maria gil ulldemolins

I’m in the new issue of Revista Lecturas with an article...

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:03:11 +0200

I’m in the new issue of Revista Lecturas with an article on the relationship between chewing gum and twitter. It’s bad of me to say, but it’s a good one.

♥

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:10:38 +0200

(pic by myself)

Just to avoid mixing the past post and this one,

Manu is a person.

Manu is alive and well.

Now,

Manu has great massive curly hair that is now Don-Drapered.

Manu always makes me laugh. Always.

Manu is über smart.

Manu is left-handed.

Manu regularly appears on TV and radio talking about African politics with rather epic music on the background (and weird hands-only shots).

Manu looks sexy even with socks on.

Manu loves boardgames.

Manu is the most generous person I know.

Manu is kind.

Manu is a rock, but not an island.

Manu reads awfully-boring looking reports before going to bed.

Manu is the best travel-partner you’ll ever have.

Manu is stubborn.

Manu and I became a couple exactly 8 years ago, in Cape Town.

Manu will become my husband in September, in Madrid.

Manu has makes me feel the luckiest person on earth.

Manu always makes me wonder if life will go by too quickly because we are having so much fun.

Manu makes me feel like writing teen-like posts such as this one.

I ♥ Manu!

Sibu in the sky with diamonds

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:14:00 +0200

Sibu or Susu or Sibussissu (his actual name) was the biggest cat on earth. I think this might be literal. He was way bigger than you can see in the pic above.

Sibu was barely able to move. He looked like a Roman emperor eating whilst lying down,dragging the food bowl towards himself with his paw.

Sibu liked, and I mean loved, being combed. He wasn’t able to take care of his fur himself and you could see it in his face (boy, was he handsome) that when you did it for him he was in heaven.

He was vivacious even if he was almost immobile. His favorite game was catch-the-shoe. If you removed your shoes whilst seating he’d find a way to catch it and rub himself silly against it.

He left a huge void in our lives this morning. He is now in the sky, with diamonds, listening to The Beatles (he’d do that for us, I don’t think he ever appreciated them as he should), catching infinitely soft slippers and being combed by stars, without end. I can imagine him laying down on massive cushy clouds, being fed the best cat foods ever.

Be in peace, dear, dear Sibu. May you run and run and run and then some more, for all that you couldn’t do down here. And thanks for all the love you ever gave us.

On how "the lost generation" aka the Millenials became "generation innovation"

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:23:36 +0200

On how "the lost generation" aka the Millenials became "generation innovation":

…even though they only love us for our (potential) money, all these reflections on Generation Y are exciting…

Edificios sonrojados (blushing buildings)

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:37:00 +0200

Post on the MIT experiment for ¿Y por qué no?

(image via)

On the ethics of co-creation - an idea

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:04:33 +0200

(Madrid’s Olympic logo, after and before, via)

Design thinking and co-creation are becoming really fashionable in Spain. I know, there have been people out there saying these are dead for a while, but it’s kind of hot in here. Although it means a lot of very different things: in the course by Liz Sanders I attended there was an ongoing discussion about what co-creation was. And, apparently, most examples are found in the area of marketing: a brand launches a new product and creates a campaign that calls out of a naming competition on twitter, for instance. Or a company makes a new product up and tests it out with potential users by making them invent other objects and then “directing” them towards the pre-fabricated prototype.

There are thousands of examples one could name here. I personally feel that we don’t have enough names for all that is being done in this field. But a lot of it is, in my opinion, slightly immoral. To me co-creation is very, very democratic. And that has its downsides. But they are intrinsically part of the process. If you fear what a bunch of “normal” citizens are going to come up with, then don’t use any of these methods. Apple is well known for refusing to do them because they take it upon themselves to know better. I think that’s fair. It’s just not for everyone.

When I lived in the UK there was a small scandal because Jamie Oliver, the cook, asked his fans to check how his products were displayed in supermarkets. People decided that was working for free and the campaign reversed against him.

Abusing people or manipulating them into an idea does not generate any value. And this might all sound very crass, but it’s a young enough field so that certain basic limits have not been defined yet. All brands and agencies seem to be jumping unto the co-creation wagon and they are bargaining with pretty serious stuff (let’s not hire a designer and instead call out for a competition to re-design our packaging and then we give them a month-supply of whatever we make - kind of initiative). The olimpic logo for Madrid’s candidature is an example. And it was outrageous.

There is something called the Bechdel test to check how women are treated in a movie. We should have a similar thing to check if a co-creation exercise is people-centered. We could ask:

-Does it add value in any way to the participants’ lives?

-Does it significantly effect the design of the product?

