Let’s talk about being curious.
That’s the theme for our 12-issue zine set, ‘Curiosity,’ this season.
Members of S P A C E will get the first batch of curated stories from S P A C E | ‘Curiosity’ on Tuesdays, but I’ll post select isues to our online shop, too.
Volume I: ‘How am I Curious?’
Thoughts as I was looking for stories went something like this. It’s an exciting time of expressing ideas that are well-researched and found online, but perhaps may have been organized in their original form for search marketing, instead of laid out visually for ease of understanding.
A goal was to visually re-working the content of the things I’d found, to present them more appealingly.
For example, the one below. Does it look like an HBR story? I love the way some magazines use illustration to showcase the points of their stories and have been learning all this time, by reading and observing. I’m not an illustrator, but I can work with them, sometimes commission them (only twice, however, have I done that, as most people don’t want to make budgets for subcontracting DK’s subcontractors, understandably.) But learning from others has informed how I bring my own aesthetic to page design. Like this:
Here is the original post.
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Good morning from Phnom Penh. I am at my usual. I am listening to the ambient sounds of the things going by, the world happening, on a corner of a street of the south side of town, where we gather in the Third Place ambiently. Staying open, listening out for what might be new. The new is where I like to hang out, even now, even after ten years in Asia. (Though I am getting set to make a major shift, soon.)
Entering the quiet space to reflect, stay open, be curious
Partly because of the realities of the pandemic, and an adjusted lifestyle of outdoor space, social distancing, and routine, I am here most of the mornings and sometimes in the newer cafes that have popped up because no one goes there at 6:30AM when the signs on the doors say they’re open. (Sometimes even the staff.) So I am here, when that happens, as was the case today.
It is quiet.
And there are things that work well here, like the usual crowd saying hello when I come here. It’s so much nicer than going to an office. I noticed that it helps clients to get out of their ‘box’ and slow down, when they can meet me out in the world. Even when DK had an office in Seattle, we often met clients in any of the wonderful Capitol Hill cafes.
My favorites were Joe Bar, Bauhaus, Fuel on 19th. I think that I would have included Victrola’s and Vivace’s, but more than 70% of the time I felt that the baristas were too aloof. As in, if you act rude that makes you feel better about yourself, or something, which is too weird and that sort of thing being kind of normal over there made me opt out, after six years, of trying to figure out how to make it work long-term, in Seattle. Leaving there for the East Coast, and then for ‘Asia’ was, for me, more interesting and true to my nature. Keep learning, keep asking questions. Show up. See what you might find out, when you get there.
The cafe today:
Art of spacemaking
With Design Kompany, I am creating opportunities for people to dive deep and discover more about who it is they really are, or at least, start to investigate in that vector. More and more I am beginning to understand that this is a tiny subset of the population at large. That is, those who are curious.
Ready, willing, and open to take a chance on something… unexpected. The return might be far greater than the risk. Staying curious is a big part of it. Staying interested, engaged and ready to understand what might change us, if we are open to listening. Anything is possible.
More about me is at http://dipikakohli.com
Get S P A C E | Autumn 2024, ‘Curiosity’
I’m sharing a new 12-set series of issues of S P A C E for the upcoming season. S P A C E is a weekly.
You can join S P A C E to get S P A C E | Autumn 2024, ‘Curiosity.’ This will be followed by next season’s S P A C E | Winter 2024/25, ‘The Way.’
Details of how to to set up your subscription [$] are at this page.
