Design as Art…and More

Check out Paola Antonelli’s talk at TED2007. The Design Curator at MoMa, Antonelli has a passion to expand the appreciation of design, and desires to tear down the stigma of design as pretty decoration. About mid-way through the talk, she says this:

“Design uses whatever tools it has at it’s disposal in order to make a point. It’s a sense of economy.”

Antonelli discusses how design is not just about nice curtains or hip chairs - but, that it’s also about gas masks, civil disobedience, better objects and so much more. She asserts that design can be beautiful art, but that it also goes beyond that - it can be functional and, whether we realize it or not, it is present in all of our lives.

For more TED Talks, visit here.

Lead Where You Are

This weekend, we start a two-week series titled, Lead Where You Are. I’m very excited, because we’ve never devoted an entire series to the topic of leadership. Over the next two weeks, our Teaching Pastor will be addressing this topic - focusing on self-leadership and leading by influence.

Regardless of where we are in our lives, we were all created to be influencers (not a real word, but it’ll do) - people who make a difference. This series will be a great learning experience - no matter where you are.

This serves as a great precursor to The Leadership Summit. Presented by the Willow Creek Association, our church will be one of the more than 140 satellite sites across North America. This is the premier church leadership event - every year, I am so blown away. I always walk away with a ton of new learnings and insights. The Summit helps to re-envision me for another year of ministry. If you are in any sort of ministry at a church or para-church organization, you don’t want to miss this event!

A Nice Try, but…

We went to Chili’s last night (I suppose because it was late and we had given up on eating any sort of good cuisine). They recently changed their menu and marketing campaign to this:

Now, after a long list of “Pepper in…”, are we to know that the giant pepper followed by an apostrophe and s is supposed to be read: “Chili’s”? The ad campaign isn’t really logical - if the name of the restaurant was “Pepper’s”, it could work. I know a chili is a pepper, but does anyone actually think that the dumb red chili identity is so ubiquitous and universally understood?

I guess “Chili in some laughs” doesn’t make sense either.

I only got a 25.

I guess I’m not that great. Average score is 24 out of 34.

The Rather Difficult Font Game.

Amusement at Borders

I was going through photos in my phone and had forgotten about this. Earlier this year, I was waiting at the Seattle’s Best inside my local Borders, and saw this:

I’m still chuckling about this. There was a really long line, so this amusement served as a sort of relief.

SFO International Terminal

On a recent trip to San Francisco, we flew on the new Virgin America (which was great, by the way) and in to San Francisco International Airport. With it’s sweeping roof top and walls of glass, SFO’s International Terminal is truly a stunning piece of architecture.

Designed by Craig W. Hartman, of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the project was completed in December 2000 and is the largest international terminal in North America. It is also the largest building in the world built on base isolators, to protect it from earthquakes. The wing-like forms of the roof not only mimic the idea of aviation, but also the bending forces of the entire building.

The terminal is an outstanding piece of modernist architecture and is truly a sight that must be seen. We flew in around 8:30 AM, so it was quiet as we walked toward the BART station. It was strange that a place that can, at times, be so chaotic, could also be incredibly serene. Flooded with natural light, the vast space almost felt like a gigantic cathedral (strange enough, Mr. Hartman’s most recent design is the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland). It was a particularly wonderful moment.

More photos of SFO International Terminal here.

The Life of a Designer

A coworker and I were emailing back and forth about Gary Hustwit’s documentary Helvetica. She commented that her favorite quote from the film was by the great Massimo Vignelli:

“The life of a designer is a life of fight - a fight against the ugliness.”

Fight the ugly!