The Non-Obvious Insights Blog. Non-Obvious Insights
The Non-Obvious Insights Blog.

Dedicated To Helping Readers
Be More Interesting
Since 2004.

As Featured In:

Playing Happy Reef Sounds Could Bring Coral Reefs Back to Life

Playing Happy Reef Sounds Could Bring Coral Reefs Back To Life

A happy and healthy coral reef has a sound. The various “snaps, groans, grunts and scratches that form the symphony of a healthy ecosystem” are not just a symbol of a thriving reef. Underwater scientists have begun testing using these sounds in areas with degraded reefs and are finding the sounds attract coral larvae to settle. … Read more

Harper Collins Identifies Eco-Friendly Fonts to Save Thousands of Trees and Reduce Paper Usage

Harper Collins identifies Eco-Friendly Font

Every few months there are new sustainability stories of the world’s largest brands trying to create less wasteful packaging. Coca-Cola announced a new lighter bottle design this week and a few months ago began a trial shipping label-free bottles of Sprite. These types of initiatives are common in the packaged food industry, but what if other industries could greenlight … Read more

Barilla and the Marketing Pitfall of the Unnecessary Celebrity Spokesperson

Barilla and the Marketing Pitfall of the Unnecessary Celebrity Spokesperson

Pasta boxes are the perfect packaging to reuse. Pasta leaves no residue, and the boxes are generally large enough to fit other items. That’s clearly the inspiration for a new campaign from Barilla that promotes box reusability in time for Global Recycling Day. The campaign casts tidying guru Marie Kondo as the spokesperson and their campaign video starts … Read more

Will 2024 Be the Year Cities Finally Ditch Parking Minimums?

Will 2024 be the year cities finally ditch parking minimums

What if the one of the biggest reasons for poverty and homelessness in cities wasn’t a lack of money or ballooning health care costs, but rather the longstanding real estate mandate for ample parking spaces? One of the most eye-opening books I considered for our book awards program this year was Paved Paradise, which suggested that … Read more

The Minus Chair Saves the Earth by Cutting Down More Trees?

The Minus Chair

What if you could design furniture that captures more carbon than it emits? That’s the vision behind the Minus Chair, a design award winning new product from Norwegian brand Minus that is rethinking furniture design and selling. Trees only absorb carbon as they grow to maturity. After that, as they deteriorate, they release that carbon back into … Read more

Flushless Toilets, Plastic Reuse, and More Ideas From the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Flushless Toilets and more ideas from 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Imagine a toilet that never needs to be flushed. Arid desert land converted into abundant living spaces. Plastic yellow gallon oil containers upcycled into chairs and houses. These are just a few of the dozens of ideas from across the world that are on display right now at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 Show which will be open … Read more

How the Liquid Tree Might Be a Game-Changer for Urban Air Pollution

Liquid tree

“We are not trying to replace trees. We are trying to replace benches.” That’s the clever pitch of a project imagined and created by Serbian scientist Dr. Ivan Spasojevic who invented an urban photo-bioreactor called a “Liquid Tree” which uses a combination of water and microalgae to produce pure oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. As Dr. … Read more

The Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter. Non-Obvious Insights
Layer 97
The Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter
Layer 118

Skip the obvious and anticipate the future with our weekly newsletter. Join over 25,000 subscribers and start receiving the stories (and insights) you’ve been missing.

All Books

#1 WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author

In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.

Contact ROHIT

Have a Question or Inquiry?

Just fill out this form, and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours!

Contact

About You

What Are You Contacting Us About*:

Your Message