*notcot in me , 16:00

RESTART: 2014- 01.29.14

restart.jpg “I’ve started this post for months…” is how so many text documents that float on my desktop begin. And they are all essentially letters to you (the readers!) and me (to make me face things and admit them out loud?)… yet somehow i write and rewrite them, so this time it’s just going to go right up! Here we go!

Things have been quiet here on NOTCOT.com (but still filling NOTCOT.org and the others with inspiration constantly!) It’s going to be 9 years in March. Nine years! That feels like an eternity, yet I can’t imagine my life without the sites. I’ve said it time and time again, but it still holds true - “Having to find one thing that excites and inspires me daily has changed my life.” It has! It still does! It keeps me giddy and excited and thrilled and curious about what i’ll find tomorrow.

As for the quietness ~ when some of the once fun parts started to feel more like work than fun, (besides physically realizing i needed to slow down a smidge) i finally realized it was time to step back and reassess things. Reexamine. Refocus. Restart?

superpost.jpg One of those restart bits was testing out “superposts” (the pages that look like these) as we’ve called them internally on NOTCOT.org. Instead of writing these posts on Movable Type (like this one! On my ancient blog design i have yet to redo in a while…) Dan wrote me some superpost code to try out so we could integrate full length posts into NOTCOT.org pages and post bigger pics and videos and more… and while i’ve been using it for some time, it was when i stopped doing features on NOTCOT.com (here!) to fully commit to trying out how those felt for a little bit. And it’s been fun! And they go up SO FAST! Big pictures + captions, but they sometimes feel lost amongst the sea of links over there, so i’m still hesitant to fully let go of this space. (Thoughts?)

notlabs.jpg

Another fresh start has been NOTlabs ~ teaming up with Shawn Sims, we’ve been taking my background in interactive/product design/UX and years of NOTCOT (it’s amazing what becomes instinctual after more than a decade of looking at and tracking design inspiration of all sorts) and his background in architecture, tangible interaction design, automotive, and robotics ~ mixing them together, what emerges has been a fascinating, playful, curiosity driven learning experience the last 2 years. From silly laser cutter and 3d printing experiments of our own ~ to interactive installations for others ~ to inspiration filled presentations for design companies and agencies ~ to create toys for our puppy ~ building/growing/shaping things ~ and there’s so much more to come in 2014! It’s amazing how much FUN things are when driven by passion and curiosity.

So what’s next?

Well it’s taken me a while to realize this one ~ but NEXT has to be cutting back on the less interesting and less fun sides of things if nothing else but to make room for more NEWNESS!

NOTCOT was never about design news, but the things we love that inspires us. Over the years that grows and evolves and doubles back and that’s what keeps it fun, its less of a place to see everything new going on, and more of a place to see and share the giddiness of getting inspired and letting that inspiration take you for a ride as you create new things which end up inspiring others… I love the design inspiration cycle! And NOTCOT is still the bulletin board of our studio - gone digital, as we’ve said from day one. So what’s actually changing? Maybe a mentality more than anything else? Maybe the revenue stream? Maybe the way we all interact? Or work together? Or share work? (Side note - go read Design Sponge’s State of the Blog Union: How the Blogging World Has Changed - she covers so much i’ve been thinking about the last year so well!)

So 2014 for NOTCOT! Let’s make some art! Bring more design experiments to life! More real/physical vs digital! Let’s have more FUN. So ~ have ideas? What do you want to see? What do you want to do together? Let’s play! See a way NOTCOT can be of service to what you’re up to? Let’s chat!

… and as for NOTCOT.com ~ for the moment, i think this is where i’m going to share more thoughtful content, maybe more analytical research, exploring ideas we’re playing with ~ almost as if NOTCOT.com is the sketchbook/notebook to the bulletin board that is NOTCOT.org.

Look forward to hearing from you ~ and THANK YOU so so much for the years of support and keeping this fun! Feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line here.

3 Notes

I appreciate you sharing these thoughts with us, Jean. I hope things are going your way as time moves along. You all are an inspiration for many of us!

Sincerely - Roger D.

----- Roger Darnell 06.02.14 10:59

Hi Jean, Justine, Shawn and co.
I wish you the most luck in the world. Thank you so much for your work. NOTCOT has always been one of the biggest inspirations since I am using the Internet. It’s been too lang since we last met, Jean. It would be great to meet again one day. In Germany, the US or elsewhere. I am curious what you are doing 2014.

Stay as you are.
Markus

----- Markus "Roitsch" Reuter 30.01.14 02:29

Makes me miss the days when commenters wrote “First!” Love the energy, to 2014, that we discover the next wave.

----- Tex 29.01.14 21:45


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