Purchase the book on the iBookstore
“iPad Design Lab” trailer on Vimeo.
The EPUB version of book is HERE:
To all of those who are writing to let us know that you can’t buy iPad Design Lab: Storytelling in the Age of the Tablet, in your countries, or for your tablet or phone, the good news is that we have completed the EPUB version and it is ready for download via Amazon.com for Kindle:
http://tinyurl.com/8u99txw.
Read the Society of Publication Designers’ review of The iPad Design Lab here:
http://www.spd.org/2012/10/must-read-ipad-design-lab.php
TAKEAWAY: This is part 23 of my occasional series 40 Years/40 Lessons, which I call a sort of career memoir, capturing highlights and reminiscing about what has been a spectacular journey for me, doing what I love most. Today’s segment: all about the importance of having a heart.
Illustration by Ana Lense Larrauri/The Miami Herald
Illustration by Manoj Sinha, Hindustan, Delhi, India; read about Manoj’s talent here—https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/manoj_sinha_and_the_art_of_the_caricature
Recently, at a Society of News Design conference in Cleveland, I was invited to participate in a closing ceremony game in which three of us panelists were up on stage and had two minutes to explain what we considered to be a “pivotal story”. It was up to us to choose our own story.
The audience, of course, designers, editors and students. I thought a lot about what a pivotal story would be for me. After 40 years of a professional career, I knew that I could not come up with just one story. There have been many pivotal stories in my life, as readers of the blog, and of the 40 Years/40 Lessons series, know well. How can one select a single story when you have been a child actor, a teenage refugee, a husband, father, grandfather, designer, professor, consultant and author? It has been a rich and interesting life, with the exhilarating moments of personal triumph, and the low and sad moments, like the loss of my wife and my mother.
But when I had to choose what I consider to be a pivotal moment, I knew that it had something to do with the heart.
You’ve got to have a heart
It may sound like a cliche to say that you’ve got to have a heart. But, in fact, you do, and it is not to make you better and holier than thou. Not at all. Life is easier when you have a heart because it is the heart that allows us to put ourselves, even momentarily, in the shoes of the people we are interacting with.
Of course, it is the brain that guides us through so many of the processes involved in our daily lives and, especially, our work. But the brain is only part of the equation. The heart is the brain’s ideal sidekick, in my view.
It is the heart that flashes a yellow light between the green and the red.
It is the heart that may keep us from saying something that we may regret moments later.
it is the heart that may cut through what may be instant anger, to buffer that feeling, while you try to understand that which made you so angry.
The heart as copilot
In specific terms, having a heart has helped me through many instances when a difficult student in one of my classes refused to play by the rules, or when an art director in one of my projects can’t get over the fact that he now has a consultant to deal with, and feels that his bosses do not trust him and/or his talents to carry out the project. The heart also helps when dealing with everyday situations, rude service providers, less than cordial colleagues and the ever present pessimists who always find the hole in the donut.
I don’t know how you can get a heart. I assume it is there for us to tap into it.
Throughout my long career, I have allowed my brain to be the captain in the cockpit, but with the heart as an alert copilot.
I get angry just like everyone else. But anger does not come easily to me. When it does, my first reaction is to wonder if the anger is justified. “Pick your battles, Mario,” my brain reminds me. “Is it possible that YOU made someone angry, Mario,” asks my heart.
Like everyone else, I run into all the emotions and reactions of the human condition. Remember that I spend the majority of my time in newsrooms, interacting with creative people. Some of them are quite smart and talented, but can also be heartless. I have witnessed the very talented with no patience for the less so; the one in a high position stepping over those under his supervision; the person in power surrounding himself with his favorites, at the expense of the real talent NOT part of the click. These are the exceptions.
In the majority of cases, I have seen the brainy and talented with the biggest hearts: the ones who are so self assured that they surround themselves with the best, and everyone shines (guided by the heart).
Life is definitely easier, our interactions more pleasant, and the result of our work more successful and everlasting if we let the heart guide us in those moments that defy logic.
Some of the most successful people I have ever worked with, and the best professors and bosses I have had the honor of encountering, have had a heart. The heart keeps us going in more ways than one.
The best managers I have worked with are firm, fair and compassionate.
Those are the three characteristics of people for whom the heart is, indeed, the pivotal story.
1.Mirrors.
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_1—a_look_in_the_mirror
2.Refugee.
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_2—refugee
3.Teacher.
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_3—teacher/
4.Mentors.
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_4—mentors/
5.Consultant.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_5—consultant/
6.Eagle.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_6eagke
7.Abroad.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_7._abroad
8. Books
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_8_books
9. Luck
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40years_40_lessons_9_luck
10. Positive.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_10positive
11. Culture
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_11_culture
12.Adapting.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_12_adapting1
13.Dreams.
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_13_dreams
14. The Pitch.
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_14_the_pitch
15.. Ethics.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_15_ethics/
16. Time.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_16_time
17.Pause.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_17_pause/
18.Stories.
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_18_stories
19.Boss.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_19_boss
20.Bubblies.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_21_bubblies/
21.Age.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_21_age/
22.Competition.
https://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40_years_40_lessons_22_competition
1st Middle East News Design Conference
It promises to be a great program, and a historic one, too: the first SND Middle East gathering. Put it on your calendars: November 8 & 9, in Beirut, Lebanon. Sponsored by An-Nahar and SND.
For more information:
http://www.snd20events.com/conference/