Off We Go: The Wonder of Offline

A statue of a brave girl. 
A pledge on a passport. 
An unassuming wrapper for a proud burger. 
A Coke can filled with another Coke beverage. 
A credit card that rewards you for being sustainable. 
Furniture for people with disabilities. 

All the above award-winning work have one thing in common: they were created to be experienced offline. Simple, minimalist, and beautiful—a breath of fresh air in these digital times. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love digital. After all, I’ve been playing video games since I can remember. But digital, in and of itself, isn’t an idea. The problem is we are so enamored with the tool, we start believing it’s necessary all the time. 

I believe it’s important to zag when others zig. Do we really need to be connected 24/7 on smart devices, when the human brain itself is the smartest device there is? Is it intrinsically better to be digitally savvy? Does completing a chore faster automatically mean we are doing it the best way possible? I just can’t picture the Dalai Lama on a smartphone… 

It’s time we started looking to the heart, instead of our screens. It’s time we brainstormed ideas on our good old Moleskines, instead of on our MacBooks. Time we went on real dates and did less swiping to the left. Going offline will fire off dormant synapses in our brains, which have gone rusty from all this screen time. Our health, our social relations, and most importantly for the people in our industry, our creativity will be better for it. 

I invite you to experiment thinking of ideas that live offline. And sure, if they win you awards, go ahead and post them on social media.