What deux yeux have teux deux teuxday?

An interesting-looking to do list thingamajigger, (I really like the name by the way.)

I'm all but ready to sign up, but I have to start thinking, "Do I need another way to keep track of the things that I'm meant to do? Shouldn't I just do the things I'm meant to do, and surely I shouldn't sign up to another thing that makes me have to stay connected all the time?"

But there's no denying that it's pretty. :)

(Via. SwissMiss)

There are certain things that you remember from movies that spark your interest. Even though they seem tiny little details - for some reason your mind just keeps hold of them.

Can anyone remember the movie Cool Runnings? There is a tiny quote which says, "Remember, slow hands. High in, low out." It's referring to when the driver takes the sled down the hill. If you enter the corner high, you can exit it low which I think in racing terms is faster because you shorten the length of the track and get a better time....

Anyhow, in the last few weeks, this small phrase has taken a whole new meaning for me. In short, I have started to think that too much material for the mind - reading lists, RSS, FaceBook, Twitter etc can become too much. There seems to be a complete numbness of the mind and as a result less good work is made.

It's not that the websites and twitter etc, are taking the place of work time, but the baggage of carrying all the addition data (which is usually frivolous anyway) takes up mental space which should be left free for the mind to wander in the expanse of creativity.

So in effect, "high input creates low output." Normally I can spot a physical/principle parallel, but the only one I can think of is over eating, which leads to being over weight.

In a related thought, working on physical projects - redecorating, working on rigging  a photoshoot etc leads to giving the mind room to breathe, which leads to more creativity - which leads to more good design work. And better designs are always the target.

It's 9.21pm on Christmas Eve. I still haven't written anything to do with Christmas yet. Things have been busy.

Some thoughts on this holiday:

I love Christmas, at least I love what it is meant to be. A time for people to spend peaceful time with each other, to remember the real reason for the Holiday - Christ's birth and His time here on earth, His purpose for living and eventually dying - to give gifts (which really should represent God's great gift) and to reflect.

I like that usually at Christmas time, we are given a chance to slow things down a little bit and remember those things above, and in that time of slowing down, the new year approaches and starts. I try to find time to review what has happened and plan for the coming year.

The new year comes and things start afresh; a new year a new design of year. In the end design normally takes the form of planning. What structure will the year hold? How will you try to shape it? What things will you aim to achieve in the coming 12 months? When we break things down, a year isn't a very long time, 12 months of around 30 days each, 52 weeks, 365 days. Scary. Wonderful that we are given a chance to change things up with such regularity.

So my thoughts around this time are usually happy/sombre. I believe this is due to the nature of the fact that such time has been used already, and the definite start point of a new beginning. We have an opportunity to have a new beginning at each moment, but the new year allows a definite reference point for the mind.

I don't have any big announcements this season as I did the last, but I can say that I will offer the same good service as I have always done, and try to gradually offer more and more solutions for those things that people need from a designer/photographer/printer at a price that will be as good as possible.

Happy Christmas. Have a wonderful and prosperous new year. Peace to all of you.

See you on the other side. :)

It's so nice when you get to meet clients face to face, get the details that they need for their design work, and fulfil the printing to provide a result they love!

I was fortunate to have Sally referred to me by a mutual friend and co-client of mine. She needed business cards designed and printed to give to friends and colleagues when visiting churches etc.

We discussed her needs for the design style and main theme for the cards, and the whole job was completed to a high standard in record time.

Another happy customer!

Thanks Sally for your custom.

How can I start this post? Many others are starting by saying how everyone else is paying tribute. Accolades come in from friends, colleagues, adversaries, etc. We remember him for the products that he made. But I also remember this about Steve Jobs - he was a clear thinker.

It's true that he had a profound effect on the products that Apple created. It's true that he had the famous Reality Distortion Field when he presented his next big thing. We shouldn't forget that he wasn't the only person on the design team - others were involved. But here's what I remember - he was a clear thinker.

Singularly clear. Clear in a way that somehow cut through everything else said about whatever subject and somehow got straight to the real issue. There aren't many people who possess that ability. Obviously, I, like most people, never met him. I have been using machinery that he was involved in for most of my life, and all of my professional life. His design team have created products that have made my life better, more productive and generally enjoyable to get work done with. Why? Because he was a clear thinker.

I can only speculate, but I expect that he would be the kind of man that would be able to actually focus his mind on a thing, and actually really think about it and nothing else. Alone. Without being distracted by other projects, or dreams about the future or whatever. He was a clear thinker. I believe that he was able to hit that sweet spot that we designers love to be in, "the zone," a lot more often and for a longer length of time than most people on the planet. Surely that must have been the reason that the Apple products are far and away better than everyone else's. Especially in terms of design, which is that thing that nobody really notices until it is done badly... How many times have you heard someone complain about some device and exclaim"Arrrrrggh! Why did they design it like this?!??!?" Design goes unnoticed until it's done badly.

Apple designs by taking away as much as possible. This leads to products that generally do whatever they do really, really well. Why has this been possible? Because the man at the top was a clear thinker. His ability to think in such a way meant that his role must have been of both idea generation and curation. Curation of both his own ideas and of others'. What an amazing talent.

I expect that over the last several years, the team at Apple has been carefully picked and trained try to replace his role, and as each individual is unique, each will have good things to bring forth. But because everyone is unique, there will never be another Steve Jobs.

I am truly saddened by his passing. 56 years old is not old at all. The world has lost a genius and we are worse off for it. But like he said at the famous Stanford speech, death is perhaps life's best invention - it is the agent of change. There is room for another to take a role in changing the world like this non-celebrity celebrity.

If some of us can believe it, we might be able to change the world, but we will have to follow in his footsteps, not just to "Think Different," but to think clearly.

Godspeed.