As humans I think the secret to getting the most out of life is filling it with people, places and sometimes even physical objects that continually inspire you. This page is dedicated to sharing a few of the things that help me keep life interesting.
Public libraries
It may seem like a strange one to begin with, but I’ve spent many a weekend in this room you see above, so public libraries have certainly added a lot of value to my life. This is the NSW State Library, and fortunately it’s only a 9min ferry ride from where I live. I find there is just something about being surrounded by history and knowledge that increases my level of focus. Added to that, the constant visual inspiration of being in such a grand hall just doesn’t wear off.
An Epic little boat
Whilst design, creativity and family might be my top three inspirations in life, adventure and a sense of freedom would have to be a close second. Since purchasing this little plastic runabout (more formally known as an Epic V5) back in 2016, my life has certainly had an elevated sense of adventure. Granted living in a city like Sydney with a mild climate, a beautiful harbour and very accessible waterways has certainly helped make the most of such a purchase, I think no matter where you are in the world, if you’ve got access to water, owning a kayak certainly provides a simple way to break up the monotony of big city life and get back to nature.
Memento Mori
To most the concept of reminding yourself about your fate is morbid and a bit strange, but it can also provide a very powerful motivating tool to ensure you are always getting the most out of life. It can change the way you live your life and how you stack the order of your priorities. However it only really works if it’s a frequent reminder. I find it fascinating seeing all the creative ways people think up to remind themselves – rings, calendars, watches, framed pictures and even tattoos. But not being much of a fan of the visual language (of skulls and bones) that sits around the concept, I decided to create a few subtle reminders for myself. My reminders are actually not about my own mortality (as that’s not important to me) but about the loves ones around me.
The first reminder I created was to set the diagram at the bottom of this page as the background on my phone. It reminds me of how little time I may have left with my parents, it’s confronting and powerful and it certainly works for me, especially as the phone is usually how I connect with them.
The second reminder I created was to download an iPhone app called ‘Years Old’. It’s a super simple app, it just shows the age of all the people you add to it. This app has been infinitely helpful in ensuring I always know which age to write in peoples birthday cards, but more importantly each time I open the app, seeing the ages of all the people I love and care about on one screen sends quite a stark reminder of how quickly life is passing by and that these people won’t be in my life forever.
Living close to water
It’s no secret that living close to water can be expensive, especially in Sydney, but for me it was the best investment I could have made. I certainly have to pinch myself looking at the photos above to think I was fortunate enough to live in such incredible locations. Living on and close to the water changed my life in a profound way. I didn’t know that I wanted water to play such a significant role in my life until I lived beside it. It was why I purchased a kayak and why every moment of spare time I can find is now spent on the water. I find living close to water has the power to inspire like very little else can. I think you would struggle to live by the water in a beautiful city and not end up having a very positive outlook on life – it just does that to you, even years later.
Old trusty iPhone 5 & the Optrix waterproof case
For a kayaker who takes a lot of photos from the kayak as I paddle, this was a great find. For years I had messed about with attaching wide angle lenses onto my phone that I would drop into the ocean on most trips. This cover by Optrix (who sadly are not in business these days) is fully waterproof and has adaptable screw on wide angle lenses. All of the recent kayaking photos on my instagram account were taken on this. Looking back, I am really not sure how I lived without it. Thankfully I haven’t dropped this cover into the ocean yet, however I have dropped previous phones. On one occasion it was dropped from the wharf in my backyard and continued filming at the bottom of Sydney harbour. True story – you can view the footage here.
The daily feed
Feedly has been my choice of news aggregator for last 5 years or so and I haven’t missed a day of checking my feed in that time. I use Feedly to follow 40 or so design blogs and track news from the tourism industry. It’s such a quick and effortless way to stay engaged with the design community on both a national and global level. I also utilise the key word tracking feature to pull specific articles in from news sites around the world. A quick fix of creativity every morning has always helped me feel more on the pulse and ensured the creative juices are flowing early.
Swapping the TV for a projector
Who knew TV watching could be more meaningful? For many years I’ve wanted to ditch our television but I am not sure if my kids would forgive me, so I think a projector is as close as I will get, and I’m actually okay with that. After months of research I went for the Vankyo 530W and it is BRILLIANT! It has turned my family into more discerning viewers, and by that I mean we are much more choosy about what we watch, and we watch less often. Watching TV/movies on a massive 4m wall actually makes you less inclined to just have it on in the background and actually make it a more of an intentional and planned activity and something you look forward to.
ONEtalks
The One Centre are a branding agency based in Sydney who hold monthly talks on brands that are disrupting their respective industries and in some cases creating new ones. John Ford, CEO and Founder of the company does a wonderful job of presenting the talks each month and the depth of research his team achieve is always impressive. Likewise the visual presentation is first class. For me these talks provide a real shot in the arm of business/brand inspiration and I always look forward to attending them with great anticipation – and I am never disappointed. John now also uploads the all of the talks onto the firms website for those who can’t attend in person.
A small App that’s big on bass
If the taste of an expensive fine wine is even slightly off it can completely change the sensation, and that’s how I’ve always felt about headphones. For years I tried to find the perfect set of noise cancelling headphones that would deliver a strong but very clean bass sound. There are certainly a lot of headphones that claim to have a clean bassy sound, but nothing really packed that punch I was after. I also experimented with a range of equaliser apps for the Mac hoping that would be the answer, but there was an artificialness to the bass they added, it never sounded rich and clean like the bass you get sitting in a cinema that hits you in the chest and transports you to another place. And so after so many years hunting, I came across Boom 3D. A simplistic little app for the Mac that claimed to add a rich and atmospheric three-dimensional layer to any audio coming from your computer. And to my surprise it did just that – suddenly I had that rich, deep, clean bass I was seeking and it has transformed how I work and my levels of focus. It cheap, its simple, and it’s a winner!