arrow-right cart chevron-down chevron-left chevron-right chevron-up close menu minus play plus search share user email pinterest facebook instagram snapchat tumblr twitter vimeo youtube subscribe dogecoin dwolla forbrugsforeningen litecoin amazon_payments american_express bitcoin cirrus discover fancy interac jcb master paypal stripe visa diners_club dankort maestro trash

The Newsletter | Edition 064
In our Off-White Papers, we provide practical guidance on how to respond to our rapidly-changing world. This newsletter explores those topics in real-time, with information and action steps on how to make progress now.

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...REFRAMING FAMILIARITY
We perceive the familiar as boring, and this feeling often leads brands to take drastic measures like complete rebrandings or reorganizations. Yet, inattentional blindness tells us there’s actually so much unexplored territory, even within the spaces that feel most familiar. How can we pay a bit more attention to what already exists in order to create something even more powerful? What can deep familiarity with ourselves, our teams, and our products lead us to? And how can brands be more aware of their day-to-day blind spots going forward?
  1. Invert the process, from Mykala Daniel
  2. Unblur your surroundings, from Sofia Caraza
  3. Manufacture anomalies, from Natalie Berry

BUILDING IT ON THE FLY

From Mykala Daniel

TL;DR

When challenged with the pressures of overcoming constraints from limited resources, the Hindi design concept Jugaad can help us reimagine how we use readily available materials to create new innovations. This flexible and inclusive approach to creating long-lasting, sustainable solutions promotes improvisation and invites us to invert the process of building something new by starting with what’s already around us.

WHY IT MATTERS

Like an optical illusion, new levels of human ingenuity require a willingness to look closely at problems from uncommon perspectives to uncover blindspots and unlock a new view. In pushing our attention beyond traditional models of thinking towards ones that are provocative, unorthodox, and incite curiosity, we can makeshift novel experiences that provide more meaningful outcomes. Whether it’s designing greenspaces by turning sports arenas into community hubs or making shoes from dandelion rubber to save scarce resources, unearthing successful and sustainable solutions require quick thinking empowered by unconventional expertise.

ONE THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW

Take it, break it, then build it again.

TIPS

  • Assess your problems like you would a piece of artwork. Take in all the details, see what’s there and what’s missing, then let your mind do the wandering.
  • Break the familiar patterns of thinking. Flex your mind to do more of what feels unnatural to begin unearthing perspectives that would otherwise remain unseen.

UNBLUR YOUR SURROUNDINGS

From Sofia Caraza

TL;DR

As we dive into 2022, we must slow down to speed up. A slower pace seems counterintuitive, but more productive in achieving our objectives, as it gives us the depth of understanding to face complex challenges that excessive motion often blurs.


WHY IT MATTERS

In our seemingly successful businesses, we strive for quick connections and scale resources for fast growth, because there is an ongoing belief that we must do faster in order to become more. We are tempted to go into execution mode, similar to driving a familiar route, where we go faster and cut more corners because we are inattentive and unattuned. However, this excessive motion in business steers us away from finding powerful and surprising things in the familiar, putting ourselves at a disadvantage to lose what we already are. Long term relationships, sustainable businesses and innovative company cultures thrive in reframing familiarity by strategically slowing down in various ways. This can be done by honing our attention with intention and spending a little more time on exploration and alignment, in order to deal more effectively with increased complexity and challenges.

ONE THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW

Unblur your surroundings by sharing 3 songs with a coworker, related to a topic you recently discussed.

TIPS

Find songs that:
  • Relate to their quirks or behaviors
  • Bring out a surprising take on a place or topic they like
  • Highlight an overlooked strength of theirs

TINKER WITH YOUR REALITY

From Natalie Berry

TL;DR

When we experience anomalous occurrences, or moments of confusion in the middle of an everyday task, they take us out of our traditional ways of thinking and doing. They stop us in our tracks, demanding reflection, consideration, and, potentially, a changed perception of the familiar.

WHY IT MATTERS

Let’s consider a simple and relatable anomalous event: You have a Monday stand-up meeting that’s always hosted by the same person. You’re in the habit of walking into the room on Monday and greeting that person. In fact, you now do it without even thinking. But this Monday, you walk in and greet the person at the front of the room, only to realize that someone else is leading the meeting today. Your routine is abruptly interrupted. You begin to wonder why someone else is leading the meeting. You begin to think about the format of the meeting itself. You may even begin to have more gratitude for the comfort that the regular meeting lead brings. You’re considering the unexplored possibilities and depth hidden within a very familiar, very procedural environment.

When confronted with unexpected situations like this one, we’re forced to pay more attention to our surroundings and question our realities. Because so many of us operate on autopilot, these anomalous events are oftentimes the only thing that lead us to question or explore the day-to-day.

Although they often occur by happenstance and are quite rare, we can also manufacture them to inspire the same reactions. Oona Tikkaoja, PhD calls this “reality tinkering,” and, although it sounds mysterious and magical, it’s actually accessible to any of us.


ONE THING YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW

Create a bank of tinkering tools.

THOUGHT-STARTERS

  • The two main approaches to reality tinkering are interruption of everyday rituals and immersion in everyday rituals. You may start with these two prompts when thinking about how you will build out your own toolkit.
  • There’s already a bank of printable “tinkering tools” accessible online. Use these as a starting point.
  • Encourage your teammates to tinker with their own realities. Encourage your clients to, as well. Consider a reality tinkering workshop where everyone manufactures anomalies and is given the time and permission to explore the possibilities in the familiar.

ONE MORE THING

WE'RE LOOKING FOR INTERNS!

We're looking for summer design interns in the NYC office. If you're a natural problem-solver and a progress-oriented individual, who is excited by the prospect of narrowing the gap between delivering for brand clients and serving the public good, keep reading.

Designers should submit their portfolios via the Careers page by 3/18. Remote U.S. applicants are accepted but must be residents of NY, CA, or VA.

Shopping Cart