This idea of a single image taking hold and becoming the embodiment of an age, an ideology and a revolution made me stop to think; what are the symbols, or meaningful images, that we all carry with us?
There are so many powerful, heart-wrenching, and awe inspiring images out that that I am not even going to try to name them. I would like to share some of the meaningful images that I can remember in my life. And I’d like to hear yours.

9/11 – World Trade Towers

I believe that this horrific event will remain forever imprinted upon all who saw, or heard of it. This tragedy united America with a common grief, and this grief is still very raw.

As a senior at a California high school, I remember my mom coming into my bedroom and waking me up. She led me out to the living room where we watched the second plane crash into the second tower. We watched, stunned. I asked her what was happening, and then the towers fell.
The image of the planes, the towers, the smoke and the confusion, this will always be an image I carry with me. This sparked the beginning of my entry into the adult world. This event did not fill me with fear and dread, but a belief that we must work harder to bridge the gaps between societies, between the rich and poor, between the powerful and the weak.

War on Iraq

It was my first year in college and I was sitting on a dorm bed, watching images of “Shock and Awe.” I remember newscasters saying that this would last a week, a month at the most. We all know it has lasted much, much longer than anyone had originally thought.

Smokey the Bear

This one is a bit unusual, I know. I grew up in a rural, forested area in Northern California. The threat of forest fires was real and constant throughout the summer months. I remember seeing Smokey the Bear at town events, the 4th of July Parade, visiting the elementary school. He became, to me, a symbol of summer and conservation of our environment. Plus, I just loved his big ol' tummy and his theme song.

President Obama on Election Night

After I returned from the polling place, I did what I’m sure millions and millions of people did, turned on CNN. I watched the results come in from New York, Arkansas, and to ripple out to the west coast. I anxiously watched the electoral votes tick up at the bottom of the screen, states turning either red or blue. And finally, there were enough results in to declare a winner. We put down our pizza slices and hugged everyone in the room. The image of President Obama standing up on the stage, waving and smiling behind the bulletproof glass will stick with me. We felt that change was on its way. Something new and exciting was beginning. And while we’re in the very early stages of this, I still feel the same way.

These are the memorable images of my life. I know I was alive for the fall of the Berlin Wall and Communist Germany, Tiananmen square, and many other important, tragic and powerful world events - with timeless images. But, I was too young to recognize or consider the importance of those events at the time and so they are not a part of my memorable images/events.

I would love to hear the memorable images and events of your life. Please take the time to share them.

Today I ended up on the CIID website, the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. When I first arrived to the homepage, I stared with disappointment at a fairly simple and boring page with a grid of pink and gray squares, reading the words "interaction design." I have seen my share of, what some might call very Swiss, or German, simple design approaches that are effective yet intriguing. In this case, my first impression was that it was a little too dry.

But, when I started rolling the mouse across the homepage, I was instantly surprised and delighted with a new found interaction, as I watched the homepage become alive and unique to my own experience.

I ended up being impressed with the CIID website, from the interaction design approach to the technological finesse. The site provides a pleasant surprise, embraces the emotion of interaction, and in the end creates a visually unique homepage for each visitor.

Check it out for yourself at http://ciid.dk/

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A few weeks ago, something my yoga instructor said really struck a chord with me. At the end of class she instructed us to “breathe in” what we wanted to improve in ourselves, and “breathe out” what wasn’t good for us. We did this together for several minutes, focusing on what we wanted to bring into our lives, and what we wanted to expel. I came out of class feeling better and more relaxed than I had felt in months.

As I was breathing, I focused on bringing positivity into my life and getting rid of negativity. Since that class, I have used this technique many, many times throughout the day; whenever I am feeling over whelmed at work, irritated in the grocery line, or stressed about parking. The best thing about this technique is that you can do it anywhere. I have been in meetings where I am speaking and breathing and thinking positively. Every breath I draw brings confidence, and every breath I exhale releases tension and doubt.

I believe that my role as a project manager requires that I maintain a positive outlook. As the leader of a team of five, my attitude greatly affects those around me, especially during late-night meetings/brainstorming sessions. Everyone wants to be somewhere other than a hot conference room at 7:30 PM on a Tuesday, but a negative attitude will make that meeting even more painful. Recently, I successfully used positive breathing to get the team happily through a last-minute late night estimation session. By taking the time to breathe, and to focus on the goal of the meeting, I was able to keep the mood light in the room and encourage everyone with smiles and feedback. We met our deliverable that night and everyone left grinning.

