Visual Hunting

Counting with found numbers, and playing liminal bingo

* May’s Savor of the Month prompt: Flaws. Be attentive to “flaws” (defined by you) that you notice as you move through the world this month. Read more here; share your findings and explore others’ here.

---

Today I have quick tips on two fun tools — or games, really — for the creatively attentive.

First: I received an email this weekend from Mohamed Asran, who recently started reading The Art of Noticing book and liked the sound of the “count with the numbers you find” exercise. Inspired by designer George Nelson, this noticing challenge involves paying attention to numbers you encounter while out and about: First spot a 1, then a 2, and keep going for a day (or forever).

“I wanted to start immediately, but couldn’t find anything to track progress properly, so I built it myself,” Mohamed writes. “It’s called The Hundred Hunt: find and photograph every number from 1 to 100 in the wild, log each find with a photo and location, and watch your grid fill in slowly. I’ve been hunting in NYC and it’s already changed how I move through the city. The site is at thehundredhunt.com.”

Doesn’t that sound awesome? Thanks, Mohamed!

Second: Liminal Bingo (brought to my attention by Rubi and by Shanna — thanks!)

I’ve been thinking for a while about the creative-attention possibilities of bingo, but this project beat me to the punch: