International Women's Day.

As we celebrate International Women's Day today, what could be better than posting fantastic examples of fantastic women?

For that, I've chosen (some of) my favorite talks by TEDWomen - Reshaping The Future , an event which has happened in December 2010.

Get inspired (whether you're a man or a woman).











These videos are not posted by preference. I've learned and got inspired from all of them the same way.

George Sand on Happiness

“One is happy as a result of one’s own efforts, once one knows of the necessary ingredients of happiness — simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a point, love of work, and, above all, a clear conscience. Happiness is no vague dream, of that I now feel certain.”

Quote via Swiss Miss

Influencers.

A must see video about influencers in the creative industries.

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

Who influences you?

Staircases.

"We don't think enough about staircases.
Nothing was more beautiful in old houses than the staircases.
Nothing is uglier, colder, more hostile, meaner, in today's apartment buildings.
We should learn to live more on staircases.
But how?"

Georges Perec in Species of Spaces and Other Pieces.





Photos taken in a Lisbon building.

Other posts about staircases
French Hall & Stairs
Stairs Somewhere In Chicago
I Love Cast Iron Stairs

Reading Is A Very Personal Thing.

Last Tuesday I went to The School of Life in London to attend this course on “How To Read” by Cathy Haynes .

When I first read about the course’s content I thought “maybe I’ll find answers for my endless questions about ‘technicality of reading’ or ‘am I reading as I suppose to?’ or ‘how can I read faster?’ and another one that really bothers me ‘am I getting the message in here?’…

It was a three hour course where we discussed the benefits of reading, dangers of reading and what to read next. We’ve touched social anxiety, which I believe we all suffer from: the ‘classics’ you have to read otherwise you’re tagged “illiterate” and the books we discuss but never read (loved this one); and we did very interesting tasks like “map your own reading history – and you’ll find out you went through different joys and woes, sources of encouragement, obstacles to pleasure and aspirations for future”.

In the end of the day, what I actually learned was that everyone is different; there are no rules on how we should or not do things. If you want to read a story fragment, read; if you want to read the same book every summer, just do it; and if your conclusion is different from your gig friend; let it be – reading is a very personal thing. Let it grow on you. Enjoy the process.

Every time I buy a new book I write location and year followed by my expectations on that book (because we all judge a book by its cover). And when I finish it I write what I got from it – it’s amazing how different my comments are. And more interesting is when you flick through a couple of years later.
Mark books, underline little details that make a difference to you, write comments or thoughts, draw and add lose pages you grab from different medias – make your reading a hobby not a duty.


I’ve given away many things in my life: bags, shoes, jackets, coffee machines, furniture I’ve designed, jewellery but never books. I’ve boxes and boxes in Portugal waiting to be shipped, but I could never give them away. Why is that?

Growing Up In The Blog World.

Since I started blogging, August 2009, I ask myself what I really want from & with it.

In the beginning it was to promote my portfolio as a designer and after a while I thought I had too many photographs from other designers, architects and artists’ work worth to post and talk about. Moreover I could as well exhibit my photography (therefore make it better) and express how these professionals inspire my work and aspirations.

Last week I read an article about a great designer on T Blog by New York Times that I wish I had written and photographed. Until that moment my philosophy was to contribute with something new to the blogosphere, even if only photographs. But then I thought "I didn’t write or phtograph it, but I have to share it - it’s too good not to". So I did (and I’m happy with my decision).

And this week, while I was digging on TED , my ‘pillow talks’, I thought again "too good not to share - they’re not about me, I didn’t write or photograph them, but they follow my blog’s subject: these talks are about design and somehow about spaces too". So, once again, I did: I’ve posted two fantastic talks by Stefan Sagmeister and Jacek Utko, and I look forward to posting & sharing many more.

Well, all this to say that I’m trying not to be too stubborn with my approach on how to blog. I take this little side project very seriously - I learn, I share and I team: three things I truly love to do. Maybe that’s why I’m so precious with what I’m blogging about. But then again, to change opinions is synonymous to growing up, isn't it?

I hope you enjoy my editing skills.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Perceiving Beauty.

Beauty "evokes an experience of pleasure”.
Beauty is simplicity.
Simplicity is detail.
Detail is beauty.

This lamp celebrates it all: it’s simple, detailed therefore beautiful.

Beauty is translated to a simple smile.


What is it beauty for you? How do you perceive it? Where do you encounter this moment? Why do we need beauty?

Design by Eliana Tomás | 2 – When did I become a professional designer?

Sometimes I wonder exactly when I became a designer, as my life and professional experience did not follow the traditional path: college – internship – junior – senior – etc.
I wonder as well what type of designer I am, meaning what my contribution is to the design world.

