The beautiful Ocean Hue

I've missed some great things the last few months from one of my favorite blogs, Ocean Hue:

* In Magenta Ain't A Colour, Liz Elliot enlightens on the little known fact that magenta, better known as pink, does not exist in the color spectrum.

Unlike every known color (including browns, which are shades of yellow or red), there is no wavelength for magenta. It's actually an extraspectral color that is the result of the human brain simultaneously processing the two ends of the color spectrum, red and violet.


* Teamwork or Groupthink? Susan Cain makes the case that creativity in the workplace is often stifled in group situations and individuals are too infrequently allotted time or space for solitude, the ultimate condition for creativity. Commenters of the article appear somewhat split:

Evan - Creative people need to be alone, yes, but they also need to feel empowered to take chances and to feel that those efforts will be praised. If you look at google and facebookinc. those companies utilize open floor plans. They are also very flat organizations with low power distance. This means that any one can come up with an idea or question the boss on an issue. This is critical for creativity because, as we all know, not every idea is a success and going down creative rabbit holes can be time consuming.

J.Sawyer - There really is nothing more dangerous in a creative organization than a great salesman with a bad idea – and when groupthink takes over, the loudest salesman can readily recruit the rest behind a mediocre concept. Which is probably why 98% of ads, records, films, products and television shows stink. People in business are generally better at convincing than at conceiving.

Some projects are best carried out aggressive and fast, little mistakes and errors along the way be damned, while other projects are more methodical and require patience, and perfection. The same project might even need the service of both strategies, depending on the stage of progress. There is also the composition of the team to consider, the leadership style, what the business actually does, and many other factors. Too many variables? For writers and thinkers perhaps, but not for successful captains of industry.


* A couple of interesting items on branding, one creative and charming, the other pitifully ironic. From the first category, artist Nicole Meyer has taken on an interesting project where she intends to brand Minnesota's 10000 lakes. Some of them are so good you wonder if branding, or other symbolizing such as flags or coat of arms, will ever be something we do with bodies of water.

The second item on branding isn't so charming. The anti-capitalist Occupy crowd is unsurprisingly having a crisis of confidence and needs help identifying themselves. Well, that's what logos are for, right? I can't wait for the theme song.