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Ideas rarely emerge perfectly formed. They are awkward amalgams of experience, insight, hope and inspiration. They arrive on stage blinking under the bright lights, hesitant, unsure as to the audience’s likely reaction. They evolve and develop, alert to changing reactions and circumstances. Many die young or wither over time. Some grow and become unstoppable. Religions, protest movements, recipes, music, products and services all have humble origins.
When my vision (I call it FABLE) crystallized and came into being as a written thesis – it became clear that this was a journey toward a whole new economic and social reality, towards a new structure that could benefit the whole of mankind. I have been working on the ideas that form the backbone of my vision, for nearly two decades.
Ideas, as I mentioned earlier, do not emerge in a state of perfection. It has taken me years of stabbing around in the dark following my intuition to thread together the thoughts and conclusions.
But it all began with two emotions; first, empathy for the oppressed and impoverished in our world. Second, the conviction that many of those in the sophisticated world have an addiction to superficiality and luxury and consumerism that distorts lives and resources from things of real importance and value. And I have not been immune from this either, for periods of my life. I am lucky to have traveled extensively. And I have been exposed to many cultures, to extreme wealth and extreme poverty. I have seen how the other half live and know that many of the principles behind my vision emerged in my childhood.
I had left school at sixteen to attend university in London and then left university early to start my own design business at the age of 18 in Hong Kong in the early 1990s.
Although I became a successful designer quickly and soon had recognition and the trappings of ‘success’ within the first years of my working life, I soon felt dissatisfied. I felt hollow and uncomfortable. I felt out of place. I felt guilty and above all I felt a great deal of responsibility towards the less fortunate in the world. Those that I had seen and met during my travels in my childhood. Being born into the top one percent I had won the lottery ticket of life, I had been given so much, all because of the luck I had had to be born in not only a loving family, but the privilege of been able to travel and to have a good education. So I left the comfortable life I had created for myself to discover what would make me feel whole.
With this new freedom, my mind and ambitions began to take me in a very different direction. As a creative, I have and will always feel connected to the markets of the world because of my love of travel and curiosity for understanding world cultures. I read this quote somewhere when I was much younger, the author is unknown to me but it always stayed with me and is the best description I have to explain my role in the world and my personal journey. “Designers are part aesthete, part visionary and part anthropologist. We are driven by a dedication to exploring new concepts and conveying a heightened aesthetic sense that will bring added meaning to our world and enhance our quality of life.
“Creatives therefore have to immerse themselves in the everyday world, absorb or sense cultural changes, values and market trends, and use their brains and their guts to create responsible and courageous concepts. Our job is to be the ambassadors between corporations and the marketplace, the link that creates the language of emotion. Designers are often known solely for their designs – the expression of their imagination – but at their best they also can be an incredible driving force as ‘conceptual provocateurs.’ Heartfelt design is passionate and encompasses our desire to make the world a better place.”
Kim Guillemard, August 2018
At 21, my design company was voted one of the top 10 design firms in Hong Kong by a leading magazine and I was chosen as a ‘Designer of the Millennium’ by the same magazine. But rather than feel happy and successful, I began to feel really depressed. Not long after, I decided to hand over my company to my business partner and walked out of society to think about what I really wanted to do with my life.
After 3 months of thinking, I had the vision. It was the most powerful experience I have ever known.
Somehow even though I was only 21 I knew that I had to hold the vision and trust the process.
Since then, between other projects I have been learning, watching, listening, waiting and trying my best to decide how and when to get started.
Joel A Barker
RSIN: 860439100
Chamber of Commerce: 75913178
Stichting The Global Transformation Foundation
The Hague Humanity Hub, Fluwelen Burgwal 58, 2511 CJ The Hague, Netherlands
The Hague Humanity Hub Fluwelen Burgwal 58, 2511 CJ The Hague, Netherlands
