This weekend, the New York Times Magazine featured Marc Newson, the most well-known and prolific living industrial designer. Though I’ve been a fan of his work for years, I never knew much about his back story or design methodology. If anything, we seemed to me to be someone who operated on his own plane, operating from his own inner compass rather than through anything he learned in school or through his childhood. While this perception is largely correct, he opened up to journalist Chip Brown about the mechanics of his mind and creativity.”The way I work is to try to get the idea out of my head,” said Newson.
Beginning Friday night, I started to wrestle with an idea for a yoga and meditation workshop I’ll be giving in March for 160 hospice volunteers at MJHS. I consulted books, my teacher training materials, and personal experience. Nothing seemed to strike me as inspired or valuable enough for this incredibly opportunity. So I took Newson’s advice and I forgot about it.
Sure enough on Sunday morning I woke up brimming with ideas. All of a sudden the world of possibility cracked open, and I came up with ideas for this workshop as well as how to craft a set of workshops that could be offered in medical school, healthcare conferences, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, schools of social work, and yoga studios. I’m all for focused effort, but sometimes it helps to just take a break and have faith that the answer will rise in its own time.
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
2 thoughts on “Leap: How to solve a problem with the style of designer Marc Newson”
The problem is, Christa, that we try too hard. Growing up, society indocrinates us: we should form logical and coherent ideas by conscious thinking. Thus, we are programmed to use force to come up with new ideas. In the event, our subconscious mind feels hurt for receiving step-motherly treatment. Why play favorites? it seems to ask us. I am beautiful too, you know, I can be Cinderella too, if you give me the chance. It is about time our subconscious receives the red carpet treatment. It is only when we are in a state of “restful alertness” that our subconscious mind can be activated and persuaded to perform its wonders. In my case, I “receive” ideas every time I venture outside for a casual stroll. Out of the blankness of my mind, new ideas are born.
Even when we are asleep, our subconscious mind gently nudges us through dreams. Now if we could only find a way to capture dreams!
It’s so true, Archan. We push and push and push, when many times it would be so much better to just let go. The answer inevitably is with us all along, if only we will take the time to hear it. It’s something I’m working on in my own life. So far, so good!
The problem is, Christa, that we try too hard. Growing up, society indocrinates us: we should form logical and coherent ideas by conscious thinking. Thus, we are programmed to use force to come up with new ideas. In the event, our subconscious mind feels hurt for receiving step-motherly treatment. Why play favorites? it seems to ask us. I am beautiful too, you know, I can be Cinderella too, if you give me the chance. It is about time our subconscious receives the red carpet treatment. It is only when we are in a state of “restful alertness” that our subconscious mind can be activated and persuaded to perform its wonders. In my case, I “receive” ideas every time I venture outside for a casual stroll. Out of the blankness of my mind, new ideas are born.
Even when we are asleep, our subconscious mind gently nudges us through dreams. Now if we could only find a way to capture dreams!
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It’s so true, Archan. We push and push and push, when many times it would be so much better to just let go. The answer inevitably is with us all along, if only we will take the time to hear it. It’s something I’m working on in my own life. So far, so good!
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