The Jotter - issue 17
“... we have no money, we shall have to think.”
Steve Jobs once said (I paraphrase), that new ideas are merely a new combination of old concepts.
Our ability to see connections between them - to join the disparate dots - is what fuels creativity.
To be creative, we have to be curious. This is why I compile the Monthly Jotter.
It encourages me to hunt out a diverse range of ideas, designs, words and images, and share the greatest hits with you each month.
To collect as many different dots, so that one day in the future connections are made and something new emerges. I hope you discover a dot or two here which will be of use at some unspecified point in the future.
Onwards
Andrew
01, The joy of art.
We were fortunate to have the time and space to savour David Hockney’s joyful exhibition ‘The Arrival of Spring, Normandy 2020’ at the Royal Academy.
If you get the chance, I warmly recommend a visit to see “116 new and optimistic works in praise of the natural world.”
02, A very good idea.
Keeping with the David Hockney theme, Andy Foster keeps his mugshot (with 11 others) in the back of his notebook.
I keep a page of 12 mug shots in the back of my notebook.
— andy foster (@fosterarchitect) July 9, 2021
It's partly for inspiration and it's partly a 'don't give up yet' strategy.
It changes a little over time but this is what it currently looks like.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/KteDn7ZW7a
I’m intrigued. Whose mugshots would you have in the back of your notebook?
03, Ditch the echo chamber.
Well, this is a first. I am sharing an article about football, but it’s ok. It’s about jolly good fellow, Gareth Southgate, who says:
“I like listening to people who know things that I don't. That's how you learn.”
Thank you Neil Coxon for leading me here:
04, Quote.
“... we have no money, we shall have to think.”
Ernest Rutherford
05, Networking.
Networking is a dreaded word for some and a source of nerves for most. But it’s an essential part of business.
Bill Boorman tells you all you need to know:
“There is no secret to networking. Don't buy the books, believe the coaches, join the associations or listen to the boy wonders who have never actually had a job. Networking is easy. Be human, be real, don't try to be a brand, a thought leader or anything else. Be human.”
06, Software.
A simple and effective app which makes capturing screenshots a breeze.
07, Architecture.
Earlier this year, social housing architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal were named the 2021 winners of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Recognition for their tireless work expanding and upgrading existing buildings, rather than demolishing them.
"Transformation is the opportunity of doing more and better with what is already existing. The demolishing is a decision of easiness and short term. It is a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history… For us, it is an act of violence."
08, Photography.
These notes were made in 1965 by Tony Ray-Jones when he started to photograph the English in a way that we had never been photographed before.
Of course rules are there to be broken (after all John Myers has taken a series of very good ‘boring’ photos).
09, Work.
I love working with new businesses. Even more so when the name of the business can’t help but make you feel good. The Good Crowd simply help good food and drink brands do good business.
Thank you to Freelancer Magazine for not only adding my mugshot to the cover, but also including me in the ‘Newsletter Love’ section for The Monthly Jotter. It’s an honour to be included amongst such illustrious company.
Thank you for reading this month’s Jotter. The next one will bloom into life at elevenses on Friday 27th August. In the meantime, I hope you have some fun things planned and if you see something which inspires you, please do share it.
Onwards
Andrew
“When burdened by the feeling that there are too many photographs in the world, I ask myself if there are too many flowers.”