As interest in deskteriors has grown, a new market for quirky office supplies has emerged....
Deskterior - brightening workspaces
Deskterior is a movement to make office spaces feel like home in a South Korea with the longest working hours of any developed nation.
Although the South Korean government cut maximum working hours from 68 hours to 52 hours per week in 2018, with the expectation of boosting productivity and encouraging work-life balance, many young South Koreans still often find themselves at their desks.
‘Deskterior’, a portmanteau of ‘desk’ and ‘interior’, is the act of decorating one’s office desk with favoured, adorable items. The term is becoming increasingly popular on South Korean social media, especially among young employees.
The trend is especially popular with millennials: according to research, 44.6% of people in their 20s and 36.5% of people in their 30s identified with the trend, compared to only 26.9% of respondents in their 40s.
As interest in deskteriors has grown, a new market for quirky office supplies has emerged: there are wireless keyboards, laptop stands, colourful desk mats, sitting cushions, mood lights, action figures, wrist guards, small plants and air fresheners. You can even find mini water purifiers and small vacuum cleaners for desks. Many of them have cute characters to appeal to young South Koreans.
Deskteriors have made it clear that the younger generation are more willing to try and modify their workspaces as South Koreans roll with this change.
Austria’s forest sculpture
The For Forest installation by artist Klaus Littmann is on display at the Wšrthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, the main city of the Austrian Carinthia region. The stadium’s pitch has been entirely covered with more than 300 adult trees of native Central European species and turned into a forest of birches, willows, maples and oaks and many other varieties.
For Forest is the largest public installation to have happened in the country, and its subtitle, “The Unending Attraction of Nature”, gives a clear idea of its uniqueness. The trees were planted directly onto the pitch during last days of summer, but as the weeks pass they will change to their autumn colours and attract wildlife.
Not just a pretty girl
Putting her graphic skills to work, Katherine Young, a graphic designer, swapped out the cover girl for Olivia Hallisey, the 2015 Google Science Fair Grand Prize winner, and photoshopped in some new, inspired and empowering headlines. The result? A magazine cover that offers girls better alternatives to tips on how to “Wake up Pretty.”
Katherine was motivated to change the cover so that others will be more aware of the messages they are sending to girls. This cover would inspire people to do better every day and be more conscious of the imagery our children are bombarded with. They all need to know that girls are more than a pretty face
Pakistan wins at Venice Film Festival
Pakistani short film Darling has won an award at the Venice Film Festival. Directed by Saim Sadiq, Darling was selected as the Best Short Film in its new Orizzonti section, making it Pakistan’s first short movie that entertained the audience at the oldest movie gala.
Watch ‘Salam - The First ****** Nobel Laureate’ on Netflix October 1st, 2019!
“Salam” is a feature length documentary about the Nobel Prize winning Pakistani physicist, Abdus Salam. When he won the Nobel Prize in 1979, he became the very first Pakistani to achieve this distinction, and only the fourth from the subcontinent.
While Salam’s legacy looms large in the world of physics, he is largely forgotten in Pakistan because of his faith. By telling this complex story of a man who due to extremism could not strengthen his people as he so deeply desired, the film draws attention to the state of affairs in the world today, where knowledge is sacrificed at the altar of ignorance and intolerance, depriving the coming generation of all that is precious.
Compiled by SG
