Posts about Creativity

TED Talk. Chip Kidd: The art of first impressions

10.08.2015

People – and objects – are usually given a mere few merciless seconds to let their first impression shine in a positive light; when the impact thus created is of lasting effect, even the better. Who, if not book jacket designer Chip Kidd, is predestined to endorse what’s a commonly known fact. After all, books are written to be read and sold, and their covers ideally serve as a teaser, a marketing tool and as an individual advertising platform alike. Shrouding a message in mystery may be the appropriate method when targeting one specific audience – or be utterly counterproductive when addressing another.

The whys and the wherefores in favour of clarity are readily shared in this informative yet most entertaining talk. Mesmerised listeners learn the difference between those two techniques implemented by successful designers to induce instant communication with the consumer.

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Huge links of heavy iron chains: Minds cannot be enchained.

TED Talk. Suki Kim: This is what it’s like to teach in North Korea

7.07.2015

To be able to write her book from an insider’s point of view, South Korean-born Suki Kim took the risk of going undercover in North Korea. For half a year, Kim worked as an English teacher at an elite school honing the country’s future leaders. While sensitising her students through concepts based on “seeking the truth” and “critical thinking“, massive doubts arose on her part at the same time: Was she putting them to peril by merely exposing them to usually unspeakable topics? “Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite,” is the memoir of Kim’s stay in Pyongyang during Kim Jong-Il’s final six months. Her work offers unprecedented insights into the psychology of North Korea’s ruling class.

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The terrace of Esma Sultan Palace in Istanbul.

An architectural legacy: Esma Sultan in Istanbul

18.05.2015

The shell of a historic structure on the European coast of the Bosporus is lauded as one of Istanbul’s most exceptional venues and the distinguished guest or performers’ list includes Deep Purple, Alan Parsons, Boy George, Chris de Burgh, Elia Kazan, George Benson, actor Kevin Spacey … to name a few. But what is the mystery behind this astonishing building and its eponym?

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Capsule Hotels in Japan

2.04.2015

A grave decision: Sleeping in a Pod

„Capsule hotels are a unique form of accommodation developed for working Japanese men who are too busy to go home“ says the website for Amazing Places, Wonderful People and Weird Stuff. Far too tired to grasp their whereabouts, the too-busy men happily clambered into coffin-sized compartments to spend the night snuggled up against walls at best sealed by a tiny door. Nowadays, emancipated capsule hotels also cater to too-busy women – following the principle of: different gender, different floors, decency guaranteed. That capsule hotels are not for the claustrophobic, is self- understood – but even those with an imperturbable mind frame and without a space and washroom sharing problem may want to think twice before checking into one of the battery-style facilities: Many a foreign neighbour is stretched out in loop holes aligned to the left or the right, hovering overhead or snoring underneath, all separated only by sometimes skinny partitions.

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The guards in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens standing at attention.

The Share Economy: a multi-faceted phenomenon

27.03.2015

Fair Share?

In ancient times – long before the emergence of money – trading meant direct exchange of goods between interested parties. These so-called barter deals are said to have been cultivated by the Phoenicians some 6,000 years ago, yet this form of legal swapping still has its place in our modern society and economy parallel to monetary systems. In a barter deal, usually no cash is flowing.

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