Over the Rainbow

Michael rejoins Jessica after a trip to New Zealand, where he was pleasantly surprised by a couple of things. One was the Flag Consideration Project to replace their national flag, now emblazoned with the Union Jack and the Southern Cross:

When I heard they were doing a competition to design a flag, I sort of winced a little bit and thought, this can not end well. Having seen the submissions, I am struck by the fact that when something is well run and people are all doing it in the spirit of optimism and good will, you get some really interesting results.

I can’t even imagine what would happen if they had such a competition in the United States. It would be as chaotic as our national elections.

He also discovered the charm and utility of the selfie stick:

There’s something really interesting about taking a photograph of yourself but being in control of the camera.

Also mentioned:

The long list of forty finalists for the New Zealand flags

Video: What Makes a Good Flag Design

Ryan Beavor’s unofficial Donald Trump 2016 logo

Steven Heller on the Confederate flag and the swastika

Time cover featuring Oculus Rift inventor Palmer Luckey and 37 memes based on the image

Thanks to Blurb for sponsoring this episode.

Subscribe to The Observatory on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, or follow Design Observer on Soundcloud.