One novelist’s experiment in pushing the limits of AI today — “AI today is like a horse, not a bike .” That’s how PJ Caldas, a best-selling Brazilian author and an Emmy-winning advertising creative director, describes the state of generative AI today. He has published multiple books in Portuguese and has just released his first English novel “The Girl from Wudang.”…

A personal letter to the Japanese maestro and one of my role models — Last weekend, just like the rest of the world, I learned that you left this world after battling cancer. And like so many around the world, I was a huge admirer of yours and your music. My admiration began after watching the film “The Last Emperor.” I was barely a…

When is the right time to rebrand? Almost never. But if you must, these rebranding efforts might provide some useful hints. — When a new logo for an organization—whether it’s for a corporation or a municipality like a city—is introduced, everyone will have an opinion about it. Almost always, it’s more negative than positive, and suddenly, everyone is an expert. The City of New York recently announced its new promotional campaign and…

One woman’s crusade to normalize talking about sex. — The porn industry has always been an early adopter of technology. At the same time, the way technology rendered sex may have been far from reality. That is still the case. Cindy Gallop, the founder/CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, found this observation by accident in her early forties. As part of research…

The answer? Serve soup made out of soil. A brilliant lesson in brand strategy. — As a professional in the creative industry, I find the world of chefs and cuisines directly relevant to what I do—brand strategy and creative direction. Being a chef, especially a gastronomy chef, is a highly creative act. In addition to that, running your own restaurant is like being a creative…

Everyone has to start somewhere. I met Cindy Gallop, the founder/CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn (MLNP), the world’s first user-generated, human-curated social sex platform, and the former CEO of BBH US, one of the most respected creative agencies in the world, in 2009 on stage in Tokyo. I was on a panel…

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” — Ian Spalter (Ian Spalter), the man behind the design of Instagram, cited this quote when I caught up with him not too long ago in Japan. Last fall, I started a new podcast called “The Creative Mindset” in Japanese. …

It’s the first week of 2022 and here’s my quick observation on Creativity and Technology today: 2022 = 1999 New Creativity = (Making * Tenacity) * Anyone Creators > Platforms NFT = Opportunity * 0.05 Big Data + Profit = RIP 1. 2022 = 1999 2022 will be like 1999. Mostly…

Just a few weeks ago, we witnessed a company with almost no revenue become one of the most valuable brands in the world literally over night. It managed to do so with one word: “Forever.”