When communication becomes too rigid and formal, a perceived "civilized communication" quickly deteriorates into a pile of chaotic syntax. Communication involves a TWO-WAY interaction.

Start with a line.  The rest of the design will follow...

Is your website stupid? When you look at your own site, do you wince a bit? Would YOU bookmark your site?
 
Think about this: If you took away half of the content on your website, would it still make sense? Could you chop it in half? Would you?
 
Take for example, http://patryan.com. In my opinion, this website could be chopped in half. As I look at my own site, I get this overwhelming desire to sharpen an ax.

 

The creative world has, traditionally, not been a friend of Monday mornings. 

It is hard to wake up on Mondays feeling the "Energy, Work, and Power" that leads to clean, succinct ideas that translate into usable concepts.  For example, Industrial Luxury hates scheduling meetings on Monday mornings.  In fact, we like it if there are no meetings on Monday at all. 

This does not mean, however, that we are afraid of work or Mondays in general; far from it.  We see it as a good time to plan the rest of the week, get our minds around the notion of, "creativity on demand," and use the time to keep projects already moving forward on track.

I would like to use this opportunity, first thing this morning, to suggest a couple of online, browser-based applications that I personally use to streamline the amount of "software clutter" on my own computer.  I find that there are very good, well-designed tools available to creatives that A) can be implemented "cheaply" (I consider "free" to be another word for "cheaply"), and B) allow one to move and flow without the constraints of heavy licensing and TOS contracts that tie themselves to a particular computer (or brand).

This is by no means exhaustive or complete... what do I look like? @Mashable?  These are working for me:

Zoho - Productivity and Collaboration Apps

Bizroof - Web-Based CRM

Drop.io - Simple file-sharing and faxing.  (Great for sending drawings that are too large for email.)

Box.net - File storage.  Keep spec sheets, vendor catalogs, etc. handy online instead of filling up your hard drive.

If you have more than one of you hanging around, then, for $50/year, set up your company with:

Google Apps  (you will need your own domain name (like, http://industrial-luxury.com, to use this) 

If you are solo, then the tools you can use with your Gmail account on Google work perfectly fine.  (Docs, Calendar, Spreadsheet, etc)

 

Someday, I am going to tell you what (free) applications I have loaded onto a USB drive that allows me to take my whole design studio with me wherever I go. (hint: check out Open Office to get things started.  And, look closely at PortableApps.

These are basics many of you probably already know.  I realize that.  But it is Monday after all, and we like to start slow.

 

 

Sundays are such great days to simply process. Just take in. No output. No production...

I spent the day looking. Living. I took in a lot of information - both in the form of visual as well as auditory input. Looking at images, listening to music and podcasts, driving, and reading. It was an opportunity to fill my mind with some new things. These things, I believe, will become important in the upcoming week. Or not.

Information is like a new tube of paint. Or a new tool. It is now in your possession; what is it going to make?

You worked all day. Maybe you created something. Maybe you built something. Good.
 
When you are laying in bed tonight, think of what you are good at. Imagine yourself happy because you are so good at what you do.
 
Fall asleep.
 
When you wake up you will be happy because you are so good at what you do. It just works like that...

Just say those words when you think you are being doubted.

Use your mobile phone to steal photos, ideas, and simple notes about the environment that surrounds you.  Document. When you get home, look at what you have captured...

Take simple, everyday things and make them art.  Itemize, catagorize, and stylize the world you inhabit.  It's easy.  Post them with no reservation. Look at them a week later.

Edit when the mood strikes you.

...an artist with an emphasis in engineering who is designing things that make us smarter:
 
Industrial Luxury is an organization that studies, researches, designs, and applies ideas that make the environments that surround us more enjoyable. We are Cultural Engineers.