Visionary designer
My visit elBulli Taller – Ferran Adria’s private workshop
If you have followed my blog for any period of time you know that I get a lot of my creative inspiration from avante guard chefs and probably none more than Ferran Adria and his restaurant elBulli in Spain. The world at large probably first heard the name Ferran Adria in 2003 because of Anthony Bourdain’s TV show No Reservation on an episode called “Decoding Ferran Adria” which was the first primetime look into Ferran restaurant and workshop. I have been such a huge fan of chef Adria and the food because it is wildly creative and challenges the very conventions around what makes a meal.
I personally find a strong link between the creativity in cooking and creativity in design and advertising. I get a tremendous amount of creative inspiration from the the work of chef’s like Ferran Adria, Jose Andreas, Grant Achatz and Wylie Dufresne. I even use their work to teach how to have to break through creative ideas in my studio. I tell my designers here in New York to go to Wylie Dufresne’s restaurant WD50 and have the eggs benedict to see what I mean. It is a dish we have all had before but to completely re-imagined it into some you have never seen before in a form you have never eaten before the tastes bring back strong memories. It is that play between wild creativity that is contained in something familiar that I love. I think it is what all break through interactive work does. It gives you something completely new but there is something familiar in the usability and the experience when though it is all new.
I don’t know of many people who have been able to cross the #1 item off their bucket list but n the middle of December of last year I did just that. I was given the astounding opportunity to travel to Barcelona to meet Chef Adria, get a private tour of elBulli Taller which is his private workshop and have dinner at his new Tapas restaurant Tickets.
It is not an overstatement when I say that for me being able to spend time which one of the world’s greatest living creative minds and the man who forever changed the face of modern gastronomy in the workshop where he created the world’s greatest restaurant was an experience that had a profound effect on me. This was only the third time Ferran had ever allowed the public into his workshop and hearing about his process and seeing the level of detail he put into every single aspect of the dining experience at elBulli was astounding. The video above shows some of the highlights from that tour as well as showing you Ferran’s philosophy and just what he did to create such temple of creativity. I will more posts in the near future about some of the insights I got from my conversation with Ferran, how to selected his team at elBulli and the techniques he used to lead his team.
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God Save McQueen
It was around the time I was finishing college that I really started to pay serious attention to high fashion and haute couture. But if I’m being honest even during that time I was aware of high fashion but I didn’t really connect with any of it. It was too expensive, too stuffy and was being worn by people I just didn’t connect with. Then I saw Alexander McQueen and all that changed. McQueen totally changed the way I looked at fashion. His dark visions, wild imagination and reinterpretations of British culture made for some of the most incredible runways shows I had ever seen.
In the wake of his sudden death a new retrospective was organized by The Costume Institute called Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty and it opened last week at The Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York City. I went to the show last Saturday and it is NOTHING short of awe inspiring and possibly one of the best retrospectives I’ve ever seen. I say that partially because of the stunning collection of clothes that have been assembled for the show but also for the care and detail that was put into creating the environments that are the backdrops for those clothes. The combination of the two let’s you really see McQueen’s dark, unique, misogynistic and totally amazing creative visions. As I moved from collection to collection I found it fascinating to see McQueen’s creative direction but each collection is a wholesale difference from the last as he didn’t rest on past success. Seeing this rampant expression creativity that ultimately manifests in a commercial brand makes this a show that you need to do yourself a favor and RUN to see it as soon as possible.
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Designing the face of IBM’s Watson
There has been a lot of press this week about IBM’s Watson super computer playing on Jeopardy against the shows two greatest champions. In all the hype one story that has been overlooked and I think is the most interesting one of all. It’s how Flash godfather and Praystation founder turned visual artist Joshua Davis designed the “face” of Watson for IBM. It is really fascinating to watch two things in this video. The first thing is how Josh created Watson’s face (skip to around 1:35) as a blend of the IBM Smarter Planet logo and his own art that had actual meaning beyond just looking cool. The second thing is that they were able to get Josh so calm and focused for the video because talking to him is always so much fun as the jet lag from his constant world travel and his Red Bull level fight for control of his consciousness. All in all check out the video because the work is fantastic and it is very cool to see Josh’s work recognized on this level.
