The parallels to the reality we are living inside of versus the fantasy life we can foresee enjoying in the future require time to meditate and expand on. Safety first !

Xavier Veilhan [The Vårberg Giants, 2020] Stockholm Sweden, Photo: Naina Helén Jåma

This is also where the realm of design and design visuals tend to stratal. The visual responsibility of holding both dueling realities can be exhausting to interpret, but generally tends to leave my brain and heart feeling uplifted despite the INCREDIBLE amount of mental and emotional layers it takes to get there. This croissant body o mine sure is stacked haha !

I’m thinking this might also have something to do with the fact that I like having physical things surrounding me displayed in a particular order and hierarchy, all subject to the ebbing flow and seasonal moods of my inner color palette and temperament. I’m talkin about the artwork, decor, furniture, and every day objects that remind me of the places I’ve been, and trusting in their energy and collective environmental description of exactly where I’m at right now.

Xavier Veilhan [The Vårberg Giants, 2020] Stockholm Sweden, Photo: Robin Hayes

But I also enjoy entertaining an alternate reality created inside of my head to launch us into a more collaborative future together. Lately I’m challenging myself to think on more expansive grounds and paths that design can help a community flow & express themselves together more easily. It seems outdoor structural installations and adornments of commercial/public spaces tend to lend their palettes to this quite effortlessly and generously.

I’m in love with how artist Lakwena has translated their bold poetic artwork into this exact architectural hybrid dialogue. The two ideas together lift each other up to an entirely different power and persuasive dynamic. Check out a few of their recent installations here:

A Lakwena custom art building facade design in collaboration with Mini Munich

Here’s a paneled electric substation perimeter Lakwena designed in collaboration with architects IF_DO

More lovely perspectives from the team at IF_DO in London. The development/process/inspiration images are hauntingly inspirational !

Another pocket of design that I find solace in reference to and certainly find most visually enveloping is scenic or set design. The way that it literally sets the stage to open a vulnerable dialogue of human emotion, all amplified to an unreal extremist level through light, sound & organic movement - chef’s kiss baby! For example, take a glimpse at Pierre Yovanovitch's stage set design for Verdi’s Rigoletto opera in Basel, Switzerland. Notice the undulating scale and powerful layering effect of the amorphous stage walls - helping to identify emotions and underlying story currents with ease :

What a delicate gait we need to discipline ourselves into in order to fully enjoy the outer stratospheres of thinking. The melting pot of creative branding, environmental design, and progressive consumable experiences is the ultimate professional goal, at least in my current opinion. One sublime blueprint echoing this sentiment are the restaurant designs of self-taught designer and artistic director Rudy Guénaire. He is utilizing specific cinematic design techniques centered around nostalgic American diner moods & aesthetics , but then mutates them into a totally transformed science fiction masterpiece. ABSOLUTELY WILD. Take a look! :

**PNY GRENETTE**, Grenoble, France. Photography by Ludovic Balay

**PNY PRESQU'ÎLE**, Lyon, France. Photography by Ludovic Bala

**PNY CHARTRONS**, Bordeaux, France. Photography by Ludovic Balay.

**PNY GRAND'RUE**, Strasbourg, France. Photography by Ludovic Balay.

Lotta big ideas to be scaled and examined and found out , ami right!? But in the end, it’s one big push toward sealing our tombstones with a hell yeah I DID DO EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO WHILE MY HEARTS STILL BEATING.

FUTURA2000 ‘**Pointman – River Warrior**‘, Credit Tommaso Riva / Sculpture created from waste collected across Bali.

The duality of a reality that presents itself in its current state and futuristic state is both physical and mental, and is the fire starter we need to determine when we say enough is enough, it’s time to move on from our old methods! Defining what no longer serves its original intended purpose is paramount to this process. Fingers crossed these words and images help to inspire that energy to keep ya loose and fluid on your journey into the unknown !

thx 4 listening

-j