New York et al (as seen from Berlin)

Christoph Niemann hits home with cartographic brilliance once again… in today’s New York Times.

(some things I just know to be true)

Winnipeg, Canada

People sometimes ask me two things: 1) Why the first thing you come to when you visit the Circle website is a quote by Karl Marx? and, 2) Whether this doesn’t turn away business in droves?

I answer the first question with something like… Well, I think Marx was a brilliant man, and I find his correlation of “cause and effect” to express this crucial point more eloquently than most, and certainly more succinctly than I could. I answer the second question with… Well, if the fact that we quote Marx on our website is a potential deal-breaker, we choose to view this as an acid test (and a suitable barrier to entry, per se), and we’re likely better off never even hearing from such folks.

I happen to believe we can learn from almost anyone and anything—as long as we keep our minds open and exercise discernment—which is why we also quote sources ranging from Walt Disney, to Winston Churchill, to the Bible.

Wisdom is where you find it, no?

(snapshots in time)

In the course of searching for one particular image, I was happy to chance across quite an eclectic collection of famous photographs on the blog Iconic Photos. Shown above: first use of 3-D glasses in a cinema, demise of the Hindenburg, Jane Goodall with a wee chimp, celebrating the 40-year anniversary of communism in Moscow, and Dali with a rhinoceros (the latter is for you, Jennifer).

Any questions?

(source: Jean Bellus)

Washington, DC

(source)

Winnipeg, Canada

I’ve had this poster likeness of Picasso (alongside the ones of Einstein and Gandhi) with the grammatically challenged call to action facing me from across the design studio for well over a decade now. I wonder if that has affected my thinking at all… though that’s not really a very different kind of thought, is it?

Winnipeg, Canada

Last night I suffered a massive crash to my e-mail application… and it appears I have lost thousands of incoming e-mail messages from the past few months. Please forgive me if you do not hear from me as a result. If you had written me recently and have not received a reply to your message or query, please contact me again (or better yet, please re-send your recent message).

I am working to retrieve and restore whatever e-mail messages can be salvaged… in the meantime, please forgive the radio silence, and thanks for your understanding.

Rhône-Alpes Ain, France

I honestly have no idea how I chanced upon this website—but needless to say, it was a happy find. I’m a sucker for vintage illustration… and my girlfriend Evelin is nuts about hats, so, a sort of a twofer.