You can travel back in time, but only to ...

... see a concert you’re bummed you missed.

I’m thinking soon there will be a special time travel company using really great tech developed for military purposes but will be able to benefit concert enthusiasts.

It’s the not-too-distant future. Technological advances are coming online at an amazing speed. People are astounded. You thought the internet was a breakthrough. Now we’re talking time travel.

But since the tech is new, the various use cases ready for use are really focused. Similar to the new world of startups. We’ve seen this before. You know, looking at all the startup tech companies, they all look like this:

• a book, but online

• a library, but online

• a newspaper, but online

• a walkman, but online

• a video store, but online

• a grocery store, but online

• a bank, but online

• a taxi service, but online

• and on and on and on

In the future, time travel will be the same way. At first it will be time travel for X and only X, with other companies created to use the same underlying tech but for this X and that X.

Over the course of several years, companies will compete on the same fundamental technological base and focus in on some niche for some audience, for some specific pay off. Eventually, time travel will be everywhere and always. Just like this whole internet thing.

Sadly, I doubt I’ll be alive to see it. I really want to see The Clash at Shea or Rage at Finsbury Park or Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival. Oh well.

I just randomly picked concerts to attend because I really like live shows. I doubt murder would be a service at first, even if it was baby Hitler. It has to be really specific and has to be unable to alter future events. No Back to the Future 2s, please.

What We Do Really Well

3 things:

1. We design brands that tell your story in a clear, unique, and engaging way.

2. We design websites to be light, responsive, and showcase your content with an intentional experience that’s both meaningful and memorable.

3. We execute brands across print and digital to create a cohesive, unified voice that confidently speaks to your audience.

We Have The Land

Bold visionary and hardworking Nebraskan Jane Kleeb has a new book coming out. It’s called We Have The Land and it sounds perfect for this moment. It will show the importance of rural voters to progressive politics, and of progressive politics to rural voters, partly by focusing on issues like climate change, healthcare, and grassroots powered activism. If you have a story to tell, head on over to the book’s website. For more on the book, there’s coverage in the Lincoln Journal Star.

And be sure to check out the Pipeline Fighters campaign for the design side of 7+ years of grassroots activist.

I’m losing my edge...

To all the tech bros coming up from below. To the Internet seekers who can tell me every single thing they’re going to invent in the digital world that already exists in the real. To the hipster art school kids who can mold entire universes inside of 3D studio modeling programs. To better looking over worked people with trendier ideas and more talent and more influence and the ability to work 80+ hours a week. And yes, some are really, really nice and some are complete fucking assholes. I’ve heard they sold their typography books and bought coding manuals. I’ve heard they sold their coding manuals and bought music festival lineups. I’ve heard the only way to hire them is to pay Facebook salaries, offer them on-site yoga, and shuttle them to the office via private bus. Throw in the ping pong and the organic food and organic cotton for good measure because it will be one of them who comes up with the idea to pay a beautiful person on Instagram $250,000 for a single post. Gil Scott-Heron!

Yes, I’m definitely losing my edge.

RAMS

And we’re back! The first Design Alliance Omaha event of 2019 is a partnership with Film Streams. We’re showing a new documentary by Gary Hustwit about Dieter Rams, one of the most influential designers alive. The film is a rumination on consumerism, sustainability, and the future of design. 

Rams is also revered for his “Ten Principles for Good Design,” a list of edicts that champion simplicity, honesty, and restraint. The first fifty RAMS attendees who pre-purchase tickets online will receive a poster illustrating those principles. View the poster here.

RAMS
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 @ 7 pm
Film Streams Ruth Sokolof Theater

Buy Tickets »

A vibrant community needs a strong foundation

I’m very happy to announce the launch of the new Omaha Community Foundation website. A fantastic organization deeply rooted in the community, committed to understanding its challenges and opportunities so we can make strategic investments in a future where everyone can thrive.

The site is designed to speak to several difference audiences, to connect the big vision with the day-to-day, and to highlight this community, which we all love, in a very people-centered way. To build the brand, to function across an ever-changing web environment, and to be easily managed by a communications team who doesn’t need to waste time worrying about technology.

Quite proud of the project and the team that made it possible, including Daphne Eck on strategy and writing with web development by Plumb. Photography by Adam Casey, iconography by Andrea Trew.

Good grows here, in the Omaha metro. The Foundation helps make the good as impactful as it can be.

Boulder to be pushed or clay to be molded?

Having lots to do has always been my preference. Sure, I like space to explore and dream in the work day, but I’d rather be slammed than slow. But with that, there can creep in many feelings of being overwhelmed, of weight pressing down on you, of being paralyzed because you aren’t sure where to start. Which is not good. And while the amount of work to be done is very real, a lot of how it gets tackled is up to how how you look at it.

A little momentum can be go. Some minor wins. A few things that get accomplished, however small they may be. The outlook on the day/week/month can then shift. That shift from seeing the amount of work to be done as a huge boulder to be pushed around senselessly to a mound of clay ready to be molded and shaped with your own blood, sweat, and tears, well that can make all the difference in the world.

When the shift happens, no longer are you buried under the weight. Instead you are a master of your own destiny, taking on the work that needs to be done and making sure it gets done right. You are in control, you are not being pummeled, you are ready for all of this, and then some.