Phenomena...

phe·nom·e·non,
1:a fact, occurrence, or circumstance observed or observable.
2:something that is impressive or extraordinary.
3:a remarkable or exceptional person; prodigy; wonder.

when speaking about :Phenomena: what is it? is it what we see and what we can experience? yes and no, but thats too simple...its to clean and meaning less to me.

I was asked this question awhile back from a professor in college, At the time I told her it was an special experience relative to a person, that something magical happened. She looked at me and told me bluntly "no, thats not it..." Maybe I was romanticizing about it too much and strayed off to something else.

Thinking about it now again while on a car ride to orleans, I realized I was dead on the mark. :Phenomena: was just that. An magical experience, An magical experience of complete awareness. Its the brief period of time you are completely aware of your surroundings, people, event and sometimes even your own body (some might understand this outer being feeling...) usually creating a memory forever ingrained into your head. Every moment you can remember is a phenomena that has struck you important or extraordinary.

So how do we achieve these moments or memories? How do we create a :phenomena:?
well we obviously have books on theory, design, patterns, architecture now [1:] but how we truly get into "people"s minds would be that "wow" factor which is usually gaged by what is trendy nowadays. The initial hit will make people remember it, but its the details in your design that will keep designers coming back. "the details" I will leave open to your interpretation...since I am not here to tell you how to design, its just not my job....