Answering my first question, I guess I became a designer when I accepted for the first time an invitation to design someone’s house (project included knocking walls down, changing plumbing and flooring and other little technical details). The reason I say invitation is because I didn’t have any degree or credential to do so: only energy and enthusiasm to succeed. My previous professional experience was in marketing, project management and architectural specification and tendering. Luckily or not, I always worked in the architectural and engineering field. So, after my first success in the interior and architectural design world I started to call myself a designer, despite the lack of documentation saying so. My degree in spatial design came after almost five years styling and designing (real) spaces, spaces within spaces and other spaces.

About my second question: what is my contribution to the design world? I am a designer who needs to know everything in the design and execution process but only enjoys the beginning and the end, in other words, I fly high when I’m researching and drawing the concept and finalize details. And to be even more precise, this includes not only interiors but furniture as well, because I believe they are two inseparable bodies. For many years I didn’t understand this. I felt I had to do everything otherwise I wouldn’t be a designer. All these years taught me that a good professional focus is her/his strengths and improves them, because there’s always space to be better and better – it never ends, actually.

These two answers came to me exactly when I went to John Maeda’s talk. He explained to all of us his raison d’être – what exactly he’s good at. The way he articulated his conclusion was so clear that I adapted it to my professional path and finally found my own raison d’être too.

Everything I’m saying might sound very simple and straight to the point, but it’s not, at least for me it wasn’t.
These are the kind of things no university, tutor or employer can ever tell you. They are a combination of moments we have to go through like introspection, victories, failures, nonsense, eureka moments, sometimes even inertia periods rather than moments. Though, there’s one tip I can give you to survive the process: one can only grow up if is aware of it.

Thank you for reading my blog. I’m the worst writer in the world, but I found out to write helps me to understand who I am.

Related articles
John Maeda @ The V&A Talking About Creative Leadership – Values Based in Art + Design.

Design by Eliana Tomás | 1 – Am I a designer?

First of all I would like to thank everyone for the fantastic feedback on my previous post: great comments, emails and tête-à-tête discussions. You all make me feel full of energy and proud to carry on my little side project: this blog.

As I said before I want to post every Wednesday a column about my design and my business, in other words what design and business means to me and how we, creative beings, can contribute to this world we live in, starting within our own world.

Going back to what John Maeda debated about last week I want to transcribe the way he defined designers and artists.

Very straight to the point he basically said:

Designers are constructive people – problem solvers, communicative, understand people’s needs, make things happen.
Artists are destructive people – if they want to come up with a sculpture made out of the most corrosive material, no matter what that makes to the environment or the people around them; it doesn’t matter because they’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that moment of narcissism believe.

Better definition then this one I can’t find. Can you?

(I feel the need to make a parenthesis here: I am not criticizing anyone; I’m just very naively describing what the main difference is between a designer and an artist. And I believe it’s because of this great difference that these two “types of professionals” can contribute so much to the world by combining strengths and knowledge in different fields.)

Now, this is exactly where I answer one of my biggest existentialism questions: Am I a designer? Yes I am. I remember a few years ago talking to a few people about this subject and on the back of my mind I had this strong believe: “one thing I’m sure is that I’m not an artist. I don’t have an artistic soul. I know that I am a designer – period” And many times I was told something like: “Eli, don’t be so ‘narrow minded’. If you can’t say why, it’s maybe because you are!!!” – That time I couldn’t define things the way John Maeda did. I could only hear what was within me. I could feel it so deeply but I couldn’t theorize, which has been always my problem. I can’t theorize what I feel; probably no creative one can, actually. And let me take this opportunity to say that I really hate when I have to backup my believes with philosophers and other thinkers, otherwise my opinion is worthless. Thinkers are the ones I find inspiration to think and question why and why not, not to quote what they say.

A designer is not only the one able to draw, hand sketch or talk about ergonomics and materials. She & he is as well someone who can apply the creative thinking and leadership to different fields, someone who can understand and solve problems within businesses without the need to draw sections, plans or perspectives. The way a designer (or an artist) thinks doesn’t follow standard rules or mathematical methods. It follows intuition and emotion. Because creativity is a free mind, fearless with no preconceptions, the world can really benefit from it. As I commented on my first post of these series, the rigid world needs to bend a bit towards us, as well as we need to bend to it.

For now I leave my wish as a proud designer: give us the opportunity to prove it all. Somewhere in between is the beginning to find solutions for old problems.


PS – The more I read this column, the more it sounds a bit clumsy. Apologies for that, but that’s the way I feel things – back and forward thoughts on a curved line - that’s the way.

Related articles
John Maeda @ The V&A Talking About Creative Leadership – Values Based in Art + Design.