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The Dude’s site abides
I think that most people have at least one Jeff Bridges movie somewhere in their personal top 25 favorite movies and for me the Tron and The Big Lebowski easily make that list. Many people probably don’t know that he is also an accomplished musician, painter and photographer. I love his little known photography work that he creates with a 1940′s swing lens Widelux camera that take 180 degree black and white photos. I find the combination of the panoramic frame, behind the scenes subject matter and artist sensibility are a powerful combination. I recommend picking up the book he released a book of his photography a few years ago simply titled Pictures.
So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that his Web site is as diverse and creative as his talents and only Jim Carrey can rival it for a unique celebrity web site. I will say right up front that Jeff’s site is not the gold standard for web site design and layout best practices but as you start to experience the site you forgive the usability problems because you are won over by his creative vision and expression. The site looks like it was created by giving him long sheets of drawing paper and he created the site by writing, sketching, painting and pasting all the content and site navigation onto each page. As a result each page is it’s own unique experience with wildly different visuals, content taking all kinds of different forms and as a whole it creates a unique and personal expression of the artist that I like.
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Tim Burton + Twitter = Cadavre Exquis experiment
Cinematic visionary Tim Burton has turned to Twitter and not film to tell his latest story in the Cadavre Exquis experiment which is part of the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival Bell Lightbox exhibition. The experiment uses Twitter to create a story centered around his long time character Stainboy, Burton started the story with ““Stainboy, using his obvious expertise, was called in to investigate mysterious glowing goo on the gallery floor” and then asks the world at large to write the next part of the story by using hashtag #BurtonStory. The best tweets are chosen every day to become the next part of the story and the process repeats from November 22 – December 6th until the story is finished.
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Architecture + digital technology = N Building Tokyo
In tokyo near the Tachikawa station amidst a shopping district you will find the N Building. It is unique because if you have ever been to Asia you know that most ever building in these commercial districts has signs and billboards covering almost ever inch of the facade but not in this case. The facade of the N Building is one giant QR code that triggers up to date shop information, Tweets from building residents and even AR decorations for different seasons and events. Check out the video above for all the details but I think this is a fascinating direction for new retail experiences that can go far beyond the traditional store windows and branding.
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Hello Moto
If you have seen me speak at a conference or have read this blog for any length of time you know that I am motivated by my fellow designers but I am truly inspired by chefs and avant garde cuisine. I have sought out conversations with modern day culinary visionaries like Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal to discuss their food but mostly find out about their creative process. So this year when I had the chance to speak at FUSE I was excited for the opportunity to talk to an audience of that caliber but also because I would finally have me the time to fulfill a dream and visit two of the counties most progressive restaurants on two consecutive nights – Alinea and Moto. Of the two restaurants I had a lot more knowledge of Alinea after having a conversation with the chef Grant Achatz at an AdAge event last year and I have cooked a number of recipes from his cookbook. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Moto because I had only seen one episode of their new show Future Food and had read a few articles about chefs Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche. All of that aside I went into it knowing no matter what happened it was going to be a lot of fun and a great experience.
So last Friday after I was done speaking at FUSE we ran back to the hotel to change and then headed over to Moto. The restaurant is located in a slightly industrial area north west of downtown with an unassuming facade and simple sign. We had originally planned on getting their smaller 10 course tasting menu but once the waiter presented us with the menu that was served with artichokes and s sauce because it is actually edible, my wife and I looked at each other and then simultaneously informed the waiter we had changed our minds and would be having the full tasting menu. We started with a candle bring brought to the table to help with the dim lighting and we were off and running. A few courses in a bowl of re-imagined loaded french fries was brought to the table and the waiter extinguished the aforementioned candle and poured over the potatoes. Like an great and memorable experience it is about surprise and delight. In this case I was surprised that they poured the candle on our food and delighted that it was actually a beef fat candle. From there the meal went on to dishes like a cuban cigar served in a real ash tray that was actually pulled pork wrapped in collard greens with an edible cigar band and powered sesame seeds for the ash. A cherry bomb dessert that is brought to the table and lit on fire only to find out that it was a chocolate shell filled a graham cracker liquid and a marshmallow fuse to make a re-imagined smore. And the 20+ courses just kept coming finally ending after around 3 1/2 hours. At the end of the meal I could only think of one meal I had in my life that tasted better and I couldn’t remember any meal where the creativity and fun made smile and laugh more than this one.
