My older brother Jim always loved blue cars. I liked everything but…

New York, NY

It seems that the venerable I.D. Magazine is folding… after a run of 55 years. Pity, that…

Tainan, Taipei

Today was the last leg of our three-city 2009 Conference of International Design Competitions lecture tour—with a very enthusiastic audience of nearly 400. It’s been an interesting week, presenting alongside (my new friends) sensei Nakanishi Motoo (one of the great corporate identity masters of our time, responsible for creating and/or managing the image of over one hundred top-500 companies worldwide, among them Bridgestone, Kenwood, Mazda, Asics, Kirin beer, etc., etc.), and Hiroshi Tsunoda, a talented young Tokyo-born product designer with a burgeoning practice in Barcelona, Spain.

A bonus—end of day I had the chance to bend elbows back at the hotel with long-time Manitoba climbing/skiing buddy Richard Tilley (who moved to southern Taiwan nearly a decade ago, and now spends his time scuba-diving along the southern coastline).

A big thanks to event organizer Apex Lin, Pang Soon, the dear design colleagues and professors who showed up for the tri-city events and celebratory dinners, to our excellent(!) professional translator Tracy Wang, and to our lovely, long-suffering, and insightful personal interpreters (you rock, Tree!).

Taiching, Taiwan

I’ve just spent a delightful and inspiring two days in Taiching (aka Taichung). After arriving by bullet train from Taipei yesterday, our delegation gathered at Asia University to deliver a series of lectures—nice bonus, a chance to peruse the University founder’s private collection of bronze sculptures (including one of 25 Thinkers by Rodin). Japanese architect Tadao Ando has just designed an impressive bespoke museum that will house this collection in years to come.

Today’s highlight was a guided visit to the beautiful Taiwanese National Museum of Fine Arts, where the 2009 Asian Art Biennial | Viewpoints & Viewing Points was on exhibit (see photos above). After a sumptuous lunch at the Xin Yue Wu Tung (Shanghainese) restaurant it was off again by bullet train to Tainan…

Big thanks and a virtual hug to my personal interpreter this week, Tree (in striped dress—a Taiwanese fashion design student who has just returned from three years of study in Paris).

Taipei, Taiwan

I’m currently spending the better part of a week in Taiwan, lecturing in three cities as part of the 2009 Conference of International Design Competitions (a truly innovative program that encourages and rewards Taiwanese design students for entering international design competitions). This is my third visit to Isla Formosa in recent years, and unlike the rushed and jam-packed previous visits, I’m happily able to engage in some cultural and touristic discovery this time around.

Accompanied by two beautiful and knowledgeable young interpreters (Julia and Tree), my Taipei tour started with a visit to the towering postmodern Taipei 101 (the world’s tallest skyscraper when it was completed five years ago), some upscale window-shopping (you’d almost think Christmas was an ancient Chinese holiday), a delicious Dim Sum lunch (best dumplings ever), followed by a half-day visit to the incredible National Palace Museum (with its collection of 650,000 ancient artifacts encompassing 8000 years of Chinese history). The day ended with a fancy dinner of traditional foods and fine fellowship with Taiwanese design colleagues.

Following the formal presentations and conference proceedings at the Red House Theatre the next day, I had the chance to take in the impromptu street-sights and sounds of the Ximending district. Next stop, Taiching…

(sources unknown)

(Nice to see you again, Jennifer).

São Paulo, Brazil

André Felipe has pulled together a remarkable online collection of largely type-based posters from around the globe… enjoy—here.

(Thanks to Matthew Wells for the link).

Copenhagen, Denmark

Leading up to the Copenhagen global climate negotiations that start next week, Greenpeace is currently running a clever ad campaign in the Copenhagen airport. Adverts feature digitally aged images of sad-looking world leaders apologizing for not addressing climate change when they had the chance. (Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper looks like “the saddest hockey coach in the land” according to one pundit).

I, for one, am not holding my breath in expectation of meaningfully positive outcomes from the upcoming talks… and I must say, with our country’s shamefully deplorable environmental record (and total lack of leadership) in recent years, this is one of those (thankfully rare) times I’m truly embarrassed to tell folks that I’m a Canadian.