What would Donald Draper say?

There is a change in the air. Past industries that have communicated to us and which we relied on for information, like broadcast media and newspapers, are undergoing a transformation – and this goes for the advertising industry as well. With the widespread use and access to the internet, and the democratization of information and … Continue reading What would Donald Draper say?

Density isn’t just another way to say you’re fat

What makes a city great is the people in it. And the more the merrier… because it helps economies grow, generate innovation and provides facilities that are difficult to access in less crowded places (think health, education, etc.). Don’t forget the cultural sights and sounds, like museums, restaurants, and movies! So what’s not to love? … Continue reading Density isn’t just another way to say you’re fat

Moving from low to mid spectrum

Did you know that humans are only able to see a very short part of the electromagnetic spectrum? Specifically we are able to see between 380 to 740 nanometres (nm)!  What that means is that visible light waves – all the colors of the rainbow – are the only electromagnetic waves we can see. Each … Continue reading Moving from low to mid spectrum

2013 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction

The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) comes out every 2-years and is an assessment of global situation on reducing disaster risks and provides a comprehensive overview and analysis on key issues and what governments are doing to prevent disasters. GAR13 is the third edition of the report, entitled From Share Risk to … Continue reading 2013 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction

Telling tales through type

I just finished reading Communication Arts Typography Annual 3 and the quality of the work blew me away. It’s not so much the various types and fonts that people came up with, but how words and images were created with 26 letters in the English alphabet (there were examples in other languages as well). The … Continue reading Telling tales through type

Women and Girls: a visible force for resilience

The International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) takes place every year on October 13. Since 2011, the Day has been part of a 4-year concept to build up momentum to 2015, an important date for the United Nations – it’s not only the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals ends, but also when the 10-year … Continue reading Women and Girls: a visible force for resilience

I feel a lot smarter about construction cranes.

For the last few months, every morning I wake up and have to look out the window to a couple of construction tower cranes staring back at me. And every so often I realized that the cranes are getting taller while  I/our apartment stays at the same height. How does the crane keep getting taller? … Continue reading I feel a lot smarter about construction cranes.

The secret to changing the world

If you didn’t know, there’s actually a school called the School of Life (reminds me a little of the movie School of Rock and Jack Black’s unique way to inspire kids). There’s plenty of nuggets of inspiration to be found in the School’s courses, musings, blog posts, and, more recently, a series of books on … Continue reading The secret to changing the world

Not just an update, but a redesign

The hugely popular infographic I designed for UNISDR on the impacts of disasters from 2000-2011 required a bit of an update. And with over 7,000 views already on Flickr, it was pretty straightforward to update it with new stats from CRED for 2012. But just updating the graphic wasn’t enough. There were some trials and … Continue reading Not just an update, but a redesign