After any great dinner I always ask the waiter if it would be possible to get a tour of the kitchen because my creative and curious nature kicks back in and I want to see how it is set up and how the team works. In this case they were happy to oblige me and we were taken down a stairway at the front of the restaurant to the small private dining room and lab where the team concepts their amazing dishes. We then went through two sets of doors and into the kitchen. Executive Sous Chef Darrell Nemeth immediately jumped out from behind the line to high-fived both of us with a huge smile on his face. It was by far the most unique and exuberant reception I have ever had in any kitchen . Then sous chef Richard Farina introduced us to the whole team, talked about how the kitchen is run and after mentioning how much I loved their version of a Funion from their french onion soup course I found myself with a of them to take home. Then it was up the stairs for a demonstration of their liquid Nitrogen tank and a speech from my wife about how I don’t need one for my kitchen at home.
The reason why this meal was so transcendent for me wasn’t simply because of the food. It was because after having that meal and seeing that kitchen in action I could clearly see that when it comes to creativity and creating a culture where original ideas can flourish these guys have it down cold. I could see that because I watched a kitchen that brought to life every one of the concepts I had talked about earlier that same day for running a world class design studio. They have hired incredibly passionate artists and had the confidence and culture that gave them all, from the chef who and been there 2 days to one of the founders, an equal say in the creative process. That trust inspires confidence and has created created that critical culture of failure where everyone knows it’s a safe environment where taking risks, questioning conventions and having ideas completely fail is a critical part of the creative process you have to go through to create big new ideas. If you pay attention you can see that culture and those concepts expressed through something as simple as the celebratory exuberance of the high five from Darrell Nemeth who knew we loved the food to the conversations we had with the other chefs who wanted to know what we loved and what we hated. They have embraced the fact that some ideas are home runs, some are on the road to greatness and some need to be completely re-worked and they are fine with all of it. So if you are challenged with running any type of creative and/or idea driven group get to Moto as fast as you can to have this experience, to talk to this these chefs and see how a team with that type of focus should be run. I am already booked to speak at another conference in Chicago in the end of September and I’ll give you two guesses where I will be that night with a big smile on my face.
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Graffiti Analysis 2.0 – Documenting more than just ink.
I found an interesting site today called Graffiti Analysis that studies the unseen motion involved in creating a tag as opposed to just documenting the results. The original version of Graffiti Analysis, developed in 2004 as part of thesis research at Parsons in New York City and can be viewed here. The new version is done with custom software that records the motion data and archives it in a free database housed at 000000book.com in Graffiti Markup Language (GML) files, a new digital standard used by other popular graffiti applications such as Laser Tag and EyeWriter. Influential graffitis artist such as SEEN, TWIST, AMAZE, KETONE, JON ONE and KATSU have had their tags motion captured using the Graffiti Analysis software.
The custom software they use is Graffiti Analysis 2.0 that are playback and capture applications available for free in OSX, Windows and Linux as well as the open source code for both applications. You can also get both in one package with their iPhone application called Graffiti Analysis available through the iTunes Store for $1.99. The downloadable desktop applications require some handy work to build an acrylic capture stand that isn’t that hard to make but the iPhone application may be easier starting point for most people. The iPhone application records your tags with line thickness based on the speed you draw the tag and you can uploaded your tags to 000000book.com for free just like the applications. The resulting tags rendered in 3-D space with the ability to rotate the phone rotates the tag in 3-D and use multitouch to zoom in and out.
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Beyond Word – A death clock resume
I interview and talk with a lot of young designers who always smile as they hand me a business card they have spent 80 hours designing, printed with a 6 color process, a spot varnish and a die cut on hand made paper which they have then stapled to a an off center Xerox of their resume that they created in Word entirely typeset in 12 point Courier. Your resume is the first design impression you make on a new client or employer so why are we all content to “design” it in a word processor? Word, and really all Microsoft Office programs, are where design and typography go TO DIE!
