Tag: featured

Younger Versions of Me

Memories tend to fix themselves more firmly in my brain if attached to some tangible artifact – a photo, a note, or a detailed story that’s retold through the years. For all of  the keepsakes, the reminders, there are countless others that have fallen from the grasp of my mind. Quiet moments and unsung days, buried. The details of daily life pile on.

Those details, some weather-worn, some entirely gone, are like the versions of me. It’s hard to put a finger on just exactly who I was at the raw age of nine. Or in high school. Even the college-era Sara feels remote to me now. Over the years, changes both small and deep have made their mark. I’ve long been captivated by this lapse, but in the rear view mirror, it’s hard to see me.

Objects may be closer than they appear. Thanks to a few shared archives at various points throughout this year, I got reacquainted with younger versions of me.

Recovered memory #1: Thanksgiving, 1982.

Look at that decor! The wood paneling, the brass lamp shade. I think everyone in my family had ruffled-edged place mats and needlepoint on the walls.

Thanksgiving, 1982

Recovered memory #2: Holy hair, date unknown.

Got surprised by this bad boy via text from my sister. Head to toe denim. Hair as high as the sky. Mercy.

text

Recovered memory #3: Library card, 1995.

What do I remember about 1995? A few big things: Molly Howard and I started the Environmental Club. I felt like a big deal when I got to drive out of town with friends for Lollapalooza. I certainly didn’t recall this as a time I might have written my name in cursive. I haven’t thought about checking out library books via handwritten card for eons. My friend Kenton is now a teacher at my old high school, and he stumbled onto this:

library card, 1995

It’s strange, surreal, conjuring up these moments that had been lost. Was that really me? I’m feeling inspired to raid my archives – maybe I can rekindle a memory or two for someone else.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “December 3: Time to get strange
Share the strangest experience of your year. Did you do something new or unexpected, see something out of the ordinary, or have a unique experience? What was so strange about it?”

Telephone Sketch

Brainstorming can be a randomly beautiful thing, with no structure, just shouting it all out: a worthy idea appears. Sometimes that is enough. Other times, putting a new lens or technique on a problem is helpful. If you need more of that, I’d recommend checking out Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming by Ellen Lupton.

Graphic Design Thinking

Many of the techniques will be familiar for creative agency types. Mind-mapping. Sprinting. Co-design. Each description is simple and concise, and as a whole, the book provides a great overview of techniques. Even if you already know them, no matter. Where the book really shines is the real world examples paired with each technique. It’s incredibly inspiring.

One example of collaboration, the Reinvent Mural really struck me. A group of designers collaborated to create a a series of images for a gallery installation. Each image leads to the next, a similar shape, but also something new.

It got me thinking of it as a sort of a visual version of the telephone game, or chinese whispers. Remember that old game? The one in which words are whispered into the next person’s ear, on down the line, and then, ta da! Out the other end comes, more often than not, an entirely different word or phrase.

It might be a silly child’s game, but it very effectively illustrates the potential for re-framing, even total warping in human communication. Each individual perception, each new touch has incredible power to shift things.

Reinvent Mural

I played around with this idea in a quick sketching session. Oh, the strange paths that can unfold out of the brain!

The first:
Parentheses >; Black-eyed peas >; Macaroni >; Old school telephone handset >; Magnet >; Lightning bolt. This ended pairing the pea and the bolt, a bit of nonsensical fun.

Next:
From Indiana >; Creepy bird mask >; Tornado >; Stairs.

Or another path:
Indiana >; Thought bubble >; Whale.

Another:
X >; Pliers >; Tooth >; Rockin’ guitar >; Rocket >; Spotted shark.

telephone-sketch

This was a solo experiment, but as fascinating as it is to marvel at the leaps one mind can make, a group application is what I’m more interested in. For this experiment, I’d set it up so that only the first participant sees the source image, and each to follow would see only the most recent sketch in the series.

The reason I’m so taken with this is this: it reminds me of how brands evolve as they’re carried. As an organization, we may design a logo, choose our words or how we want people to feel, but the moment it’s out in the world, it gets touched, shaped and shifted by others. Customers, fans, friend or foe can perceive what they will and share your brand with others through their own filter. Like it or not.

Think about this: if you were to telephone sketch your logo, where would it take you? If your customers or fans did it, where to then?