disappearing anywhere and will keep keeping us connected until the end of time. The questions is how each one of us deals with it. Just as it is an endless resource for creativity, work and intelligence I am convinced it also leads to poor quality and execution regardless of what type of work you are doing, but some might be more vulnerable than others.

This article reminded me about something I read/heard several years ago in regards to creative work. What I read was a reference to "the flow"; a state of mind that usually kicks in let's say 10-20 minutes after you start working creatively using the left side of your brain. It is a state of mind that actually can be compared to floating. Ever been on a mattress on the ocean feeling the tranquility of the wave movements, staring into an endless sky and it's almost like time stops?  Compare it to surfing or downhill skiing, or any other activity that seem to break up your perception of time versus activity.

When you enter this floating phase it is like other elements around you disappear. You are so deep into and concentrated about what you are doing that you actually loose track of time and you do not notice well, for example if somebody is addressing you with a question. I consider myself as a pretty organized person and if I can I prefer a systematic approach to a work task rather than improvising. The kind of person that likes to systematize things, arrange a spice rack alphabetically and take a look at my watch to know how much time is left of my favorite show. But so clearly I can experience loosing track of time when hitting "the flow" and me that normally can predict well both the hour and how much time has gone by is obviously somehow a little "spaced out". In regards to the time element it was a very simple scientific explanation: Your left side brain is so involved with creative work that other parts of the brain dealing with time perception, language center etc is sort of disengaged. But why do I mention this in regards to time management ? Because "the flow" was pointed out by experts within creative industries to be an extremely important phase of any creative work. And if this is true it is a state of mind that clearly do not mingle well with staying connected.

Research versus gut-feeling

One thing that is important to remember in regards to "gut feeling" is that it is not a magical crystal ball. A gut feeling is eventually the result of everything you are, including your academical background, your experience and all the information you read. So keep on gathering; whether it is commercials on a subway train, browsing the internet, studies at a university or visual information from your surroundings. Your gut feeling feeds from all this. 

Nevertheless, research is important and should be an integrated part in any project. My blogpost "An uncomfortable discussion" could be a practical example. Make sure, either alone or with the support of others that your idea is unique. 

To read the blog post: Instinct (Art) vs. Research (Science) By: Brian Bennett

Protective architecture

Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Here is a link with updates and photos from the global seed vault that in December 2010 reached 500 000 seed samples! 

Some call it the doomsday vault, since it is a protector of global biodiversity in a changing world vulnerable to natural disasters, war, lack of management and finance. In a more positive perspective it is at least a confirmation of  insight into our human vulnerability and a legacy of will to try to think, plan and act for a future and future generations. The architecture itself is fascinating. For obvious reasons related to shape (and some more subtle meanings) I get a visual parallel to the monolithic symbolism in Stanley Cubrick's movie "2010".

To read more: "Architectural Marvel, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, hits 500,000 seeds"

John Maeda: "Innovation is born when art meets science"

"Superior innovation comes from bringing divergents (the artists and designers) and convergents (science and engineering) together."


Read more of the interview with John Maeda that talks about why mixing of disciplines are so important. Even though the focus is on science, technology and design it should be a lesson for many industries.


"Innovation is born when art meets science"

Is your favorite color determined by experience ?

A favorite subject of mine! It is widely known that colors can have different meaning from culture to culture and the influence this have on our choices of colors in design, marketing materials and product development all over the world.

Through studies and research scientist have even found that our perception of colors can be linked to physical factors. For example: Do you know there is no other color the human eye can distinguish more hues and nuances of than green ? Scientist believe this is a direct result of our evolution as humans. Linked back to a time where the ability to distinguish different green nuances in the nature was a matter of survival.

But there is of course a clear and overwhelming amount of psychological aspects and reasons to our  perception of colors. This article adds some interesting perspectives:

Color preferences determined by experiences ?

Brilliant design

A microphotography of a real snowflake

For the science crazed check out more fantastic micro photos from life's beginning at:


http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/gallery-microphoto-embryos/