I've long been a postcard collector & thought it about time to get them out of shoeboxes & onto the wall. But how to present them interestingly & differently? I didn't want a simple collage because the postcards represent various mixed moments, memories and mementos. They're like a kaleidoscopic, splintered history, so I decided to (painstakingly) cut dozens of postcards into thin slivers, mix them up thoroughly, and then randomly stick them onto the canvas in vertical stripes. All fun. 

                   

Loading mentions Retweet

A change in direction for this collage piece I'm putting together. You're looking at dozens of postcards I've collected over last couple of years... painstakingly cut into slivers and then in the process of being re-assembled... randomly. A twist to come. Should be done by the weekend.

Loading mentions Retweet

I'm a postcard collector and they are better on walls than in shoeboxes. Finished piece coming soon.

Loading mentions Retweet

I've just sent a little project out into the world :). It's called pixtories and it's all about collecting (very) short stories behind people's photos.

I'm hoping a few people will take part to get the ball rolling. Instructions are here (and if you're not a Twitterer, don't worry, just email me your photo & short story to pixtories AT googlemail.com).

It's based on the idea that everyone has their favourite photos but often the context of a photo - why it's important or significant - is hidden. It might be a special moment, bring back a certain memory, have personal meaning or just be something you love for some reason.

pixtories is about revealing these stories which are limited to 140 characters to help sharpen your storytelling focus! Check it out, let me know what you think and please share around. You can even check out my own entry!

Loading mentions Retweet

When you're an 'ideas person', it doesn't take long to understand that ideas are pretty much useless without implementation (one reason why I think this site is so clever: http://the99percent.com).

However as someone who has loads of 'ideas' on a daily basis, this is a somewhat depressing conclusion to reach.

Surely all these ideas have some type of value?

I remember that a business consultant once told me that "the half-life of an idea is about three days". So what can be done to avoid this?

The obvious thing is sharing these ideas. The theory is that if an idea, not realised, slowly dies in your mind, it should be sent out into the world where it can have a chance of another life. It's unlikely that it will instantly be picked up by someone, but perhaps, just perhaps, it could spark another idea, or take on a life of its own.

Anyway, that's why I decided to start an experiment by setting up @openideas_feed.

The idea is that whoever wants to share an idea can tweet and tag it with #openideas. I'll keep an eye on any tweets including this hashtag and for anyone who wants to keep track of the ideas, they simply follow @openideas_feed.

Join in, tweet and tag, and see if this evolves in any interesting direction. At least, set your ideas free!

Loading mentions Retweet

You know those brilliant ideas that strike while you're in the shower? What's all that about!?

Well, I've just set up a new site (and Twitter) to explore the notion of 'sub-conscious inspiration'; what it is, how it happens, what it means for our 'always on' world, and whether by understanding it better we can 'design' more radically creative lives.

Who knows where it may lead...

Loading mentions Retweet

A few years ago I conceived and launched a little project called i-confide.

It was based on the idea of collecting people's innermost thoughts, dreams, hopes and fears. The site provided a 'trigger' (ie "I still harbour a dream to...") which people could respond to and then share with the world (anonymously if you so wished).

You could also rate, comment and favourite other people's confides.

The project was a lot of fun - a labour of love - and I learned much from it. It had some modest success; basically almost 2000 entries from loads of people in various countries around the world.

I recently decided to take the website down as I couldn't dedicate any more time or effort to it and there were a few too many bugs making it unusable.

If I had my time over, I would have created a simpler mechanic - the triggers weren't a complete success, even if people could create their own - and it probably appealed to too narrow an audience to get any real network effect. But what I really learned has how difficult it can be to sustain interest over a longer period when you can't control aspects like development, interaction design and visual design (not to mention promotion etc).

Loading mentions Retweet