I want to create a site called The Visual Resume project that would a platform for me to launch my personal crusade to change the thinking of designers that they have to represent themselves and their talents with something as vanilla and unimaginative as a Word document. We have to use our talents to create something more visual, more imaginative and more engaging to represent ourselves. I took a first pass at doing it to my own resume two years ago with moderate success and I have a new version in the works that will be finished soon.
My favorite example of a designer who has done something really unique with his resume is Dustin Curtis who created a death clock that tracks his progress through his life in real time to his predicted death on March 23, 2068. I love it because it is completely original, it is a living document and would if it was mine it would remind me everyday that I need to get off my ass and do something with my life.
I challenge you to stand out from the crowd and put your talents to use to create a resume that truly represents you and your talents. Post in the comments any examples you like or an example your have already created for yourself.
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Talking creativity with the world’s greatest chef, Ferran Adria
The world at large probably first heard the name Ferran Adria in 2003 because of Anthony Bourdain’s TV show No Reservation on an episode called “Decoding Ferran Adria” which was the first primetime look into Ferran restaurant and studio. I have been fan of chef Adria and the food he creates at his restaurant in Spain called el Bulli for a long time. His avante guard food is wildly creative and challenges the very conventions around what makes a meal and the role of science in cooking. For all of his work the restaurant has been named the best restaurant in the world a record four times.
I have long found a strong link between the creativity in cooking and creativity in design and advertising. I get a tremendous amount of creative inspiration from the the work of chef’s like Ferran Adria, Jose Andreas, Grant Achatz and Wylie Dufresne. I even use their work to teach how to have to break through creative ideas in my studio. I tell my designers here in New York to go to Wylie Dufresne’s restaurant WD50 and have the eggs benedict to see what I mean. It is a dish we have all had before but to completely re-imagined it into some you have never seen before in a form you have never eaten before the tastes bring back strong memories. It is that play between wild creativity that is contained in something familiar that I love. I think it is what all break through interactive work does. It gives you something completely new but there is something familiar in the usability and the experience when though it is all new.
A few weeks ago some of my friends in the culinary world got me a very special invitation to spend the day with Ferran Adria at the Culinary Institute of America where he was going to give a 2 hour lecture and 3 hour cooking demonstration with Jose Andrea and the chef du cuisine from el Bulli. Between the two events I had the opportunity to talk with chef Adria for about 10 minutes about creativity and his work. The three things I walked away with I have heard in other forms but hearing it from him made me refocus on the concepts in my own work.
Moving Forward by Looking Back
At the end of every season Ferran makes the entire creative team go through all the work they did over the past six months to see what was successful, what failedl and what they need to work on. His point to me what that most creative people do not like to look back like this and would rather move on to their next idea. He feels the process of reviewing your work like this is critical so you can learn from it and that it will help you grow as a creative thinker faster than just looking forward. I have to agree that i have never worked in a studio where this was done with any regularity and only seemed to happen after an assignment had gone very badly and management wanted to be sure I didn’t happen on the next assignment. I know I am guilty of it because so often when I look back I at my work I only see the short coming and the mistakes and I never take a more holistic view of it.
Creativity Isn’t Copying
This was a saying that Ferran got from his mentor and is the simple saying he uses as the standard he holds for all the work they do at el Bulli. We all have the tendency to want to fall back into past achievements and use things that we know work because it is safe and you don’t really have to risk anything. Going away from what you know is scarier because you have to risk a lot more. I think a large part of being able to make this a successful part of your process is have the support of a studio where risk, failure and sometimes even fighting are actually encouraged. Having this type of environment where everyone is taking risks all the time makes it easier for the individual to put themselves out there and break through into something new. I think if you look behind the food at el Bulli and look at the team and the environment that Ferran has created you will see just that,
Fail Constantly
This is something I have known and preached for a long time but ti was good to hear it from Ferran that it is a key part of his process as well. I know that sounds like a funny statement to teach people to fail. Most people don’t want to fail, they view it as a huge negative, they don’t want to admit they had an idea that didn’t work but it is essential to the creative process. The key is that when you fail you have to be able to look at your process to see when you did and then be able to try and improve upon it the next time. In this way failing creates a cycle where you can constantly try and to improve your process and it makes you a lot more fearless to really try new and far reaching ideas.
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