epiphanous

The story behind the brand

hazeliz — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:29:24 +0000

As par of Fast Company Design’s PATTERNS SERIES, IDEO speaks about brands making good stories.

The article is wonderful and it has some examples of what good brands are doing, + 4 tips to follow.

TAKE ACTION: Designing for Life’s Changes

1. Share what you care about
How might design authentically express values to attract like-minded consumers?

2. Empower people to make it their own
How might we encourage consumers to participate by telling their own stories?

3. Localize
How might we speak to community to provide deeper meaning and connection in an increasingly commoditized world?

4. Be discriminating
How might we identify the key aspects of design that connect to the story’s focus?

Phenomenal reads. Highly recommend them.

Via FastCo Design.

What’s your contribution?

hazeliz — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:59:27 +0000

Last night I had an amazing conversation with a great friend of mine, a phenomenal woman that has inspired many, Graciela Eleta. While she is usually extremely inspiring, last night she shared her notes from the Women’s conference she just attended in L.A., where Oprah and Michelle Obama addressed the audience, amongst many others. While most speakers where powerful, Graciela recalls Deepak Chopra’s speech to be the most moving and life-changing. She read her notes to us:

Stress is a perception of a threat”. Its the leading cause of illness.
Joy is the absence of fear.

Our sense of self determines our reality….we can consciously shift…Consciousness is a field and we can control it.

We are born w the seeds of joy inside of us and we can tap into them at any moment.

If we center ourselves and find daily moment(s) of mindfulness, we can tap into our inner joy.

We must tap into our wellspring of joy—consciously bringing up good memories and push out any bad thoughts…literally count your blessings every day. Start every day rethink your happy memories and being grateful for Good in your life.

We have the power to choose..choose to be optimistic

Happiness comes from deep humility, gratitude, compassion, equanimity and generosity towards others

If you ACT happy, you become happy. Change your actions and you will change your emotions.

Find peace—create peaceful moments…ask yourself, what or who is stealing my inner peace and robbing me of my personal intimacy (connection to soul)

Without relationships we don’t exist….cultivate your relationships

Move from Doing –>Thinking –> feeling –> Being
From worrying to creating
From Me to helping others
From fear, guilt or shame to peace and joy
From activity to mindfulness

Be Present

Move from collecting things to collecting experiences, memories, friendships

“Maturity does not come with age. It begins with the acceptance of responsibility”

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon; but that we wait so long to begin it”

It is our decisions, not our conditions, that determine the quality of our lives.

Step out of uncertainty and tap into your inner voice to lead an authentic and meaningful life.

After listening to Graciela, my husband @inakiescudero and I brainstormed ideas on how to use all the resources and talent we have at our disposal. We are still in the process of finessing ours, and later in the day (I don’t believe in coincidences) Nate Poekert dropped me a note on Twitter sharing a link to a wonderful project he and other artists are doing. In Perú, out of all places.

It is important that we focus on the things that will impact the world, we must be grateful for what we have.

So, who is up to making something meaningful?

life in Stop-motion

hazeliz — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:04:22 +0000

Here is a great idea, brilliantly executed.

via @BBHLabs

Why reinvent the wheel…

hazeliz — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:29:52 +0000

…When you can build a kick-ass car with the wheels that already work?

The Wilderness Downtown is a Chrome Experiment that uses already existing footage from Google Maps to create a movie around an address. HTML5 is at core of this project. The more and more I see about HTML5, the more I am feeling the urge to learn it.

Play with it and have fun!

Human Pac-Man

hazeliz — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:01:54 +0000

Why didn’t I think of this???

Simply brilliant

via @brainpicker

There’s nothing more powerful than the made-up mind

hazeliz — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:50:28 +0000

A very powerful talk by Lewis Pugh, a professional swimmer who swims through epic cold-water to draw attention to our global climate, about courage, nature, dedication, strength, determination, reinvention, humility, mental preparation and awareness.

Here are very powerful lessons:

1. Just because something has worked in the past, doesn’t mean it is going to work in the feature.

2. Before doing something ask yourself what type of mindset is required to successfully complete a task.

3. Very few things are impossible to achieve if we put our whole mind into it.

Simply inspiring to help turn this world into a sustainable one for future generations to come!

Be positive – fill up your glass

hazeliz — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:58:47 +0000

Some things in life are contagious. Unfortunately, negativity is one of them… So I always look to surround myself with people who are positive, people who can see the good side of things instead of the tragedy one.

This project jumped at me because of its up-lifting message. A saying most of the world is familiar with “I see the glass half full”

Here is my favorite of the series:

Click to see the whole collection

via @swissmiss

Type Addict!

hazeliz — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:50:22 +0000

I love typography! Most designers can claim the same thing, but when you love something so much it actually can never escape your mind or heart. So you bring it with you everywhere you go.

Francisco Eduardo, Dinis Santos and Miguel Marinheiro can claim they love typography and they are actually very good at it!

When I see people so devoted to what they love, it reminds me of what being a true and genuine creative means. There is no “on” or “off” switch! It is part of who you are, part of your DNA, part of everything you do.

What do pasta and design have in common?

hazeliz — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:53:05 +0000

A lot! According to newly released book “The Geometry of Pasta” by chef extraordinaire Jacob Kenedy (co-owner of Bocca di Lupo, which was recently voted London’s best restaurant by both Time Out magazine and the Evening Standard.) and award-winning British graphic designer Caz Hildebrand. Both explore the science, history, and philosophy behind spectacular pasta dishes and how they pair to design.

via @branpicker

Soccer, infographics and Twitter!

hazeliz — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:23:58 +0000

In this amazing interactive infographic, The Guardian brings to life every tweet for every game during the World Cup with graphics!

Click on image to visit interactive site

This is something to bookmark until July 11th! Who will the champion be?