The fifth element of design

Another Communication Arts article about the effects of “spirituality” on society and subsequently design. I use the term spirituality loosely in this sense because the article describes a fifth element of human nature. This fifth element is that which is not seen. Christians call it faith, to others it is the power of feng shui. Atheists would see this as a weakness perhaps but in design it can be a really handy tool for your kit. The power of the unseen has its seed in all of us. Superstition, religion, ritual or tradition these unseen fifth elements have in impact on the way people make decisions about their lives.

It’s an interesting article and well worth the read.

Knock on Wood
DK Holland

Originally published in Communication Arts November Design Annual 2007 prodID=”ISS200711″;document.write(inStockStr());
Purchase Issue

At age nine, I learned to read palms, the “scientific way.” What did I mean by that? Telling little girls how many babies they would have by counting the number of lines on the sides of their palms could not be less scientific. Yet, 50 years later when I taught a pre-conference class at TED called How to Read Palms, it was filled to overflowing. Heads of large corporations, revered pundits and billionaires stared intently at their outstretched palms as they learned how to read the intricate map of lines that spelled out their unique lives.

Humans are fascinated by occult practices: astrology (who doesn’t know their sign?), not to mention the more exotic Tarot, Ayurveda, Feng Shui and Palmistry. While we may laugh about them, many of us believe that these practices hold insights that may enhance our lives and provide guidance for an uncertain future. Read the rest here.

This I found really interesting.  I’ve posted it here to help me remember it.

There are a number of words in the English language called Janus words, because they have contradictory definitions. “Clip” means to attach and to separate, “fix” means a solution and also a problem, “screen” means to display and to hide. The mindful creator, in the telling of any story or the making of any visual, takes all this into account and, when able to harness these contradictions, we are the richer for it.