-Is the result in any way unexpected?

If we answer yes to the three questions, then it’s likely this will be a valid workshop. How do you see this?

Becariedad o no becariedad, esa es la cuestión (to intern or not to intern, that's the question)

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:55:45 +0200

This weeks contribution to ¿Y Por Qué No? (image from banner made by Josué and myself - borrowed from Belén Montilla)

100€, 11 años y la solución de la economía griega (100€, 11 years and the solution to the Greek economy)

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:49:15 +0200

Last week’s post for ¿Y por qué no?

On/Off

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:51:05 +0200

Blogpost for ¿Y Por Qué No? on the Earth Hour initiative in Madrid here.

(Pic by EFE/Javier Lizón)

All of a sudden... Lego!

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:08:39 +0100

I think the Universe is trying to get me to play. In one week, I’ve encountered Lego Serious Play at Liz Sander’s workshop (AMAZING! More please!);

then they produced these ad series (beyond brilliant, it had been a really long time since I had been that impressed by a campaign. This is how you do iconic… iconically. By agency Jung von Matt),

and then my friend Edu passed these to me. And yes, the possibilities are endless, but the message is even more amazing: share, build, grow, think, combine, experience…

The Free Universal Construction Kit from Adapterz on Vimeo.

Ok, got the hint. It’s Spring (even if it’s a grumpy, cloudy Spring in Madrid at the mo). Let’s get out and play (together)!

Co-Creation with Liz Sanders

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:29:00 +0100

I was lucky enough to go to Liz’s 2-day workshop in Madrid last week.

Came out totally inspired!

The pics are by the h2i Institute, and belong here.

Los sonidos de los dibujos de la luz (the sounds of the drawings...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:18:50 +0100

Los sonidos de los dibujos de la luz (the sounds of the drawings made by light).

A review of Bartholomäus Traubeck’s work at ¿Y Por qué no?

Señoras y señores, La Pandemonio (Ladies and gentleman, la Pandemonio)

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:49:18 +0100

Señoras y señores, La Pandemonio (Ladies and gentleman, la Pandemonio):

Yup, popped up in ¿Y por qué no? again!

Hello there! Goodness gracious, I’ve totally disappeared...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:03:25 +0100

Hello there!

Goodness gracious, I’ve totally disappeared from this site!

There is a pile of new blog posts in my brain drafts, but please let me just redirect you to my new article in ¿Y por qué no?

Energías renovadas (renewed energy)

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:57:22 +0100

Hello there!

Goodness gracious, I’ve totally disappeared from this site!

There is a pile of new blog posts in my brain drafts, but please let me just redirect you to my new article in ¿Y por qué no?

Dear everyone, we are about to launch a poster-mag called La...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:14:03 +0100

Dear everyone, we are about to launch a poster-mag called La Pandemonio that we totally believe is going to be utterly fantastic.

We are 20 votes away from being able to enter crowdfunding. Please be a darling and help us out by voting!

I’m halfway watching this, and so far it’s rather...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:31:48 +0100

I’m halfway watching this, and so far it’s rather compelling.

I really liked the thing about love being about helping each other evolve into the person they are meant to be.

How horrifying would it be to go through the test and finally know the answer to the ridiculous “I love YOU more” game?

Mirror, mirror. Who is the truest of them all?

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:24:00 +0100

@MrPatatitaBrava told Mr @onafrica he should watch Black Mirror. So he did, and I joined him. We watched the first episode, ‘The National Anthem’ and I must say it’s just brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Charlie Brooker, you are one twisted genius bast*rd, sir:

If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The “black mirror” of the title is the one you’ll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone.

I see a lot of discussions around “media” and “social networks” and what can they possibly mean today. And nothing, nothing!, gets to the level of reflection of ‘The National Anthem’. The contrast between the virtual and the real (and the impossibility of their limits). It was so absurd, so horrifying, so crude, it was credible. My stomach wrenched: I cannot think of the last time a TV series made my stomach retract like that (and, as you know, I’ve watched the wire).

The premises of the story were pure meme-tastic and so drenched in Kate-ness. Perfect setting without actually copying anything. And let me just say, that the end was tied up beautifully, adding yet another dimension to the script.

And even more horrifying could be what the episode does not discuss. All the other possible narrative routes that remain unexplored, the most obvious one being whether all lives are worth the same.

Anyways. Stop reading this. Go watch it. Now.

Polly Pockets

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:21:27 +0100

Tuesday again… find me here at ¿ Y Por Qué No?

Sostenibilidad roja (Red sustainability)

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:06:32 +0100

It was Tuesday and this is what I wrote for Y por que no?!