In the old days you know what pitted one neighbor against another? Pigs. Here in post-Colonial New England there were pigs born free as the new nation, happily foraging around the neighbors’ hard-worked gardens. The ensuing culture clash uprooted the community spirit as understaffed swineherds skirmished with overworked agriculturalists. Exasperated town fathers enacted countless regulations pertaining to reimbursement for crop and livestock loss and standards for fence maintenance—mainly in vain.

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As Tom Cruise begins filming Rock of Ages in New York this spring, droves of idling extras will be pondering an all-consuming question: is the ageless actor wearing shoe lifts, as he was purported to have done while married to Nicole “now I can wear heels again” Kidman? Before we explain what this juicy query has to do with design here in New England, fly like a crow 187 miles due north to Wilson Farm in Lexington, Massachusetts, where the local Audubon chapter is showing off Squeaky the owl. The Audubon volunteer explains this and that about our wise friend (“No, he can’t turn his head 360 degrees, and, yes, he hunts gliding on wings designed for silence”), but one fact in particular inspired Trade Secrets this month. Squeaky’s pointy ears aren’t ears at all—they’re tufts of feathers that make owls appear more imposing than they really are. Combine that with shoe lifts, and Squeaky would be invincible! Which brings us to the real question: how do designers and architects make the small seem larger? What are the design equivalents of shoe lifts and tufted feathers?
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Remember way back in June: the loose knots of beautiful design people gathering at South Boston’s Artists for Humanity Epicenter, the snap-to-it parking valet rushing to meet and greet, the bare-shouldered bar-tenderess stirring up blueberry tart cocktails courtesy of Cold River Vodka in Maine, more intermingling throngs, more air-kisses, the streamers of buttery-yellow orchids by Winston? Many remember. And along with such spirit and good-feeling that uplifted us at this publication’s 5 Under 40 party, we also recall sadness this summer. Endless footage of pelicans smeared with deadly grime, of balls of tar washing up on Gulf Coast beaches, of tired-looking men and women mourning a way of life that may be gone forever.
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