New Kind’s 5 Best of 2015
2015 was an amazing year for creativity. New Kinders took a moment to reflect on the year and share some of our favorite creative endeavors that happened during the year. Enjoy!
Blacknet
If you frequent public basketball courts, you know the odds of running into rims without nets are very likely. Blacknet is a beautiful solution to that problem. It’s essentially a rim and a net that drapes over an existing rim, but the true genius of its design is how easy and intuitive it is to use.
On the simple and brilliant scale, this ranks at a 10/10.
-Craig Carter
Creative Mornings
One of my favorite moments of 2015 came in June when I took over as the host of CreativeMornings in Raleigh. CreativeMornings is a monthly speaking series for creative types, held in more than 130 cities around the world. Our all-volunteer team is incredible, and we’ve tripled in size since the summer. I’m so proud of our local sponsors like Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum, Counter Culture, Yellow Dog Bread Company, and lucettegrace that sponsor our venue, coffee, and breakfast, keeping our event free. It’s been an amazing opportunity to gather nearly 200 creative-minded people every month for inspiration and sharing ideas.
-Jonathan Opp
Hopscotch Design Fest 2015
One of my favorite projects was creating the second year of Hopscotch Design Fest. We were able to host some amazing conversations around designing the future of Raleigh and our organizations. Most exciting is that we’re building momentum for the 2016 event!
-Matt Munoz
Love Has No Labels
The “Love Has No Labels” campaign was one of my favorites of 2015. It challenges people to recognize their unconscious biases and highlights that everyone makes snap judgements, often unintentionally.
To illustrate this, the Ad Council and New York-based ad agency R/GA set up a huge X-ray screen on Valentines Day, and had people of different races, ages, abilities, and sexual orientations embrace and dance behind the screen. At first, people watching the screen only saw skeletons. But as diverse pairs of people emerged from behind the screen — two women kissing, two kids of different races hugging — the display takes on a larger meaning. The audience is surprised at first, but ultimately celebrates each person with applause and smiles.
It can be difficult to represent sensitive issues like diversity and equality, but through this campaign, R/GA and the Ad Council managed to successfully raise awareness about unseen and ambiguous acts of social injustice, and started a conversation about what it means to be to human.
-Claire Strickland
Tango: The Art History of Love
A few months ago at the office my aunt walked in and surprised me with Tango: The Art History of Love, by Robert Harris Thompson (Foreward by David Byrne!). She found it at a used book store and bought it for a dollar. It’s a rich history of the dance and music and culture around tango—it gives me goosebumps to read. My partner and I started teaching tango classes this year in Raleigh, and it has been a huge challenge. This book has been an amazing resource for inspiration and to deepen my knowledge in 2015, from a special person in my life!
-Elise Dorsett
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There you have it. What was your favorite piece of creative in 2015? Let us know @newkind.