We decided it was time for a change of atmosphere – as we all often do – so we devoted the last few days to rearranging the office. Not always the easiest of tasks, but always the most rewarding when it's all said and done. Buoys the mind and refreshes the spirit.

All in all, we:

• Tacked up several more shelves, six of which are in this picture. What you see here are a collection of childhood artifacts and funtime miscellany – and, yes, that is a live hand grenade. (Editor's note: No it isn't...unfortunately.)
  
• Freed up nearly 100 square feet of space, which we turned into a gathering/chill/reading nook. If it were music, it would be Post-Lounge. Or Cozycore.
• Peppered the walls with several new artworks – including painter Ricardo Guevara and poster gods Crosshair Design, Burlesque of North America and Guy Burwell. 
• Hung two custom-built whiteboards – cut, framed, painted and then liberally scribbled upon. Its inaugural words were Here be Dragons, christening the surface whereupon unseen lands are yet to be explored. The monsters lying in wait shall be given a choice: be slain without mercy or profess allegiance to the Keane flag.
  
• Innumerable other upgrades, including: a bathroom overhaul, a polyptychal grid of our work (icosikaioctatych?), several new botanical comrades of the Phalaenopsis variety, a maple-topped work surface and the most organized closet ever. Really.

After an outing that took us from the outskirts of the East Valley to the extremes of Avondale, we decided to poke around our very own backyard in downtown Tempe. To the North, pitch-black rooms lit only by our cell phones housed ancient machines, gears sealed by decades of rust, whose motors once drove steam and smoke up, up and up through a wild crop of pipes. Only a handful of blocks away stands a modern analog, Centerpoint Condominiums, with that chic glass silhouette belying its dusty lifelessness. Some places grow old and retire; some never see a respectable birth.

To the South, a subterranean stairwell and a lucky yank on a heavy door led us down into a flip-side place – a section of the underground tunnel maze that every city or large institution has. This particular network was a utility system, distributing heat, water and electricity across its many nodes and extremities. No matter where you are, there's this entire mirror-world beneath your feet, and it's not always as unexciting as heat tunnels; I've read about a bowling alley buried under Central and Pierce in downtown PHX – unbearably curious, isn't it, but even more so is simply thinking about what's down there, just six feet below the sidewalk, that someone forgot to tell someone about, and so on, until its existence is known to only a few. Or none!

An update from a very recent trip should go up later this week.

         

Click here to download:

Halcyon_Days_2.zip (2142 KB)

Click here to download:

1025entrepreneurlist.pdf (3428 KB)

--
Russ Perry | russperry@keanecreative.com
www.keanecreative.com
602-904-6478 - office

Tonight - 7pm | Terralever's reception for the PHXDW gallery they've been hosting this week. More info: http://phxdw.com/schedule

Tomorrow - 5pm | Keane's Happy Hour/Typophile Film Fest Pre-Party - Free drinks until we hit $100. More info: http://ow.ly/w1O3

Tomorrow - 7pm | Typophile Film Festival - MADCAP Theater's on Mill Ave. More info: http://phxdw.com/schedule

Saturday - 9am | Phoenix Design Week! Get your tickets at http://phxdw.eventbrite.com

Saturday - 10:45am | Russ Perry moderates a panel with agency execs. More info: http://phxdw.com/topics.php#evolution-of-agency

Saturday - 3:15pm | Russ Perry presents at PHXDW. More info: http://phxdw.com/topics.php#talk-to-your-client

Saturday - 7pm | Phoenix Design Week reception party at the Clarendon downtown.

Sunday - 9am | Phoenix Design Week Day 2!

About three months ago, a few of us stumbled back into the office from an impulsive, 3-hour odyssey into a tragically forsaken building on Mill Avenue. Thus was born a newfound interest in urban exploration – a clandestine hobby, I learned, that was quite active throughout certain circles. I was surprised to find maps, online boards and other close-knit crowds out there, all sharing experiences, tips and organizing outings.

This past Sunday, a small Keane cadre set out for a second trip. With the wisdom of Google Maps and the helpful pointers of those who'd tread before us, we were able to wander through at least a half-dozen sites, including a wasted airstrip and historic downtown building. Lots of surreptitious sneaking, tight squeezes and dirty knees. And bird shit. Heaps.

Though skirting security and passers-by is an amusing necessity, this isn't so much about the "thrill" of potentially being caught. That kind of rush is too transient to impress. For me, the allure is in understanding our city's backstory and reconciling the fact that rich and ruined often share an alleyway with one another. And, of course, there's definitely the tingling sensation of exploring places not many people go to. Like the kid who dreams of following clues to a lost treasure, the feeling is both ambient and tangible at the same time.

Names/locations purposefully omitted, though the slick gumshoe (or native Phoenician) may not find it difficult to reconstruct our path. Expect more treasure-hunt field reports in the future.

             

Click here to download:

Halcyon_Days_1.zip (2220 KB)

Check it out.