Field Notes
A year ago, I switched from printed books to an e-reader. It's probably the best purchase of my life. It made reading easier on the eyes and helped me read more wherever I go. There’s no longer the excuse that a book is too heavy or there isn’t enough light. I've tried reading on a phone and tablet, but after an hour, my eyes would get blurry from the screen glare.
It made me wonder: what can we make for e-readers?
When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. Writing was one of the few classes I actually enjoyed in school. That led me to study communications, majoring in writing and journalism. Somewhere along the way, I accidentally became a designer (a story for another time).
After graduating, I co-founded Anonymous with no work experience and no idea how to run a business. Two decades have passed since. That interest in writing and journalism has shaped how we approach our work, through research, strategy, and how we think about communication and branding.
Over the years, we’ve created magazines featuring interviews with creative professionals and thinkers. We also started A Design Film Festival, focused on screening documentaries on design culture. Looking back, the common thread in all of this has been about organising and editing information, and presenting it in a way that feels useful and interesting. It brings together the things I keep coming back to: culture, stories, and design.
A few years ago, a friend asked if I wanted to write a book for a design publisher. I said no. I wasn't sure I had anything new or useful to add, and I never really saw myself as a writer. Later, after I gave a talk on "Why the most talented people no longer want to work in agencies anymore," a few friends asked the same question. I laughed and said it would probably be the last thing I’d ever do.
To be honest, the idea never really crossed my mind, even though I read every day. That slowly changed when I started writing more regularly for our website’s Field Notes. These short reflections on fieldwork or ideas I’d been thinking about felt less intimidating than a book.
That got me thinking: Could Field Notes work in this format? What would I write about? What would be worth someone's time? This is a question I'm mulling over now. And hopefully there will be something to share over the next few months.
Found is a new series of field notes on what can be learned from the objects around us.
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Felix Ng
Co-founder, Anonymous
@felix.anonymous