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I stumbled upon this image from a 1876 propaganda campaign, to convince people to move to California. I guess in the long run it worked pretty well...I wonder why it was so hard to convince people back then: wasn't it just as beautiful?

My kids really wanted Panzerotti, but those are supposed to be deep fried, and I wasn't keen on the idea. I made my own version instead, sort of a "mini calzone". Fairly easy too... Big success... Mahalo

Ever since coming to the USA I had to adjust the meaning of the words "design" or "innovation" in my vocabulary, apparently our cultures (Italian and American) are far enough to require these adjustments. However, I never really bought into one of the accepted "truths" in this business, that sounds more or less like this: "P&G is one of  the most powerful corporations when it comes to Design and Innovation". Then you see things like this article. Really? That's how low we've taken the bar for "innovation"? I'm glad the article points out that this is weak, and late, I still believe that even the "good" innovations in this pattern deserve a better scrutiny. As far as In can tell, these"innovations" almost never have a real positive effect on people's lives, although I admit sometimes they do fatten wallets...is that still a good measure? Mahalo

Paul Bunditz hit home again, with his beautiful bikes, carefully crafted with tremendous quality. I recommend that you check out the website here , and even more so his thoughts here One of my favorite lines: "There’s no objective measure of good taste. Love transforms crap into wonder." Mahalo

Today I stumbled upon an article on Steven Sinofsky, the man that is turning Microsoft upside down (in a good way). I particularly enjoyed this part: "... So Sinofsky told them how he does things.   Plan first, then build. Eliminate most middle management. Deliver exactly what you promise, exactly on time" Makes sense, right? Then why is it so hard for most corporations to grasp this concept? You can read the whole article here  if you want. Mahalo

This is the trailer for an amazing documentary, the full movie is free and can be watched here . If anybody you know sees this, all possible outcomes I can imagine are good. Please share Mahalo

Ok, I confess it: I'm a "weregeek", it's like a werewolf but turns into a geek instead of a wolf. Every designer is, to some degree, a geek; this isn't something I figured out on my own, I once heard Mark Newson (one of the "coolest" design personas out there) say that he was one, and it got me thinking. You have to be, to become totally immersed in something and discover... Which is why, even if I doubt this is what Mark Newson had in mind, I'm not too ashamed posting a couple of shots of what I did yesterday evening (Uber-geek) I find a strange, perverse pleasure in disassembling something beyond my reach in terms of complexity, something that no longer works, and somehow find a way to solve whatever the issue was, reassemble, and enjoy the new life of the object. In strict financial terms, the time I spent doing this was probably worth more than a 7 year old mac anyway, but there's something very zen in getting lost completely in a task li...