Riding 25,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina which will take approximately 2 years, Adam Biel is not your average, recent college graduate! He’s riding to raise awareness and $1 million for Autism. You can learn more about Adam’s journey at www.adventureforautism.com.

I met Adam at the southwest corner of Madison Sq. Park. I’m sitting on a park bench waiting, I look up and I see a well dressed, young man who is obviously looking for someone. The wardrobe was not at all what I expected from a guy who literally lives on a bike. So I ask him about the clothes. He laughs a bit, and proceeds to tell me the only thing that he’s wearing that he owns are his socks! He then tells me he was staying with a male model who is basically his size, and Adam is wearing his clothes.

We spent the day with Adam learning a lot about why is doing this, and where he finds much of his motivation. It’s an amazing story, and much more will come soon.

The current condition of our collective culture is not sustainable. Let me repeat, as a whole our culture is not sustainable.

And I’m not talking about sustainable products, sustainable energy sources, sustainable grocery bags … I’m talking about our culture.

The condition of culture is up for grabs. And it’s time for the people to take it back. Take it back from giant corporations that are wealthier than most countries. Take it back from governments that are fueled by economic churn, and that lay at the feet of these giant corporations.

We must not put the salvation of our culture in the hands of technological advancement. We need broad-based, social change. Technology can compound the problem instead solve the problem. About one hundred years ago the streets of New York City had some serious issues … Major traffic congestion, sanitation probelms, and polution. All of this was thanks to the hundreds of thousands of horse drawn buggies. But when the first automobiles showed up on the roads, hope came along with the car. People anticipated that cars would help with traffic congestion and keep horse manure off the streets of Manhattan. While the later is true, the issues with polution were only compounded as were the traffic jams!

Technological advancements do us very little good … Wind power, electric cars, orbital satellite solar power. What’s the point? Yes, we (the U.S.) stand to relinquish our dependency on foreign oil, but these technological advancements will not sustain our culture. These technologies still feed our collective consumption. They simply postpone the inevitable.

And yes, recycling is important. However, it has very little value on its own. Recycling assuages the guilt of our over-consumptive nature. Recycling must come in step. Reduce. Re-use. Recycle. It is important to fully realize that everything needs to fall in step. And our culture has many, many steps that need to be taken. It’s time to start!

Recently spent the afternoon and evening relaxing on The Highline, watching the sun set over the Hudson River. What a great way to spend a few hours! The Highline is one of my new favorite places.

Not too long ago, I ran around Manhattan with 25 white, helium-filled balloons for a photo project … Purity in the City. Well, this basic idea was replicated by 300 +/- volunteers who were a part of City Uprising 2009. Purity in the City photo project was one of two Arts Renegade Projects curated by SALT artspace. And all the participants took photos while galavanting through the streets of NYC, documenting their experience.

I also went out with a one of these groups and took portraits, which you can see by clicking here.

All of the particpants photographs were collected, printed and became a part of an interactive gallery exhibition at SALT artspace … Photos above.

Recently summoned to my civic duty, I was in lower Manhattan in the heart of the NYC Judicial system. Sat for hours and hours in a large room … Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

While out for a lunch break, I stumbled upon this octagonal urban oasis in the middle of a small park. Beautiful and refreshing.

Gotta love public art installations!

One of the many missions of City Uprising 2009 was the Arts Renegade Projects on the streets of NYC. And one these Arts Renegade Projects followed one of my recent, personal projects … Purity in the City, the 25 white helium filled balloon project.

On Monday afternoon I followed one of the many groups that descended on the city with 25 white helium filled balloons, and we went up on the Highline. We had a great time … Short-lived, but lots of fun. We spent about 30-45 minutes walking down the Highline, and I took a handful of portraits in the process.

So, I know the coolest 12 year old in all of New York City … Noah R. And he recently had this killer idea that ended up being called “12 Second Sketch.”

It all started one day in Central Park when Noah decided to sketch the Dakota building. For those who don’t know, that’s the super-famous building where John Lennon resided, and was shot just outside. Anyway, Noah decided to sketch the building in 12 seconds, because, well … He’s twelve!

And today, Noah, Paul, Jenny and myself set out to make a short film that explains all of this. We interviewed Noah, so that he could explain his concept. However, we didn’t want the visuals of the film to explain the concept. We want the visuals of the film to represent Noah’s perspective. So, that’s what we set out to accomplish. We headed downtown to the Meat Packing district to the Highline. We shot video, shot some stills, did a quick audio interview, and took some audio clips from the streets of NYC.

Looking forward to seeing the final piece. Paul’s supposed to be putting it all together tomorrow and it will be used at City Uprising this year in NYC. Over 400 volunteers are going to be running through Manhattan trying to get New Yorkers to participate in a 12 second sketch of “anything that comes to mind.”

Pretty cool, no?

“The best teachers are the most earnest seekers. Those are the ones to follow.”

Formulated by Grace Hw., initially stated by Claude Hu.

Nestea has a new campaign … Liquid Awesomeness. The website is pretty sweet, but definitely weird. Doubtful it will have a long shelf-life.

Regardless … We’re walking down Broadway last night, look up and see the above poster. Without any context whatsoever, this ad just seems ridiculous. Stupid really! Maybe I’m getting old.

Maybe I’m not. As a designer and brand strategist myself, I always work to consider the environment in which the work exists. Context is so important. And without it, the point can be completely lost. We live in a world where individuals are exposed to a great deal of information … And not everyone is exposed to all the same stuff.

Or maybe I just need to start watching TV! Nahhh, don’t think so.

It seems that television is the “context” some automatically base expectations. But you’d think these days with DVR and the internet, that designers and agencies would realize that the collective public is beginning to gain personal control of their own context. This is changing the way brands must communicate to individuals.

While the base approach for this Nestea campaign is interesting, this approach is not for the general public at large. It should be used only for smaller niche audiences that make up the long tail … Where it resonates the strongest.

I just had to share this beautiful scene from a few mornings back. Gotta love it when the walk to the subway is so amazing.