Strands of Genius: Design Inspiration: Containers Made out of Soap, Not Plastic, Air Meat is Making Alt-Meat Using Elements Found in the Air, The Most Interesting Thing In Tech
Guest curated by Margaret Rimsky Richards
Each year we aim to highlight 50 creative thinkers that have inspired us by giving them the opportunity to guest curate this newsletter, Strands of Genius. This edition is guest curated by Margaret Rimsky Richards, Founder, Playable™ Clothing; Global Head of Marketing, C16 Biosciences
:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, MARGARET RIMSKY RICHARDS::
LOCATION: NYC
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Founder, Playable™ Clothing; Global Head of Marketing, C16 Biosciences
Faris was the best man at my wedding! Faris and my husband, Ben, were roommates in their 20s here in New York -- the four of us have since celebrated together, weathered hurricanes, sung into the wee hours around a grand piano, and driven around Isla Mujeres in a golf cart.
Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): We’re so thrilled to have Margaret guest curating today! As Margaret mentioned, we’ve known each other for years now, and our husbands still have standing phone dates with each other (cuuuuute). When we found out she was using her pandemic downtime (as if that even existed!) to create a clothing brand designed with kids in mind, we knew we had to feature her in this month’s giveaway. Before founding Playable Clothing, she was a strategist at Ogilvy, and in addition to being a mom of 2 boys, she’s also a total smarty pants with a great sense of style. Thanks for sharing your smarts here today, Margaret! We hope to hug you soon :)
All Strands subscribers have been entered to win a $75 gift card to Playable Clothing! Scroll down for details on how to snag extra entries below :)
:: THE LINKS ::
DESIGN INSPIRATION: CONTAINERS MADE OUT OF SOAP, NOT PLASTIC
My day job is in sustainability, and I think this is such a lovely example of the kind of clever solutions that are possible in the face of very real challenges. These bottles aren't trying to be plastic -- they are replacing it with something both familiar and new. There are some other startups like SOAPBOTTLE exploring this commercially. (Colossal)
AIR MEAT IS MAKING ALT-MEAT USING “ELEMENTS FOUND IN THE AIR”
“We need to produce food in a way that isn’t suffocating the planet,” says Air Protein's CEO Lisa Dyson. Alt meat innovation is critical given animal farming is responsible for 14.5% of the global carbon footprint. The FDA just gave a safety clearance to lab-grown meat. But how do we market it? How do we get consumers to want lab-grown meat? Shares of Beyond Meat are down more than 75% this year, and a recent report from Deloitte noted that sales of meat substitutes were “stagnating.” Air is an interesting marketing spin that seems to speak to a consumer benefit (light, pure, superior), vs. anchoring itself against what it's not. (CNN)
THE MOST INTERESTING THING IN TECH
I don't necessarily follow tech news, but Nick Thompson, the CEO of the Atlantic and Former Editor-in-Chief at Wired does a very accessible talk through his LinkedIn profile highlighting the most important thing in tech, right now. It's a helpful cliff notes of what's going on, and he helps explain the news in a way that makes sense and also captures the nuances. (LinkedIn)
Looking for more from Margaret Rimsky Richards? Those enrolled in The School of Stolen Genius will receive a deep dive from her in their inbox shortly! You can access all our expert interviews for SOSG here.
:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::
:: Game :: Left Center Right is a great family game -- accessible for kids and good for different age groups.
:: City :: New York, because it's home, but Rome is pretty spectacular
:: Book :: "Appointment in Samara" – but I've actually never read it. The parable at the beginning is something my father always cited when I was growing up, and it's been formative in how I view risk and decision-making; fate and God; control and agency.
:: Podcast :: How I Built This was helpful inspiration while I was thinking through Playable. It also intimidated me and made me mad, but got me off my butt and thinking the right way.
:: Music :: True or Stories by Avicii - music my kids and I love to dance to that also reminds me of being out dancing before kids
::THREE PASSION PROJECTS IN ONE::
The two apples of my eye, Max and Sam, wearing clothes from the kids’ clothing line they inspired me to make -- playable.clothing.
Thanks for having me, Rosie and Faris. Long-time fan, first time caller! Xx
Margaret Rimsky Richards
:: HOW TO WIN A $75 GIFT CARD TO Playable Clothing ::
Just by being a subscriber, you’ll already be entered to win. However, we’ve also got a few ways for you to earn some extra entries, capped at 100 entries per person.
All you have to do is share a link to the newsletter in some capacity, and send an email to ashley@geniussteals.co on or before November 30th.
Here’s the scoop:
Sharing on social media = 5 extra entries, per platform. You’ll send a link to your post(s) to Ashley.
Sending an email to your team/department = 25 extra entries. We hope your team will thank you! Forward your email to Ashley for your extra entries.
Sending an email to your whole company = 50 entries. Damn, look at you willing to use that all-agency list serv. Thanks, we appreciate that! Forward your email to Ashley for extra entries.
We would like to grow our subscribers so obviously this is helpful for us and we are incentivizing that a little bit but we also believe that sharing is caring, that people we meet always tell us they find this newsletter unique and useful amongst the advertising industry, both broad and personal, and if you like it, wouldn’t people you like enjoy it too?
We’ll select winners on December 1st, and announce the winners on December 5th.
:: WHAT TO SHARE ::
We’re leaving that up to you. We’d love for you to share what you love about the newsletter, or why you read it, or what you appreciate about it — but just sharing a link will still get you extra entries.
We’ve flagged some of the more popular editions of Strands of Genius here, in case you want to share a past edition:
There was that edition where we explored grief, which included links about overcoming productivity dysmorphia, when a major life change upends your sense of self, and 3 questions to ask about trends.
Or the edition where we highlighted social media bans around the world, which included links about why community matters so much, retouching and influencer marketing, and shrinking The Gap (how the clothing brand lost its way.)
We covered the tough topic of abortions in May, and included links on big ideas in advertising, why Marvel is the most important cinematic innovation of the 21st Century, and why analogies are superpowers.
The newsletter we received the most responses to was when Rosie wrote about what it’s like working with a spouse, and included her favorite writings from Faris, including a post about America, Freedom & The High Cost of Healthcare, toxic nostalgia, how to get lucky, and Stone Junction.
And then there was a follow-up from Ashley, our Director of Operations, who wrote about what it was like working with a married couple, and included links on the nature of fame and attention, Italy’s B Corps, and the gay history of camels.
Or the time when Faris wrote about constraints, and included links on playing with brands, how tenderness and attention are related, and why we love the word ‘smooth.’
Rosie was a little nervous to send the newsletter where she talked about waning ambition, but it turned out many of you shared the same perspective. That edition also included links on why the return to the office isn’t working, the six forces that fuel friendship, and the first edition of the Warc Attention Economy podcast.
And there was the edition where we shared our favorite questions to ask, which also included links on being wrong, the insane cost of cars, and nine ways to channel stoicism to help your anxiety.
You can find and search the entire archive of Strands of Genius here, if there was an edition we didn’t spotlight that you loved and wanted to share :)
Strands of Genius is currently read by 13,000 subscribers. Support us by sponsoring an issue, becoming a member of The School of Stolen Genius or encouraging friends or colleagues to subscribe.
It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)