Success In Perspective

If you are overly concerned with whether or not you are successful, maybe you should have a look at this:

I’m stuck somewhere between 20 & 35…

3

Around Iceland On Inspiration

I have been blown away.

Last week I was fortunate enough to trek to Iceland for a few nights with my father. What an amazing place. Add it to your bucket list immediately.

My brother, Dan (@danskinstad) along side serial adventurer Riaan Manser (@riaanmanser) have decided to be the first Africans to circumnavigate Iceland in a kayak.

Only after spending some time there did I realise the enormity of their challenge. The water is freezing, the surf is volatile and unpredictable and the total distance is close to 2500km.

More and more people have been asking me about their progress and how they can follow them more closely, so I have added a few links below that will keep you in the loop:

- Riaan’s Website: here

- Official Photographer, Richard Mills’ photoblog: here 

- Dan on twitter – @danskinstad

- Riaan on twitter – @riaanmanser

- Me on twitter – @skinstad (I’ll update whenever I hear something)

And for those that haven’t yet seen the introduction video:

I also snapped away while I was there:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Please tell as many people as possible about their trip – I’m extremely proud!

3

Pop corn in slow motion

(via: Paul Octavious)

3

Are you adding value?

Given all the jargon I have received lately, there seems to be confusion about what is deemed socially acceptable when using social media for self promotion, and what is not.

My view is this: It is all about value. If you are adding value, it is acceptable and you deserve the attention. If, however, you are not adding value, you are simple disrupting and distracting people. Rather leave people alone until you have something to add.

Here is my thing of value:

5 year old wisdom

It’s time to unlearn everything…

3

Play = Progress & Creativity

How much time do you spend at play? My bet is, not enough!

This is the Wikipedia definition of ‘play’:
Play refers to a range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities that are normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment. Play may consist of amusing, pretend or imaginary interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions or interplay. The rites of play are evident throughout nature and are perceived in people and animals, particularly in the cognitive development and socialization of those engaged in developmental processes and the young. Play often entertains props, tools, animals, or toys in the context of learning and recreation. Some play has clearly defined goals and when structured with rules is entitled a game. Whereas, some play exhibits no such goals nor rules and is considered to be “unstructured” in the literature.

I think offices should learn more from primary schools and should introduce ‘playtime’. Not in the jungle-gym sense, but an increase in enjoyment is surely overdue in most workspaces. If you’re stimulated by your environment, your output increases – not only in volume, but in originality and quality as well.

Below are a few companies that have tried to make their environment more social & fun:

Red Bull (London)

Google

Home Office (for the entrepreneurs out there…)

Go out and play…

3

Changing the world 1 shoebox at a time

Yves Bahar (and his innovation agency, fuseproject) and Puma combined to create ‘clever little bag’.

It’s amazing how such a simple concept is going to reduce so much waste. I strongly believe that it is the hands of designers, and not politicians, to change the world. What would you make better, and how?

3

Pixels

This is an amazing video combining original thought and incredible creative and design ability

3

The Tulip Tutu

I found this amazing image on FFFFOUND and thought you might like it. I apologise for not crediting the photographer, who clearly has an amazing eye, but other than her name (Sofi) I couldn’t find out more…
(Thanks Victoria Verbaan for introducing me to FFFFOUND – this one’s for you!)

3

Nostalgia

The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealised form. The word is a learned formation of Greek compounds, consisting of νόστος, nóstos – meaning “returning home”.

It’s amazing how certain stimulus can evoke an emotional response by linking us to something meaningful from our past. Music, images, smells, etc. all create nostalgia – Imagine if we could create the same yearning for the future…

Does anyone remember this beautiful avert from VW:

3