I’ve posted about 250 photos to Flickr from our recent trip to Istanbul. Here’s a few favorites:

• IST2010ENG/ EDEBIYAT / 40 Districts 40 Books by 40 Authors: ‘My Istanbul’ series at Tüyap 2009… – My Istanbul is a monumental project of 40 books in which 40 distinguished authors told their own districts.

  40 authors born and lived in Istanbul wrote their own feelings, thoughts and memories in their own style about 40 districts of Istanbul for this project originated from the idea that every district has a different story, a different identity and a different spirit.

  Realized in cooperation with Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Literature Directorate and Heyamola Publications the project ‘My Istanbul’ will display Istanbul’s recent history by the words of witnesses while each district is being re-interpreted by sui generis views of the authors.

• Jake Cressman – Part of the Hot Studio team that won the Portigal Consulting/Core77 1-Hour Design Challenge! Congrats, Jake!
• CONGRATS: Hot wins ‘The Future of Digital Reading’ design challenge – Designers + Beer = Fun: Late on a Friday afternoon, a group of Hot’s designers and a good-natured friend gathered in Hot’s biggest conference room. We spread books of all sizes out on the conference table, salty and sweet snacks in every corner, and several six packs of beer on ice. What more could you need? We watched segments from Portigal Consulting’s video where they outlined their findings, and paused a few times to discuss amongst ourselves. After we got comfortable with the background material, we divided into a couple teams, each focusing on a different approach

  The winning SuperFlyer concept came from a collaboration of Shalin Amin, Holly Hagen, Leslie Kang, and our buddy Jake Cressman.

It looks to be a busy time between now and the end of the year, with a lot of exciting opportunities. Some details still TBD; I’ll update with links when we get ’em. Meanwhile, if you’re going to be at any of these presentations, please let me know!

• An Introduction to User Research – CCA’s Design MBA Program – San Francisco, August 27
• Moving from Data to Insights to Opportunities – EPIC 2009 – Chicago, Sep. 1
• Understanding Cultural Context – IxDA Chicago @ DePaul University – Sep. 1 (RSVP here)
• “Yes, and” for Better Design/Design Research – IDSA Project Infusion – Miami, Sep. 24
• We’ve Done All This Research: Now What? – Nokia Design Speaker Series – Sep. 30
• Reading Ahead: Considering The Book’s Future in the iPod Era – UC Berkeley Center for New Media and School of Information – Sep. 30
• Design Research Workshop – Istanbul Technical University, Department of Industrial Product Design – Nov. 5
• Tasarƒ±ma ƒ?lham ve Veri Saƒülamak ƒ??ßin Etnografik Ara?ütƒ±rma (Ethnographic Research for Inspiring and Informing Design) – International Istanbul Industrial Design Summit – Nov. 6-7
• Guest lecture in Chris Fahey’s Interaction Design Fundamentals – School of Visual Arts MFA in Interaction Design – New York, Nov. 16
• We’ve Done All This Research: Now What? – Web 2.0 Expo – New York, Nov. 17
• Yes, My Iguana Loves to Cha-Cha: Improv, Creativity and Collaboration – IxDA NYC (SOLD OUT!) – New York, Nov. 19
• Design Research Presentation – Pratt Institute – New York, Nov. 19
• Getting Generative: User Research Applied to Business Decisions – School of Visual Arts – New York, Nov. 20