Farther Afield

Welcome to farther afield, which will be a semi-regular feature from our creative director, Honora Foah.

Difference

The qualities.  Is it rough or slippery?  Is it hot or 5 minutes exactly out of the refrigerator?  Is it blue-white, blue-grey or blue-green?  We reward and pay attention to very small differences.  The difference between an Olympic gold medalist  and the person who runs dead last is usually a fraction of a second.  Less than a second.  One is going to get sponsorship contracts and one is going home to be a used car salesman.

Attention to the qualities of a thing in tiny details or in the ability to completely rethink a whole genre leads, I think, to quality.  And also to happiness.   Some like it hot.  If you like it hot, then that is a quality of Thai food that brings pleasure and if it isn’t hot enough it’s kind of nyeh.

I think we respond to precision, to things that suit us down to the ground.  Some of those things are universal and some very individual.  The idea behind difference design is that paying attention to what makes a difference to our sense, what makes a difference to our finances and really caring about that as every single piece of a house is rethought and tweaked, will create happiness.

Here’s an example of a two micron difference that changed a city block:

and this is rethinking the whole thing and making a difference.

- Honora Foah