Finds

№ 52 | Speculative Cartography, A Better Catastrophe, Tasting of Tomorrow Cards, The Art of Gathering… Canvas?, and A Playful Explanation of the link Between Physical and Mental Health

Stephen P. Anderson

Sep 1, 2023 — 2 min read

Speculative cartography

Ok. Here's an odd (and clever!) kind of ‘thing to think with’—speculative cartography. Specifically, maps of a future earth, after sea levels rise. Pictured below is the “famous 1748 Nolli map of Rome, with 66m of sea level rise.” See dozens more similar prints at Conspiracy of Cartographers.

A Better Catastrophe

“I Want a Better Catastrophe” is a new (?) kind of flowchart for navigating our climate predicament. Explore on your own, or push play and be guided through with a voiceover. Now I'm thinking about other kinds of flowcharts we could create using this format… Also, a nice bit of systems thinking going on here!

Tasting of Tomorrow Cards

More cards! IDEO's Tasting of Tomorrow Cards ask “human-centered questions about the future when designing intelligent products, services, systems, and visions.”

The Art of Gathering… Canvas?

So, one of my many back burner projects has been to turn ideas from Priya Parker's book The Art of Gathering into a toolkit of sorts, for planning my own gatherings. Along these lines, the folks at Griffith University's Centre for Systems Innovation created a playbook and canvas

Inspired by Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering online course, which a team of us completed in March 2023, we have created this playbook. While it’s no replacement for the detail and insight from the course or reading the book of the same name, it combines ideas we learnt with the way we be in our Centre.

Playful Explanations

I love this playful explanation of the link between physical and mental health…using toys!

**BONUS: Check out this reimagined UNO deck from Shantell Martin, the latest installment of the UNO Artiste series.

№ 83 | Stop Project 2025 Comics, Future for All: A vision for 2048, eyeConnect Cards, The Rule Book, and the Effects of Geography on Voting

This edition of the newsletter comes a couple days later than usual, but for a wonderful reason—I spent 5 days last week playing board games with my friends at BGG Con. 🎲 🤩 Next issue will resume the normal Sunday schedule! 🥸Reminder: If you're participating in the Create A

№ 82 | Pebble Talk, The Mood Meter, 3 Styles of Play, A Convection Simulation, an Electoral College Simulation, and What If America Had 6 Political Parties?

📍In case you missed it… Throughout November, I’m hosting another Creative Challenge: Create A Real Life Character Sheet. About 15 people have signed up so far, and there’s space for a few more folks—you should join us! Pebble Talk Here’s a way to avoid awkward small

Creative Challenge #3: Create A Real Life Character Sheet

Welcome, new readers. From time to time, I organize “Creative Challenges,” that fit with the whole “playful things to think with” theme. Previously, there was a One Card Serious Game Challenge, followed by the Make a Zine Challenge. I hadn’t planned on doing another Creative Challenge until next year

№ 81 | Scientific Papers as Comic Strips, 52 Things About Cards, Thermodynamics Cards, Collaborative Place Futures Toolkit, and Why The Work is Never Just “The Work”

✉️Look for 2 extra special emails heading your way, later this week! 1/ The promised print-and-play Zombie Leadership cards. 2/ An announcement about our next Creative Challenge… Scientific Papers as Comic Strips Yes! Comics as things to think with. Here’s an interview with Kanaka Rajan, who uses “narrative illustrations