| June 18, 2007
When a good friend recommended The Tipping Point to me recently, I politely listened to their analysis of the book and why I'd like it. Nodding in agreement and asking questions in the proper places, I feigned interest until finally I promised to pick it up, but of course, never actually intending to do so. Stranded in the Laguarida Airport last weekend I spotted the discrete book on a shelf with other more obvious and flamboyant covers declaring their book's novelty and brilliance. There was the book I'd promised to read. Waiting quietly. Asking me for nothing. So I bought it.
I don't know for what specific purpose writer Malcolm Gladwell wrote this in-depth examination of epidemics, and apparently neither did he at the time (or so he claims in the afterward), but I must say that I'm sure that 90% of his readers can't make the personal connection to the information that we as designers can. Almost a "how-to" for successful marketing campaigns, he breaks down the three causes for epidemics (both literal and figurative) in a way that seems almost too approachable. The most exciting aspect of this treatise on how things go from fringe to mainstream is it's relevance to the everyday world. Ever wonder why old-school neon high-top Nike's are back in style or why so many kids are smoking? This book has a few ideas.
Link: The Tipping Point
Tags: epidemics, fringe, mainstream, marketing, the new, yorker
Creative Dialogue
5 Comments |[ Add Comment ]
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Brian Slawson
on June 18, 2007 “You can also watch a streaming vid of Gladwell at TED. I am going to integrate this some of this into a design course project in the Fall semester, I think.” |
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Kirksey Wells
on June 18, 2007 “I think that'd be a great idea. I like the way he presents his information: not as iron-clad truisms but as a very loose set of observations that correlate. He makes no real undeniable conclusoins. The material leaves a lot open to interpretation, which I thinkk is appropriate on such a mysterious and ambiguous phonemenon as epidemics.” |
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Karen Horton
on June 18, 2007 “I highly recommend this book. Other thought provoking titles I put into this category are Freakonomics and Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs.
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Kirksey Wells
on June 18, 2007 “I have not read any of those. I'll have to check them out. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs any good?” |
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Dennis Eusebio
on June 19, 2007 “His "Blink" book isn't that bad at all either. Anybody else notice he has this weird relationship with Kenna?” |
