We've completed the third interview in my Multifarians series, this last with serial toy inventor Dan Klitsner. What a legend!  Who WOULDNT want the job that involves playing all day?  Here is a snippet of what we have coming....and in a fascinating insight...Dan revealed that his dream job (wait - toy design is not the endgame??!!) is to travel to exotic locations and journal the experience for the other travelers.  WOW.  Didn't see that one coming....but Im going to share just one of Dan's journal drawings and you will see how his sketchy future is looking bright!

During my interview with Jay last week he was talking about the huge influence Ralph McQuarrie's drawings have on his own work.  I was curious - hadn't realized that the artwork I had seen was pre movie...just assumed it was generated FROM the scenes....Ralph was a designer at Boeing and you can certainly see his understanding of mechanics and engineering in these masterful, inspirational images.  You can find a snippet from the interview here.

This morning my coffee mates and I discussed how to implement creative thinking in a classically stiff corporate environment.  I was mentioning an article I read about Danes loving their work multiples more than Americans, which appeared to be about the very flat hierarchies in most Danish workplaces.  So - my coffee mates whom had been part of creative workshops in the past chimed in on how you should see people stiffen when asked to be "playful" or "silly" in front of their boss.  
Im thinking maybe it requires literally stepping out of office mind and into the absurd.  How about a kit with smocks for the entire group?  OR - my personal fave - those lovely lightweight hazmat suits?!  All suggestions welcome.  I think I might put together a kit.....

OK not with the hoods and gloves!

Its come to this: I've finally synthesized my process and the way I get my students excited about the possibilities of their creative selves down into my Five Ways (OK its a riff on Toyoda's Five Whys...I couldn't help myself).  Now that Im committed to a book Ive set myself a massive amount of reading...and revision.  Im planning to make a series of short "in conversation" videos with interesting creative people..starting in the Bay Area, then Australia when I return in November, and hopefully I can make a few in Hong Kong and Shenzhen this December.  Running back through some of my old Curve writing I found my piece on Jay Shuster - sketcher extraordinaire and general fantasy mastermind at Pixar.  Please pardon the dodgy scan...transcript is included below.

This is why I LOVE my daily news from gizmag.com.   Every day, snippets of brilliance!  Like this flat folding spoon by Rahul Agarwal .  Sweet perfection in polypropylene.  (Click on the bottom image for the story).

But way before Rahul my local friend, Peggy Cross, had invented, capitalized and scaled up her super simple EcoTaster spoon which is setting Costco and other tasting venues on fire.  Check it out here & below.  And its fully patented, which might throw a spanner into Rahul's plans.  OR perhaps there's room for two....