Hey friends, thanks for clicking in!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, so we’re diverging from our usual format to share a few things we think are neat.

At the end, there’s an exciting new service and a particularly silly photo of the dog.

And yes, we are very sad about Patrick Stewart.

More after these messages…

We celebrate spooky season up until Thanksgiving, but tomorrow (or maybe for you, later today) is the last session of Spooky School.

Friday, October 30 @ 10am PDT | How to Business Good Get in, we’re fixing capitalism! A few seats left. It will be a good time. We’ll tell scary stories about unhinged business models and existential dilemmas and marketing.

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Thursday, November 12 @ 10am PST | Let’s Do Design Research Right! When so much is up in the air, it’s a really good time to get your organization grounded in material reality.

And now, sundry diversions!

If you’re looking for something spooky to watch this weekend, and aren’t afraid of subtitles, we recommend Under the Shadow, set in early 80s Tehran after the Cultural Revolution and during the Iran-Iraq war. Yes, similarities to The Babadook. And yes, the real horror is human society.

The Evolution of Horror is the only podcast I can listen to on the regular in these times. See: human society. It’s terrific if you enjoy the genre, and just as terrific if you prefer hearing about horror movies to actually watching them. Enjoy delightful British people chatting about the scares they love.

The People’s Graphic Design Archive | It’s a crowd-sourced digital directory and archive of graphic design history that aims to be more inclusive than the usual. All sorts of material, except slop.

Metropolis | I’m currently reading Szenasy, Design Advocate: Writings and Talks by Metropolis Magazine Editor Susan S. Szenasy, a good antidote to despair about the state of design from one of its strongest advocates.

"I interpret ethics to mean that we have a moral duty, an obligation to our fellow humans and to other living creatures. And that obligation calls on us to be prudent stewards of the natural environment that supports and sustains our lives. Sustaining the environment, in turn, is our highest priority as thinking, verbal, tool-using creatures blessed with free will; yes, we have a choice. In my view, it’s ethical to choose fresh water, clean air, nutritious food-the bounties our home planet provides for us-and safeguard these for future generations." — Susan Szenasy

She’s no longer the editor of the magazine, but they still do design optimism.

Melissa Stafford-Woodruff mentioned this fantastic piece of art about labor on LinkedIn, where good things sometimes appear, including a post about the acquisition for the Fenimore Art Museum by Paul D’Ambrosio.

And we know, dressmaking is having a moment.

Andrea Bergen is one of our favorite local artists. We love our raccoon and we’re sad we didn’t manage to snag a pizza bat from her last show.

We also met ceramicist Sarah Duyer a few weeks ago at open studios. Her work is fun.

And in good local news, Bottom of the Hill found a buyer, who is planning to retain the staff and the general vibe.

Let us know if you’ve stumbled across anything good lately.

New Service! Snap Facilitation

We’ve worked with an enormous variety of mission-driven organizations over the years. And what we’ve found is that — whatever the project — the most valuable part is often getting everyone together in one conversation to hash through all of their assumptions and agendas.

So, what if we just did that bit. Because sometimes you do need a whole entire rebranding effort, and sometimes you just need to bust through what’s blocking your organization in one uncomfortable conversation, with some friends from outside to keep everyone on track.

30,000 years ago, a wolf tentatively approaches a fire…

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