Is it better to send no signals or the wrong signals?

I know how I am, if there’s no one around, I don’t use my blinker. It just seems like a sensible time saving step in my life.

Yesterday, I was driving to work after dropping my 3 year old off at preschool. The guy in front of me suddenly braked hard and turned right…I had to use evasive maneuvers. I didn’t have any warning and I didn’t see it coming.

On the way home from work, I sat at a stop light turning left (I had my blinker on). The person across the intersection had their blinker on to turn left, so I thought I could go. They went straight, left blinker on the whole time. I had to do much more severe evasive maneuvers. I saw something coming, but it wasn’t what I expected.

Either way, I guess no signals or the wrong signals are sending the WRONG MESSAGE.

In church, we send the wrong signals all the time.

We tell people we love them
We tell them they are part of a community here
We tell them that we’ll be there for them

Then, their sin is too big for us to handle, or we never make the effort to connect…or we just don’t act very loving even though that is supposed to be what we’re all about.

People get hurt. The church looks like a hypocrite. They don’t want anything to do with our message anymore…

Transparency is the only message that matters.

I’m working through this myself right now.

My top post of all time…

The difference between Windows and Mac OS X

This week in Prefab: MKLotus

The MKLotus from Michelle Kauffman.

This is a brilliant little prefab model starting at $125,000. The basic floorplan is fantastic with upfront living space open to the kitchen than back to the bed/bath.

I really love it; I love the built in veranda and the grassy knoll on the roof. I love the accordian wall of glass and the open floor plan with tons of glass.

Inhabitat featured it last fall.

The Bishop (from Neeraj)

Bishop Desmond Tutu was in North Minneapolis this Saturday.
Love Minneapolis was there doing their thing…Simple Acts of Service.

And her name shall be Maverick

Sarah will be getting one of these on June 2nd.
The Maverick>>

Content isn’t enough for me. I want you to help me taste your perspective.

I don’t know about you, but viewing blogs in a newsreader is ok, but I at least try to be a designer so I need a little more.

I use the built-in newsreader in Safari. I primarily use it to so if there is anything interesting to read…if so, I actually click in. Reading all content through the lens of the same basic RSS page isn’t enough. Design lends itself to the character, personality and style of the individual. So when I read your blog through the backdrop of an RSS page or the backdrop of your flower page or your clutter free page or your web 2.0 page…it makes a difference in how the content affects me.

Don’t be satisfied by bloglines, google reader, rss bandit or the rest. Taste your content with a little extra flavor. It makes a difference.

All that to say, in May, before I leave for France at the end of the month, I will be moving to a new domain, new design, and hopefully leave you with a new way to frame the content you see here.

I’ll let you know when the big launch will be…big to me at least. or fun I should say…

AMP

Today, I got rid of Joost and downloaded Adobe Media Player, realeased today…
(AMP).
It’s cleaner looking and cleaner in the sense that there isn’t all the smut that Joost has.

I think Adobe is going to do well with this product. It’s on par with adobe’s other apps. Nice GUI, simple, and modern. As long as they continue to grab good content, they’ll do a good job in the market.

Efrem at Willow Creek Lead Summit

The Willow Creek Lead Summit is coming up in August. Efrem will be speaking there this year.

They’ve got their website up and running now. You can check out a sample video from Efrem there.

Or check out the introduction from Phil Jackson, who co-wrote the Hip Hop Church book with Efrem.

The Book at Amazon:

Incidently, Phil and Tha House MCs will be at Hip Hop Sunday this month, April 20th 9 & 11am. They blew the roof off last time…Tha House is a ministry led by Phil Jackson birthed out of Lawndale Community Church in Chicago.

10 Designers/Studios I love.

In the creative business, it’s important to stay inspired. I do that often by visiting the sites of the designers I love and the work they do that inspires me.

Here’s a few designers I like to follow.

1. Duffy & Partners.
Last summer I had the opportunity to work with Dan Olson, Creative Director at Duffy on a project for King’s Christian Academy. It was an awesome opportunity to see the process behind the great creative teams.
Here’s the logo we worked up…

2. Design Guys.
Instrumental in the “Target Revolution.” Steve Sikora literally got to go isle by isle and redesign generic target products, point of purchase, endcaps and more. Amazing work, wish they’d show more of it and update their website.

3. Swim 345.
Chris Dewan is one talented cat. Use to be Minnesota-based…never met him…but he’s somehow connected to friends…

4. Bludot.
I don’t know how comfortable their stuff is, but I love to look at their new catalog each year. They never seem to sacrifice function for form.

5. Tilka.
I’ve been enamored with Jane Tilka’s work since I saw her speak at a conference a few years back. She simply understands how to build an identity system and keep it consistent across the brand. She started Sox Appeal years ago.

6. Olson .
Great work. The new ad hub of the twin cities, since fallon has really gone downhill in the last several years. At least 3 Olsonites go to Sanctuary. Can’t wait to work with Rob someday. He’s got far more talent than I do in this area…

7. Hatch.
I loved Joel Templin’s work as part of Templin Brink, which apparently went their separate ways last year. His work is so clean and always has been. Love it.

8. Wink.
Fascinating kitschy retro esthetic. One of the guys from Wink moved into my old apartment in NE Minneapolis when we moved out and bought our house. Wink was just getting going then…They’ve grown up.

9. IDEO.
Not much you can say. Brilliance at work. Innovation is the name of the game.

10. Turner Duckworth.
Just a warehouse of ridiculous talent. Package design to blow your mind.

What an awesome way to make a bunch of kids feel like they’re on top of the world…