aesthetics

Aesthetics is scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature." Aesthetics studies new ways of seeing and of perceiving the world.

Let's consider the three following statements: “Kurt Vonnegut's writings are funny.” “Modern architecture is mysterious.” “Rock ballads can be sad.” These statements all purport to be statements about the qualities of aesthetic objects, but they cannot be. First year philosophy students would hold that when I call Vonnegut's work “funny” I am really saying, “His writing makes me laugh”. But this statement is about the effect of Vonnegut upon me. So, according to the student philosophers, when I say that an aesthetic object is funny, mysterious, or sad, I am really not talking about an aesthetic object at all, but about myself. If I think I am talking about the aesthetic object, that is merely because I confuse the object with my response to it.

archetype

According to C. G. Jung, the term archetype relates to an instinctive trend and the ability to think instinctively. He believed that archetypes reside within the collective unconscious of people the world over. We all have experience of dream symbols, which are archetypes in action. A well-designed product or service may tap into archetypes and become a “mystery” success.

An archetype has no form of its own, but it acts as an "organising principle" on the things we see or do. An example is the mother archetype, symbolised by the primordial mother or "earth mother". We would never have survived without our connection with a nurturing-one during our times as helpless infants. So the mother archetype is our built-in ability to recognise a certain relationship, that of "mothering”. –Perhaps a well-designed “mother” product could kick start us towards sustainable economy.

box

Jack-in-the-box - a toy that consists of a box with a crank. When the crank is turned, it plays a melody. At the end of the tune, the lid pops open and a figure, usually a clown or jester, pops out. A theory as to the origin of the jack-in-the-box is that it comes from the 13th century English prelate Sir John Schorne, who is often pictured holding a boot with a devil in it. According to folklore, he once cast the devil into a boot to protect a village. This theory may explain why in French, a jack-in-the-box is called a "diable en boîte" ("boxed devil"). It may also explain why thinking inside the box is not healthy!

clarity

the quality of being clear and easy to understand
"Clarity" is also a song by John Mayer, who introduced it as a song written about the first few seconds after waking up in the morning when you don't remember about all of the problems and worries in your life.

When you can't find a solution, sleep on it.

creative business rethinking

improving or reinventing the activity of designing, producing or selling ideas, goods or services by means of original concepts

A good measure of creative business rethinking every now and then does wonders to organisational vitality and strategic success.

curiosity

It may be safer to go with the proven ideas, but “to boldly go where no man has gone before” yields greater satisfaction and innovation.

Curiosity killed the cat and satisfaction brought it back.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. -Einstein
Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas. -Marie Curie

design

Design refers to a plan for the construction of an object while "to design" refers to making this plan. No generally-accepted definition of "design" exists, which is not particularly surprising as design is used in many different contexts, for example in industrial design, communication design, fashion design, interaction design, interface design, user experience design, game design, sound design, interior design and sustainable design. —To some it is only an empty selling point, while others devote themselves to it with passion, creating something better that did not exist before.

"Design is making things right." --Ralph Kaplan.

design management

"Simply put, design management is the business side of design. Design management encompasses the ongoing processes, business decisions, and strategies that enable innovation and create effectively-designed products, services, communications, environments [organisational identities] and brands that enhance our quality of life and provide organisational success."

disambiguate

to make (an ambiguous expression) unambiguous

Marketing and brands often make use of words that are only vague expressions of our thoughts and feelings. We do not think or feel ambiguously, but sometimes we ambiguate the message in order to confuse with words. This is simply unsustainable. So let's simplify instead of disambiguate, let's get to know each other instead of networking and, above all, let's not resort to verbose skullduggery.

(skullduggery = dishonorable proceedings; mean dishonesty or trickery.)

flow

Flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energised, and aligned with the task at hand. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task.

Your mind works best in flow.

glocal

Think local. Learn global. Act glocal. We are no longer just international, as we are all becoming glocal. As glocals we may see and think differently about a business need, a problem, or a market's niche, and as a result have a good chance of coming up with a new approach - one that's original, competitive and sustainable. However, to become truly glocal, we need to become connected globally and acquire cross-cultural intelligence.

mind

the part of a person that makes it possible for a person to think, feel emotions and understand things. It also includes the unconscious mind with its feelings, skills, perceptions, habits and complexes, as well as hidden phobias and concealed desires.

Her mind was playing with the project.
Before she knew it, something warm entered her mind.
A keen observer might have spotted a beautiful moment of mindwork.

a network of creative minds working towards the right questions, pertinent utopias and general enlightenment

If in doubt, ask mindworks.



