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Color languages, redux
If you’re anything like me, your first reaction on seeing the above was “What is that?” – a question fueled by equal parts wonderment and curiosity. Since my recent post on the idea of a color...
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The joy of good food, in abundance
Amidst numerous disappointments for me in the redesign of the New York Times Magazine, there is one thing the new editors got very, very right, this being the presentation of Mark Bittman’s wonderful...
View ArticleStick bombs (what the?)
Stick bombs. Did you know such a thing existed? This is totally something I would’ve been building as a kid (along with those extremely satisfying domino chains) had I known it were possible. I put a...
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Joy in the news: Small wonders
Last week I was interviewed for this great piece on the trend towards “tiny sweets” by New York Times writer Julia Moskin. In the article I try to demystify why it is we’re attracted to mini-canolis...
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Joyspotting 2: little, simple, wonderful
In the busyness of the holidays, sometimes it’s hard to find time to stop, breathe, and take note of joyful moments. Slow down for a minute with some tiny things: Artist Dalton Ghetti carved this...
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Polka-dotted joy
It’s a good thing on this blog when something like consensus emerges, and so many of you have sent this my way that it seems we all agree: This is joyful! An interactive installation at the Queensland...
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Landscapes of renewal
The painter of Ireland works with a green brush – this is nothing new. But I was unprepared for the extravagance of it all. On arriving in the Southeast, near Cork, my jet-lagged eyes had to...
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Dior’s joyful abundance
Have you seen the madness that is the installation created for the Dior 2012 AW haute couture show? These photos leave me a bit breathless. Giddy, like I could forget the clothes entirely, see a show...
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Tickled by Tokyo
In May, I went to Tokyo for work. (If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a number of photos with the tag #joyinjapan.) For some, this might mean sitting in a conference center most of the...
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A thousand cranes for Paulo
A couple of days ago my friend and IDEO colleague Erika shared some sad news. A friend of hers who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor several years ago is now facing his last weeks. He is younger...
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{aesthetic of joy} Yellow
{aesthetic of joy} is a new series I’m trying out that goes to the heart of what this blog is about. The idea is for each post to zoom in on a specific element (a color, pattern, or shape) and explore...
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Play as process: the joyful wax sculptures of Helmut Smits
Helmut Smits is a Dutch artist based in Rotterdam whose work includes a range of playful experiments that all seem to start with the musing, “I wonder what would happen if…” He attempts to draw a...
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A simple change to your home that fights emotional eating
A new study reveals a surprising way to help you stick to a diet: clean up your kitchen. The study asked 101 women to wait for a period of time in either a clean, organized kitchen, or a messy one,...
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Sarah Illenberger’s Wonder Plants
Plants are pretty perfect things. I’ve never looked at a leaf and thought, “You know, that really needs a little something.” But then illustrator Sarah Illenberger comes along and shows me joy I never...
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A Tokyo apartment complex designed to reverse aging
Do you think an apartment can reverse aging? The Reversible Destiny Lofts in Mitaka is one of the few existing projects by the artist Arakawa and his partner, poet Madeline Gins. The pair believed...
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{AoJ loves} Flying Tiger
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 One morning late last week I was wandering through the Flatiron feeling jet lagged and allergic and because of these two things, more than a little bit sorry for myself....
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Five joyful elementary schools from around the world
When you stop to think about it, isn’t it amazing that schools often feature some of the worst architecture? We invest millions in building fancy skylit shopping malls, yet shuttle kids off to learn...
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Balloons and the Politics of Joy
Whew. It’s been an intensely political few weeks, and I’ve been finding it hard to keep from reading all the news alerts the minute they pop up on my phone. He said what?? They did that?? Who hacked...
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Color languages, redux
If you’re anything like me, your first reaction on seeing the above was “What is that?” – a question fueled by equal parts wonderment and curiosity. Since my recent post on the idea of a color...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The joy of good food, in abundance
Amidst numerous disappointments for me in the redesign of the New York Times Magazine, there is one thing the new editors got very, very right, this being the presentation of Mark Bittman’s wonderful...
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