The Idea Feed Notes, links and ideas on the creative economy
Creative Industries
Preservation vs. Progress
Just a quick post today on the question of preserving cultural heritage vs. moving forward without it. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that we are about to lose a Beverly Hills house designed by John Lautner. It seems that it’s one of his early houses but it still remains a stunning example of American [...]
Chicago’s New Creative Industry Cluster
Just as I was about to move onto other work I stumbled upon this post that trumpets a new plan in Chicago destined to galvanize the city’s creative industries. It’s a great and exciting plan. I wish I had known about this during my Cities x Design tour because it would have definitely made the [...]
Huff and Puff on Free Culture
There’s a neat debate going on at Huffington Post following and article by Bevin Carnes on the real cost of Free Culture. The article itself is short and doesn’t offer anything in terms of real solutions to a real problem but the comment chain that follows is an interesting read for anyone looking for a [...]
The Idea Feed – V 4.0
What better way to relaunch The Idea Feed than with a link to a post by Richard Florida? I’ve spent the better part of the past year studying, researching and learning about the creative economy of the United States. It’s not an easy beast to tame but I feel a little more confident in my [...]
Daily Global Round Up
A daily round up of the most important global creative economy stories HK’s creative industries poised for growth “Hong Kong possesses all the necessary elements to grow its cultural and creative industries to a scale that could match the UK in terms of contribution to the overall economy, Chief Secretary Henry Tang says. …he highlighted Hong Kong’s [...]
“Designomics” Will Save us All
My cross country, Cities x Design, expedition is finished. I’m still working on getting much of the data together, editing the hundreds of hours of video and preparing the book and DVD package but the driving part is over. You can follow the progress here. As I begin to put the book together I will [...]
Creative Economy or Arts Economy?
Just finished uploading an article where “creative economy” is being confused with the art economy and I find this. I’m happy it came up because it illustrates the point I’m trying to make. The article on Broadway World.com starts, “recently, Americans for the Arts released the 2009 Creative Industries Report, which offers a research-based approach [...]
US Trade Rep on Promoting the Creative Industries
In an editorial in the San Francisco Post, Ron Kirk, US Trade Representative, calls for reinforcing the global system of IP protection. He says this redoubling of efforts is needed because, “at this time of extraordinary economic uncertainty, we need to preserve and grow innovative, creative industries now more than ever. We need to create [...]
Cleveland leading the American creative revolution?
Will Cleveland, Ohio become the epi center of the American creative revolution? What does a city need to provide creative entrepreneurs in order to participate in the creative revolution? Creative entrepreneurs need a navigable intellectual property legal structure, access to space, seed funding, retail and export opportunities and training. The Wall Street Journal Real Estate [...]
An American call to a creative revolution
I’ve long tried to pin point exactly what the difference was between the British and American approach to the creative industries. Beyond the obvious lack of a Cultural Ministry in the United States there seemed to be similar national and regional infrastructure in place to steer creative policy towards supporting local initiatives . The UK [...]
Architecture’s Pritzker Prize
There is no doubt that Architecture is one of the main driver’s of the creative economy. In the past few years architects have become global stars on par with some Hollywood celebrities. So popular are architects that most laypeople can name one or two of their favorite buildings or designers. The growth of the industry [...]
Durham, NC a Southern Creative Hub
There is a growing creative movement in North Carolina. They have come to the same realization that many promoters of the creative sector, like myself, insist on spreading. This is honestly good news in depressing times, “the people and companies that produce and use art or design — for example, the artists, performers, architects, publishers, [...]
What is the Way out of the Recession?
James Meadway, co-author of ‘Attacking the Recession‘, announced recently at an international convention in England that he thinks “the creative industries could be employing more people than the financial services,” in the coming years. This belief that the creative sector will be employing more people than the financial services sector is one that is growing [...]
Creative Industry Debate in Ohio
Ohio Citizens for the Arts just published a study on the effects of the Creative Industries in Ohio. It “concludes that the arts and other creative industries contribute more than $25 billion a year to the state’s economy,” and it employs “231,200 workers in the state and generate $1.1 billion a year in tax revenues.” [...]
Cities as Cultural Incubators
This article in the New York Times argues for America to take fresh look at its cities and its urban development policies. I agree its time the country start to think of its cities in a new way. The most important part of the article to me though is the potential dense city centers have [...]
Final Thesis
In 2007 during a year away from the United Nations System I completed a Masters Degree in the Enterprise and Management of the Creative Arts from the University of Arts London. My study, supervised by the former Secretary of Culture for the UK, on the effects of international creative industry policy on local creative agencies [...]
Creative designs drive the Cape
Cape design exports – ranging from recycled bottle top mats to bed linen - are being snapped up from Mumbai to Hong Kong and are increasingly contributing to local job creation and wealth generation. UNESCO estimated international trade in cultural goods and services at $387 billion in 1998, according to the dti’s 2007 Craft Sector Development Strategy [...]
Design Week – Creative Forum could return
…For the past two years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been consulting with the design industry on a range of new measures to establish the UK as ‘the world’s creative broker’, including the establishment of the World Creative Economy Forum. Last year, the originator of the ill-fated WCF, John Sorrell, chaired a [...]
Sony Unveils Second Edition of Reader Digital Book
…Eight levels of gray scale provide for crisp and clear text, images, and graphics. “For people on the go, this device is compelling because it allows them to carry a wide variety of reading materials whether they are on a cross-country flight, in a doctor’s office waiting room, or at a beach resort,” said Steve [...]
The Future of Publishing
… It was in the aftermath of the failure of the Readers Catalog that I saw the solution to the prohibitive expense of physically handling thousands of low-cost items. Books, like music, are among the few commercial products that can be reduced to digital files, stored, located, and transmitted electronically at virtually no cost. Publishers [...]
Press Review LDF
My week: James Purnell The Culture Secretary reflects on a near miss for Daniel Craig, London’s artistic pre-eminence and Hyde United’s prowess Sunday September 23, 2007 …Back in London, I saw a different type of creative industry, going on Monday night to the Design Festival. Ben Evans and John Sorrell invented this a few years [...]
London’s Creative Sector: 2004 Update April 2004
This report updates and extends Creativity: London’s Core Business, published in October 2002. It confirms that London is the UK’s creative capital. London’s creative sector is growing faster than any major industry except Financial and Business Services, and it accounted for between a fifth and a quarter of job growth in London between 1995 and [...]
Finnish Craft Industry Revival
“The show consists of a shop selling products that designers Aamu Song and Johan Olin developed in conjunction with manufacturers of traditional furniture, clothing and household goods across Finland.” Read More
Rockefeller Foundation launches arts fund
…The New York City Cultural Innovation Fund will issue awards annually from a $2.5 million pool, with individual grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000. The fund will support initiatives that premier artistic works, engage in cultural issues, partner community-based organizations with the private sector, and that address limitations on the city’s cultural expansion. Rockefeller Foundation [...]
A Creative Industry Primer
The creative economy movement started in the UK in 1994. Follow the links to understand how cultural policy, became creative industry policy and how its now changing the world.