Mindworks Ltd.
Uudenmaankatu 4-6
FI-00120 Helsinki
Finland

henrik.aalto(at)mindworks.fi
+358 405 086 556

natural

as found in nature and not involving anything made or done by people describes an ability or characteristic of a design which appears to involve nothing made or done by people

Where did this remarkable piece of natural desing come from?
-It's a baby, stupid!

Pan-European

Pan-European is a state of mind guiding our concepts and extending from our homes in Finland to the shores of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It is also an economic and cultural area that we associate with and where we like to do business.

perception

We assign different meanings to what we perceive. This is boring! And the meanings might change for a certain person over time, or even abruptly. One might change one's perspective or simply make things mean something else. This is business poetry! Therefore, reality is what we perceive it to be, but it could be something else, too, especially for someone else, for someone like you.

“The greater the idea, the more resistance it will receive.” -unknown

rethinking

to think anew about a plan, idea or system in order to change or improve it

They no longer saw any point in rethinking the plan.
We challenged them to rethink the entire operation.

slow

Slow food, downshifting and other such attitude improvements, purported to enable sustainable lifestyle and production marked with less stress, overtime, and psychological expense. Working slowly is not the goal, but the benefits that can be derived from making more with less allow more time for mindwork, too. Ultimately, slow is more sustainable, more productive and more beneficial to all of us.

sustainable

Imagine a sustainable earth. It's a ball like this one, but with clean air, water and soil. It is the living room of more conscious people who think and act glocally. They will design, produce and consume products that last for generations to come, because perfect products need not be disposed of at the first whim. Their consumption will no longer threaten the livelihood and beauty of our planet.

We can't think of a sustainable excuse not to start behaving like them. It's not a matter of persuading people to adopt more sustainable lifestyles, but of offering them the right and more desirable alternatives.

sustainable business

Imagine a sustainable business. This business will be ahead of its competition with leaders and designers who create truly valuable products and services. Its production goes on without a threat to our environment or fellow beings, and there's continued utility, joy and aesthetic pleasure derived from the consumption of its products and services.

Without a doubt, there will be completely new businesses that are based on advanced service models and altered production principles. There will be more intelligent use of materials, even reuse of parts and whole products. Marketing will become something else, too. Perhaps sustainable businesses will communicate through networks maintained and appreciated by glocal people, who voice their concerns openly.

Understanding this paradigm shift is crucial for sustainable business success.

sustainable economy

Imagine a sustainable economy. It is most probably a system where the society rewards – be it in the form of tax concessions, levies or direct investments - sustainable design, production, consumption and living in general.

This economy is no longer based on environmentally and socially indifferent cut-throat competition. Instead, it will favour organisations that can operate with least harmful, or most beneficial, impacts. And there will be an environmentally and socially aware population expecting better, more sustainable jobs, goods and services.

It is a situation where the planet earth continues to sustain life, where sustainable economies thrive and people can live happily.

sustainable living

Imagine sustainable living. There would be houses that warm up or cool down using near zero energy. Food would be produced ecologically and taste great. People would be in harmony with the nature and there would be ample clean energy for use in production and leisure. No more harmful emissions and travel restrictions.

At the core of this bliss are glocally conscious people making sustainable products and services in a sustainable economy, embraced by a sustainable society. Resources would no longer be wasted and landfills would become obsolete. Production and consumption cycles would be so much slower that several generations could benefit from the same high-quality goods.

Our consumption, production and lifestyle choices can be changed – and must change – but someone has to fuel that change towards sustainable living. We believe designers, brave business people and open-minded production professionals have the means to start now. It's only a matter of time that the critical mass is attained.

And we're sure people will be extinct, just like polar bears, if we ignore the benefits of sustainable living. We believe in you.

sustainable design

In order to get on a path towards sustainable living, most products and services must be rethought entirely. Designers are one of the key agents in the transformation from doom economics to sustainable production. They understand better than most what are the total environmental impacts of their designs and they should welcome new ideas and efforts to reduce that impact to an acceptable level.

They can also make huge contributions by leaving the design for the sake of design behind, thus slowing down the production cycle. Sustainable design is not something we must create, but something we should rethink and put into action.

sustainable design

In order to get on a path towards sustainable living, most products and services must be rethought entirely. Designers are one of the key agents in the transformation from doom economics to sustainable production. They understand better than most what are the total environmental impacts of their designs and they should welcome new ideas and efforts to reduce that impact to an acceptable level.

They can also make huge contributions by leaving the design for the sake of design behind, thus slowing down the production cycle. Sustainable design is not something we must create, but something we should rethink and put into action.

works

a. an industrial building, especially one where a lot of people are employed
b. something created as a result of effort, especially a painting, book or piece of music

a steel/car works
Complete works of a great mind.