I saw this mannequin in a storefront in Belgrade, Serbia. It’s just a fiberglass form of a girl, designed to display clothing the store wants to sell. But she wants more.

She aspires to be more than just a mannequin. She wants to walk out of the store and mingle with the humans passing on the sidewalk in front of the window. She wants more.

She’s an inspiration to all of us. We should always aspire to be more. To move ourselves forward – improve ourselves, our craft, our art (and I believe we are all artists).

To what do you aspire? Have you moved yourself closer to that goal today?

A tree and its shadow. Do I focus on the tree or the shadow? And why?

On what are we focusing our cameras? Our projects? Our lives? And why?

We need a good reason.

A favorite business phrase is "blue sky"; that there's no limit. Usually this is delivered in a negative way. That the sky isn't the limit; rather the limit is much, much closer.

Thinking beyond the limits is where true innovation begins. If we constrain our thinking, we live with imposed limits. While I advocate "playing with the box" as in working with the limits or tools you have, that doesn't mean limiting your thought in the process.

Dream big. Reach for the sky. Start there and then come back to earth with a solution that fits the constraints that exist. Never limit the possibilities at the beginning.

Berlin, Germany is crazy with graffiti. Street art is more accurate. And cool street art at that. There are several places that are dedicated to street art, where artists can post their logos and then other artists come along and post over them, next to them, whatever.

I like the stories these logos tell. By themselves they convey a message, and when juxtaposed and given a caption, a third story emerges from the original individual images.

I call this image “Torn between two worlds.”

What can you combine or partner with to make a new story emerge?

The change of seasons always brings a new energy to life. Transitions that are as old as time itself signal changes in metabolism, growth, light. As living beings we feel these changes despite modern advances in insulation, clothing, heating and air conditioning and the fact that most of us live and work inside most of the time.

If we let ourselves feel the changes in the seasons, let our bodies move with the rhythms of the ages, it can be liberating. Sleeping a longer or less depending on how you react to the fluctuations, eating more or less, adjusting your energy output to the energy input.

The same can be applied to projects. Adjusting emphasis and energy based on how the seasons move you, move the project. What energy can you draw from the energy of time? What effect can the change of light caused by seasonal changes have on how you view your current project?

In every situation there are the details that can make or break an experience. A door with bad hinges, aside from being annoying, is dysfunctional. Before long, it will fall off of its mount negating the purpose for which it was designed.

We all love the look and feel of things. The glamour. The sparkle. But it must work as intended.

Do the “hinges” of your project perform their simple yet essential function? Not just once but hundreds or thousands of times? Are they designed to ensure a fulfilling experience or will they fall apart rendering the project useless?

Lines and direction are definitive, telling us where to go or what to do. With lines, we don’t have to think for ourselves; someone else is doing the thinking for us.

Lines demand attention and often are accompanied by rules. Don’t cross the line! Stay between the lines!

Rules are meant to be broken.

Go ahead, color outside of the lines. Freedom is worth the risk.

Right now, wherever you are when you’re reading this, look up. Take a moment and really look at what’s above you. Look for the patterns, the designs, the juxtaposition of objects.

What do you see? What’s there that you haven’t seen before? What’s interesting or confusing or troubling that you see? How can you use this on the project you’re working on right this minute?

No one I know is taking life nice and slow – everyone seems to be on a daily pace that would fatigue a sprinter. We all have 24 hours in a day. How we spend them is our decision. I’ve known children who are so busy and so scheduled that they don’t have time to be, well, just children, with free time to play and relax.

Most adults are also packing in the hours – more hours at work, going here and there all the time with no time to even catch their breath. We all need time for ourselves. Time to unwind and literally do nothing. No catching up on emails, no doing ‘just one more thing’ which are both still work. Time to take it easy and enjoy the moment.

This image seems to be contradictory to the story, doesn’t it? It appears to be some fast-moving lights of some kind. Actually, it’s a photo of Christmas lights taken at a slow shutter speed with the camera moving to create the streaks. It is, in essence, a photo made possible only by taking it slow.

All one has to say is: Paris, Monmartre, summer, a flower shop. You've already added "romance" to the words above haven't you?

We need to engage our audience as quickly as possible and as deeply as possible. Draw them into our world and help them experience it. Help them make the connection that gives the experience relevance to them.

How are you engaging your audience? How are you drawing them into the experience?

Animals at zoos are grouped together by genus. Paintings in a museum are grouped by theme, era, style. People are grouped by zodiac sign, last name, hair color. Sports fans wear jerseys of their favorite team to the stadium.

They are cohesive, in harmony with one another. Items that are similar in nature and, when brought together, work.

How can you provide others a harmonious experience?

I often wonder when I see the last leaf hanging on a tree in the fall, “What’s keeping it there? Why won’t the tree let go?”

We all hold onto things way too long sometimes. Trees need to let go of their leaves – all of them – to continue the cycle of growth and renewal. Shedding their summer coat lets them prepare for the oncoming winter, which leads into the next spring when their branches are longer from the new growth they take on. More leaves, a greater ability to process light, reaching new heights.

We have to let go of things from time to time. Letting go allows us to to prepare for what’s next, to grow.

What are you holding onto that you need to let go of? What’s holding you back from growth?

Outside of Missoula, Montana is a bar that sits just off of the highway and is known in particular for its fried chicken.

Just as dinner started, a spring rainstorm came across the valley, washing the dust of the day away. Country music was naturally playing on the jukebox, the homemade fried chicken was fresh and hot and the locally brewed beer ice cold. Locals were visiting about the valley news as I grabbed another napkin to wipe the juice from the chicken from my chin.

This photo was a natural extension of that experience, capturing a slice of that moment in time.

How does your project capture the essence of the experience? What can you do to further engage the listener, reader, viewer or user so they can almost taste the experience?

Sense the moment: A warm, sunny afternoon in June. A corner in city center Warsaw became the site of an impromptu market as the strawberries from fields outside the city were ripe, ready for sale. As locals mobbed the stand the sun sent the warm strawberry aroma in every direction as the berries were weighed, bagged and made their way home to be eaten that day.

You see the bright red of strawberries against the otherwise grey of a city sidewalk.
Can you smell the aroma of the sun-warmed berries?
Can you hear the hum of anxious patrons?
Can you feel the sun warm on your back?
Can you taste the strawberry as it melts in your mouth?

What can you do to bring the five senses alive in a project you are working on right now?

Perched on Sydney Harbor, it’s impossible to imagine the Sydney Opera being anywhere else. Its asymmetrical form – suggesting boat sails or seashells – is one of the most recognized manmade structures in the world.

In this world of look-alike chain stores, hotels and restaurants, breaking out the “me-too” mode takes serious effort – but it can be done.

While most of us won’t design one-of-a-kind amazing structures that attract millions of visitors every year, we can attempt to make the work that we do unique and noteworthy. We can change our little corner of the universe and impact those around us by making our work remarkable.

Don’t settle for OK. Settle for amazing.