I composed this short essay while living in London during the summer of 2012 for the UK’s Creative Circle publication. Strange to stumble upon it again two years later, having replanted myself in New York and feeling ten years older. Thought I’d share it now.

So I was asked what makes me click. Here we go: I'm motivated by playfulness—and playfulness comes in many forms. Sometimes it's the simplicity of Atari's Pong. Sometimes it's the intellectual gymnastics of Frank Drake's Arecibo message. A blinking computer cursor. Ten measures of a steady beat followed by one low-slung accidental. Curiosity. Exploration. Creating and solving puzzles can be satisfying but creating puzzles with a beautiful reveal is even better. I'm also motivated by learning—projects can be a valuable opportunity for paid learning. At university one must purchase new skills. Meanwhile, clients will pay you as you learn new things. I value teaching. Some of the projects I'm happiest with have a way of revealing how they were made—a hint at the grid or the process behind it. I learned to make things by taking apart and decoding the artifacts of others, it seems good karma to return the favor.

I've just wrapped up my week as a guest curator on AIGA's Design Envy blog. It's been a fun week. Here's a list of of the posts with links: 1. Paper.js: Juerg Lehni and Jonathan Puckey 2. Charlotte Taylor’s Spring / Summer 2012 Lookbook Film: HarrimanSteel 3. The Cat Scan: Jonny 4. Portal—No Escape: Dan Trachtenberg 5. Reconstructing Visual Experiences from Brain Activity Evoked by Natural Movies: Gallant Lab —Stewart

This week Stewart will be guest-posting on design blog It's Nice That. Here's a brief interview and links to the posts.