Toy Stories

Puput – Bali, Indonesia

When asked what I bring to the table, I often say I have a child-like enthusiasm. This usually requires an explanation, since most people would rather not work with someone who is anything child-like at all. But kids have a lot of smart and interesting qualities – their uninhibited dreams, wild imaginations, and desire to try new things. Everything is new and exciting to a child, and they’re quicker to try again when they fail. I am far from a child myself, but I have held onto some of those qualities, from my desire to try to things to the simple name of this blog – both a metaphor and a hobby.

Tangawizi – Keekorok, Kenya

Children continue to provide wonderful insights into the world of creativity and they also can encourage creativity in others. In photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s most recent project, Toy Stories, he photographs children around the world with their toys.

These photos provide an interesting commentary on both the children and the parents. The photos reveal that kids around the world love dolls and dinosaurs and trucks and teddy bears. But the toys on display also expose the hopes and ambitions of the children’s parents, as Ben Machell, writer for The Times Magazine suggests. “There was the Latvian mother who drove a taxi for a living, and who showered her son with miniature cars; the Italian farmer whose daughter proudly displayed her plastic rakes, hoes and spades,” writes Machell in his interview with Galimberti. “Parents from the Middle East and Asia, he found, would push their children to be photographed even if they were initially nervous or upset.”

Julia – Tirana, Albania

The photos initially caught my eye because of the way they are composed visually. The toys are orderly, perfectly arranged, creating geometric shapes and lines. In some photos, the kids appear toy-like themselves, with their seemingly unmovable expressions. These photos are both beautiful and displaced at the same time. It is an interesting contrast to show kids with their toys in a way that may never actually occur when playing.

Ralf – Riga, Latvia

Toys are our best friends when we are children. They come on adventures with us and protect us when we’re scared. And playing, whether it be as a child or an adult, is crucial to creativity.

Data in the Palm of Your Hand

Turning data into design has always been an interest of mine. But turning data into design that’s fashionable too? Now that’s just crazy.

But that’s what computational designer Alvaro Soto did. He started by asking, “Can ‘luxury’ be distilled from noise?” From there, he recorded video and sound samples in high-end jewelers throughout New York City, including the likes of Cartier and Bulgari. Soto turned the sound waves into geometries, and then the geometries, or “gemstones” as Soto refers to them, were 3D printed in stainless steel and painted gold, creating the Trucartier collection of rings.

These gold rings are one-of-a-kind soundscapes – infographics you can wear on your hand. Soto found away to combine data visualization and product design to make a completely new way of understanding sound. His rings are a symbol for what luxury really means. After all, the rings where created from a completely free source –sound.

The TruCartier collection of rings is the prefect representation of the possibilities our future holds. This idea started from a simple question, a question that may have even seemed trivial at first. Anything is possible and breakthroughs are happening everyday. Data visualization is no longer just a simple timeline or infographic.

This tangible example of data visualization has inspired me to continue to think outside of the box. Creativity is happening everywhere, and who knows, I just might come up with the next sound-sourced piece of jewelry for your collection.

Caution: Women at Work

In a recent interview on 60 minutes, Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer for Facebook, discusses why men still run the world. Despite the fact that women have been getting more college degrees than men for 30 years, they still account for only four percent of CEOs in America’s Fortune 500 companies. She also discussed this matter in her TED Talk a few years earlier. “I think [women] are stalled,” says Sandberg. “I think we’re stalled. And I think we need to acknowledge that we’re stalled so that we can change it.”

Now Sandberg admits she doesn’t have all the answers, but she believes the reason there are so few women at the top is actually the fault of the women themselves. Sandberg thinks the biggest problem is that success and likability are positively correlated for men, but negatively correlated for women. A woman who works as hard as men is often viewed as selfish and difficult. Sandberg argues this is because women underestimate their own abilities.  We attribute our success to other external factors, including: help form others, luck, and extreme hard work. When men are asked why they are so successful, they will often respond with something slightly more eloquent than “I’m awesome, duh.”

Now of course this doesn’t apply to everyone, but it’s important for both men and women to own their success.  And I believe owning your success has a lot to do with embracing creativity. Teresa Amabile, who has written several articles on creativity. She argues there are six keys to creativity: freedom, challenge, resources, supervisor encouragement, organized support and communication, and workgroup. If applied many of these keys of creativity, could help women get to the top.

Being creative is more than just coming up with ideas. It’s about asking questions, looking for leadership opportunities, and being fearless. Creativity means being uncompromising in order to get the best results. And it means staying motivated and engaged.

This is essentially what Sandberg is telling women to do. Work should be challenging and rewarding, and we should feel like we are making a difference. Sandberg wants more women to “raise their hands, look for promotions, and say “Me! I want to do that.”

Women need to stop putting limits on themselves, conscious or unconscious. And exploring creativity could be the answer. So yes, watch out, because women are about to work harder than ever. I truly believe success is in our own hands and if we want to make something happen, it will.