I was cruising the Internet the other day and ran into this unique company (see pics above) called Gate 3 WorkClub. Their vision is to create a new kind of work community that “blends the comforts of home with the professionalism of an office and the congeniality of a social club.” Their focus is on creating a shared community for the “creative class” that is “worlds apart from traditional, centralized corporate environments.” Interesting. How are they doing that? Practically, they’ve built a very nice shared space that provides all types of services for those who work from home, small businesses or are geographically separated from their business partners. This isn’t a new concept. Kinkos has tried to create many similar services for small business. Chambers of Commerce have also established incubators for new businesses. I think what makes Gate 3 different is the totality of the concept. They’re not just creating a launching pad for small or new businesses, they’re advocating a whole new type of work-life for creative ...... Keep reading

No, that’s not a typo. I’ve just finished reading through Kenneth Cole’s monogram, Footnotes. I must say that he’s done more with fashion design than I ever thought possible. You can tell from the subtitle, “What you stand for is more important than what you stand in,” that he’s not going to be talking about the latest Spring colors or how to select a trendy wardrobe. This book is about substance over style. He recounts the company’s entrepreneurial beginnings and examines the “unlikely marriage between social responsibility and the business of fashion.” From the first chapter, “Why Fashion Is Not Important,” to the end of the book, Cole offers some interesting insights on the connection between design and society. Could any type of design work appear more fleeting? Cole admits it. “I spend a major part of my waking hours making things that no one needs. After all, fashion is just clothes, just shoes—fashion doesn’t really change the world.” And he expresses so...... Keep reading

While zipping through the bookstore the other day with my two year old, a magazine in the business section caught my eye…not its design but the what it said on the cover: “Joy + Meaning-We’re talking about your work.” With no time to browse, I grabbed the magazine Worthwhile, and swung through the register on the way to lunch. Turns out that I picked up the premier issue of a new magazine who’s mission is to help p work with purpose, passion and profit. As someone who owns a freelance fine art and design studio, I would be happy for just one of these three consistently in my work, much less all three at once.

Although business oriented, Worthwhile’s appearance in an overly crowded business periodical field signifies the growing need for all of us to not only be profitable in our design business, but also connect with our passion and purpose.

Take Worthwhile’s interview with Matthew Fox, an Episcopal priest and author of The Reinvention of Work. Fox says that “it became clear to me as I listened to people’s stories over the years that work is where lives are really played out. More than in church, this is where we pou...... Keep reading

In our visually saturated culture, it’s forgivable yet regrettable that we miss glimpses of God’s love as He calls us into relationship. Maybe we are visually deaf and need healing from all the noise. As designers who are also Christians, how can we visually communicate honest relationship without religious clichés getting in the way? I couldn...... Keep reading