SOCIAL INNOVATION

Much is made of the young person’s imperative to change the world. Startups ought to think sustainably. Artists ought to think globally. Companies ought to give back. And yet how easy it is to do nothing? To head back to our social profiles or photo filters? At a time when people are more connected than they have ever been, we have simultaneously entered an age of narcissism, turning the social world into a tool to self-brand, self-define, and self-promote. And yet there is another groundswell building, one made up of young people who not only want to give back but also see the value in social innovation

RiME

Looking out over the mysterious, sculptural cliffs of RiME’s digital coast, one is caught by the beauty and wild imagination allowed to independent video game developers. “Joaquín Sorolla and the light of the Mediterranean were our main inspirations when creating RiME,” says Raúl Rubio Munárriz, creative director of Tequila Works, the company behind RiME. “Salvador Dalí’s negative space and Giorgio de Chirico’s Surrealist architecture contributed to create an eerie yet believable world.”

CATCHAFIRE

Is there a way to give back without ever opening your wallet? Catchafire inspires creatives to give their skill and time, creating a new mode of philanthropy that’s spreading like wild fire.

DON GARBER

Minimalist painter-turned-amplifier designer Don Garber will not only blow you away with the sonic experience of his brand, Fi, but his amps are sure to please the eye as well.

It was in college that Don Garber heard a homemade audio system that changed everything for him. It was quite simple, he says. “It sounded like real music.”

TLM10: HARPER REED

It’s difficult to look at Harper Reed’s work without looking at the dialogue surrounding it, which is an unfortunate side effect of its impact. The former CTO of Obama for America 2012, Reed is an overtly-contemporary figure in a disarmingly slowly-moving field, and his youthful understanding of the interconnectedness of digital life is often cited when explaining the underpinnings of Obama’s electoral success. The gauges, mohawk, and handlebar mustache simply add to the myth, that of the hacker-cum-reformist who turned the campaign world upside down with a few lines of code.