It has been said that the famous nurse Florence Nightingale was the first to use diagrams for presenting statistical data. This is not true, of course, but she may have been the first to use them for persuading people of the need for change. Florence Nightingale created a diagram to force the British Government to create cleaner and safer hospitals. The war hero stories where soldiers died on the battling fields presented a much more heroic picture, than the death of thousands of soldiers in hospital beds. They died because the hospitals were filthy and unsafe. Nightingale wanted to make a change so she designed and delivered a 'rose' diagram to the British Government. People have very limited time to make decisions, so a graph must be informative and understood at one glance. Her diagram was just that! Nightingale's diagram conveyed a message of hope.
Nightingale's diagram saved million of lives
Diagrams can be a brilliant propaganda tool, because you can easily read statistical data in a glance, which would otherwise have taken a much longer time to read and understand in text. I personally think diagrams often need a counterpart, because one diagram often does not show the whole picture. You need something to compare the diagram with, in order to put the information in context. Some diagrams do this by having year-on-year results, while others simply show data from one event. So there are good and bad diagrams.
The School of Art, Design & Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is a school that really stands out - or blends in - however you wish to look at it. It blends in with the nature, and symbolizes the creativity it houses.The glass façade provides a high performance building envelope that reduces solar gain and heat load while allowing the benefits of natural views and daylight into creative spaces. The curving grass roofs acts as informal gathering places, where students and staff can hang out. I would love to study at a school like this, and I think the idea and architecture is brilliant!
Straight lines does not exist in nature, straight lines are human made. Nature is not linear, but it is more connected and networked. So why are so many people Straight Line Thinkers? Straight Line Thinkers can not follow the development of people, they can not be a part of the evolution of technology, fashion, the way we talk and dress. It is alien to them. What does not follow the regular linear ways of doing things, is not understood. The 20th century was the century where we built big things, the 21st century is where we learn big things. So people are forces into defining themselves in a new way. In the old days we defined ourselves by the city we lived in - where we grew up, worked, married, had kids and died. You used your skills to the benefit of the community. All the skills combined made strong societies. It is not like that anymore, because we no longer define ourselves by the external factors. Some people feel like they do not belong anywhere, hence having problems identifying and defining themselves. We should go back to the old ways of giving back to the society, and thereby 'finding' ourselves.
Business schools teach us to focus on profits, individualism and hard work. It would be good to de-school business schools, in order to create an understanding and connection between ethics, nature and people. The world is networked, just like nature. So we need to be more flexible and adaptive. We need to imbed sociability in everything we do, and make the environment more social, so we actually want to spend time in the environment. We should focus on shared selective joy, in order to create a playful and enjoyable world.
This is an explanation of the relationship between our roles, the Service, Client and Context.
Our roles are explained far left, and our service is described at the top of the tetrahedral. We had some difficulties figuring out who our clients were, as we both deal with local craftsmen AND the businesses which are going to sell the products. Our direct clients are the local craftsmen, and our indirect clients are the local businesses. We are focusing on the Indian Ocean market, with the Seychelles islands as a starting point. As our consultancy will grow, we will explore opportunities in other parts in the world as well.
We have created a consultancy named Orchid Consultants, and our first and primary focus is on the market in the Seychelles. We want to aid local jewelers to reach out to their client base, and the problem is that the current jewelry design does not fit tourists/European taste. We will consult local crafts companies/people in designing jewelry that suits current trends/tastes, and deal with local hotels and shops in selling the jewelry. We get 30% of the net profits per item the jewelers sell, and we are dealing with a niche strategy and market.
Our first client will be the jewelry and crafts manufacturer Kreolor, which is situated in the Seychelles. Kreolor focuses on local materials, and the jewelry is handmade. We se a big opportunity in brand development and management, design strategy and a re-design and modern twist of the actual design of the products.
