CreativeMornings/Findings

We’re super excited to share our most recent interview, featuring Fabian Pfortmüller, past CreativeMornings/Zürich speaker and co-founder of Holstee, a home goods start-up that made big waves with their Manifesto, a testament to the beliefs of the company’s founders.

In his Morning Person interview, Fabian shares on the power of having people over for dinner, inspiring a mindful lifestyle, and sharing your passion. Read on.

Sara McNally uses ink and paper to connect people. She is the Co-founder of Constellation & Co., a letterpress print studio based in downtown Seattle, Washington, and made quite an impression when she spoke at their local CreativeMornings chapter.

We spoke with the enthusiastic Seattlite about her experience speaking at CreativeMornings, vintage cocktails, and the power of communication. She is this month’s Morning Person. Read the interview. →

Past CreativeMornings/NewYork speaker John Maeda is featured on The Great Discontent. He is Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, chairs the eBay Design Advisory Council, serves on the boards of Sonos and Wieden+Kennedy, and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership. From 2008 through 2013, he served as the 16th president of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Read on. →

Watch his CreativeMornings talk on artists as leaders here. →

Some fantastic folks from Shutterstock swung by our headquarters in DUMBO last month to chat with our team and interview our founder, Tina Roth Eisenberg (aka swiss-miss). The result was this beautiful short video, giving a little background to the story of CreativeMornings and some of Tina’s other endeavors.

Check it out. →

“Everyone underestimates what ten minutes a day will do. You do something a little bit for ten years, you come out with something.”
—Austin Kleon, speaker at this Friday’s CreativeMornings/ATX

We’re pretty psyched about Sidebar, a new initiative championed by our Austin, TX chapter to introduce speakers before events, and highlight Austin’s late night culture. The CreativeMornings/Austin crew sat down with this week’s speaker to discuss writing, creativity and his upcoming talk. Two hours and several drinks later, this is the edited version, available to listen on SoundCloud.

Listen to it here.

CreativeMornings/London Interviews: Rory Sutherland

CreativeMornings/London: Is it about what you know or who you know?
Rory Sutherland: It’s about who you read.
CM/LDN: What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far?
RS: Getting fired and rehired at 24.
CM/LDN: Can you teach innovation?
RS: Yes – just teach the art of reframing – at school, ideally.
CM/LDN: Do you believe in an afterlife?
RS: A metalife, possibly.
CM/LDN: Negative or positive freedom?
RS: Both
CM/LDN: Ideal holiday?
RS: Time spent with people you love. It can be anywhere, provided the Sky package and broadband speed are at least as good as you get at home.
CM/LDN: Can you draw?
RS: No.
CM/LDN: Individual or state (or both)?
RS: Individuals, then family, then communities, only then then state.
CM/LDN: Last book read?
RS: Planet Ponzi, by Mitch Feierstein.
CM/LDN: The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
RS: Low carb diet – Gary Taubes, John Briffa et al
CM/LDN: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?
RS: Opportunism gets a bad rap. It beats strategy any day.
See the rest: http://downsideupdesign.com/2012/11/12/creativemorningslondon-interviews-rory-sutherland/

Next Friday, CreativeMornings/London is welcoming back their very first speaker Michael Johnson, alongside his long-time collaborator and friend, Tom Foulkes. Above is some printed work done by Johnson Banks.

Each month, the London team does an excellent job interviewing their speaker. Below are a few questions for Tom from this month’s interview.

Is it about what you know or who you know?
By nature i’m a trusting, optimistic, idealist so I’ve always believed it’s ‘what you know’…however experience is turning me into a cynical, pessimistic, realist – unfortunately I think that all too often ‘who you know’ gets you, if not in the door, at least to the front of the queue.

What’s been the most pivotal point in your life thus far?
Having my first child 5 years ago really made me think and look at what was important, I’ve changed a lot since Ava was born.

Do you think there’s enough discourse between disciplines?
I’m not sure, there’s probably enough ‘discourse’ at the polar ends of the spectrum – between design under-grads and at senior/trade org level but it’s in between where there seems to be a lack of communication and a seeming lack of appetite to even engage, unfortunately this is the vast majority of the industry and there is no easy solution to encourage more…

Can you teach innovation?
You can certainly teach the various processes and approaches to business that foster a culture that is more likely to identify, nurture, support and develop new ideas and innovations but can you teach someone, an individual, to innovate? No.

The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
‘it’s not enough to be right’

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be where you are?
aim higher!

You can view the full interview here, or check out Michael’s here.