Breathing is something we all do naturally (we really can’t stop!). I encourage you to take that extra step; to be aware of your breath and use it to remind yourself of, really, anything you want to improve or focus on in your life. It is only through continuous focus, work and rework that we become the people that we want to be.

Entertaining TED Talk about organizing and cleaning up art.

This past weekend I got a chance to spend a few days in Mt. Shasta, California. I wonderful and magical place.

Photographer Rob Hornstra and writer/filmmaker Arnold van Bruggen launch The Sochi Project. A five year project documenting the development and changing environment in Sochi, Russia; as the region prepares for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Sochi Project will be mix of photography, film, and reportage about a world in flux, within a small but extraordinary geographic area.

"Never before have the Olympic Games been held in a region that contrasts more strongly with the glamour of the Games than Sochi. Just 20 kilometres away is the conflict zone Abkhazia. To the east the Caucasus Mountains stretch into obscure and impoverished breakaway republics such as Cherkessia, North Ossetia and Chechnya. On the coast old Soviet sanatoria stand shoulder to shoulder with the most expensive hotels and clubs of the Russian Riviera.

Between now and 2014 the area around Sochi will change beyond recognition. The extreme makeover is already underway; refugee flats and poverty-stricken resorts are disappearing at high speed from the partly fashionable, partly impoverished seaside resort of Sochi. Thousands of labourers from across Russia and abroad live in prefab accommodation in order to have the stadiums, hotels and modern infrastructure finished on time. Helicopters fly backwards and forwards with building materials. The economic crisis is glossed over as much as possible."

[via www.thesochiproject.org]

About the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative's Viral Video Campaign:
The U.S. National Design Policy Initiative wants you to share a short video (less than 2 minutes) of your thoughts about the role design plays in US economic competitiveness and democratic governance, how a national design policy would help, and your personal pledge to support the efforts.

Between March 15, 2009 and April 15, 2009, the Initiative will collect videos via their YouTube group page and Facebook event page. Select videos will be included in their Design CEO's videos communicating the same message to be presented at national design conferences, to government officials, and other promotional venues.

HOW TO JOIN IN:
1. Art Direction
Film yourself on a plain white background (with semi-decent lighting). I've found that setting up a white board or wall behind me as I face the window during early sunrise or sunset creates beautiful light.
2. Script
Provide your name and identifier. Your answers to the four following questions:
1. What role does design play in US economic competitiveness?
2. What role does design play in the US democratic governance?
3. In what specific ways, would a national design policy further enable design to play those roles?
4. What would you pledge to do to help design play that role?

For more information visit http://www.designpolicy.org/.

[Via designpolicy.org]

First of all, here is the plug: Last month a project that I art directed/designed, design mind Numbers Issue, was selected for the "2009 STEP Inside Design 100 Annual" and is featured in the March/April issue.

When I read the intro for the Design Annual entitled, "All That Glitter Isn't Gold" written by Tiffany Meyers. I was inspired, a little surprised, and then I thought... This is how it should always be. The introduction focused about how designers who reigned in the excess in their work this year earned the jury's respect.

"As the economy continued to lurch toward an uncertain bottom, the jury arrived to evaluate the STEP 100 with the news very much on their minds. That made it hard for them to see excess and extravagance as anything other than tone-deaf. Sifting through mountains of entries, their patience for waste (pointless vellum, showy diecuts, luxe finishes), not to mention trendiness (cute animals) was finite."

A bad economy should not be the only reason we start paying attention to substance, thought and approach, over all of the empty glitter that we have become so used to seeing. Don't get me wrong, there is always a place for glitter, but there has to be more than just a superficial sparkle to the final product, it needs to have meaning.

We have all been hearing over the past few months that the world won't be the same after this economic crisis. How our spending habits, the way we do business, and our surrounding global economy has been changed forever. I am hopping that as other design annuals start rolling out this year, that there will be a similar message of change. That there we be a stronger amount of attention paid to substance, content, and purpose, and less on the accompanying glitter. That we start judging design by not just what the box looks like, but by what is the box, what is inside it, and it's impact.