Scifi + Design = Free fiction
I hope you're doing well and staying healthy! My wife and our whole brood was put under isolation protocols back in March, so I like to think we got our pandemic experience out of the way nice and early.
While quarantined, I pivoted from long-form novel writing (don't fear—I'm still working on the Calamity sequel) to try something a little more experimental. And I'd love to hear what you think.
Introducing FPO, a fictitious design-thinking agency specializing in super-science and the paranormal. It combines two things I love—high-concept science fiction and killer user-experience design—and brings beautiful visual designs to life with interesting and fun short fiction. The faux agency even has a Bēhance page.
This project was inspired by a conversation with Bill Fawcett—author of How to Lose a War at Sea and many other HarperCollin's titles—in which we addressed the greatest plot hole in every James Bond film: Who designed the villain's amazing looking death ray?
The first free short is already online. "MVP: Release Thé, virgins" tells the story of a eerily-accurate fortune-telling startup that leverages technology and our greatest fears to produce a killer app. I'm already at work on the next short, which I hope to post in October.
But I'd love to hear what kind of scifi+design stories you'd like to read. Because FPO is currently taking on new unreal clients! Interested in seeing your super-science or paranormal product or service come to life? Hit FPO.design and provide us with a brief prompt, describing your unreal design needs, and FPO's creative team will do their best to follow up with you and get an innovative solution posted in a timely fashion.
-me
SOME COOL CONTENT FROM MY FACEBOOK PAGE:
(It's neat. You should like it.)
A 411 on WFH.
or, three steps to keep your sh*t together while getting sh*t done in your PJs.
From my design-industry feed on Medium: We didn’t know we’d be working from home this long! So, as weeks turn into months, it’s time to put some best practices into effect to preserve our productivity and our sanity.
Shai hulud, judge now!
Breaking down our first peek at Denis Villeneuve'sDune in all its sandy goodness!
I'm not going to lie: I've been waiting for a proper film version of Dune since I fell in love with the book 30+ years ago. Io9 breaks apart the epic and gives you an excuse to watch the trailer again and again.
Lovecraft's curriculum.
Cosmic horror and racism in America make for some good damn history lessons.
Langston League has created study materials for Lovecraft Country, complete with annotations, reading suggestions, and information to turn HBO's powerful period piece into a real informational tool.
What I'm reading:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The best book I've ever read. Again.
After re-reading Dune at the outbreak of Covid, it was time to turn to Michael Chabon's cheerier tale of the golden age of comics, the Holocaust, love, and golems. If you haven't read it, you need to. It's amazeballs.
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