Making empathy and collaborative action more accessible in post-election America. — Ever have a different political opinion from someone you care about, but feel so upset that you can’t even talk with them? The American political process is intended to enable our collaboration, but it’s increasingly become a tool for divisive conflict on both sides of the aisle. …

“The stone wanted to inform me that our substance was common” – Italo Calvino Why don’t we more regularly rely on “human” to describe our everyday identity? We use national identity, ethnic identity, gender identity, age identity, professional identity, spiritual identity, style identity — the list goes on — to…

How do we interpret signals of meaning and perceived value in the designed environment? And how can language reach the hospitality in our imaginations? — This observation explores the premise of a values-based form of communication – a metaphoric methodology – and its ability to influence our interpretation of brands, products, experiences, and knowledge. “Immediately form the habit of asking why to things that please or displease you” — Frank Lloyd Wright

Observations on the vocabulary of forms that manifest brand meanings. — Aesop is an Australian skincare company founded in 1987 that has since architected and expressed one of the most beautiful brand programs in history. This is not because Aesop is a part of the beauty industry; rather, its product, service, and communication designs have been so cohesively aligned in expressing…