He discussed two ways to communicate: clarity and mystery.
Clarity just makes it clear and concise from the beginning. Mystery involves using a different way that demands (hopefully) to be decoded.
He showed several visual examples of book covers he did artwork for and discussed how different people look at different "art" and get meaning. He even talked about graffiti (and editorial graffiti)
To try to summarize this speech is difficult; you have to see his visuals and his thought process in developing ideas as a graphic designer (and as a teacher of this type of thing I found it quite fascinating!).
He discussed what happens when clarity and mystery get mixed up (un-useful mystery) and showed a made over transit sign that was more clear. Then, he contrasted to "useful mystery" and a fun example of a Diet Coke can where you get just enough information--the black D and the red K part of a can (I'm not going to ruin it... you just have to watch) with "un-useful clarity" using a Coke can with an unusual phrase. :)
He encouraged us to consider being more clear about certain things and perhaps more mysterious about others in our lives. We can apply this in many ways as teachers. My initial thought was that we often just want to cut to the chase with students and use the clarity route, but now we are urged to try the "mystery" element more often--having students seek out their own answers, pursue passions, BreakoutEDU, and the like. I am spending time this summer trying to create a new digital BreakoutEDU and some game board Hyperdoc activities, hoping that this mystery will draw them in and help them to be more interested and engaged.
SIDE NOTE: He did another TED talk that was also very good that I watched afterward, so it was NSFW, so don't have the students watch!
"Hardly anyone knows how much is gained by ignoring the future." --Fortune Cookie
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