Chess Board Black & White

In the 6th century, chess’s predecessor was called Chaturanga in India, consisting of four divisions: infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry in the military on an 8×8 board. From the 12th century on, chess travelled from Arab to Europe.

Chess was quickly adopted by the medieval kings and the European nobility, and its popularity peaked during the late medieval period. Learning chess was an essential skill for knights. Now, it is still a popular strategic board game but for everyone. It begins with the board. It is, in fact, a symbol of equality and equal opportunities.

This rectangle archival pigment print of the full black and white chess board is perfect for a modern and classic look in the home and office interiors. It is a reminder on the wall that the playing field for strategic thinking and acting starts with this magic board palette.

    • Dimensions: 40 x 40 cm
    • Open edition print
    • Fine art paper Hahnemühle Photo Rag®
    • Signed Artist Proof
    • Designed by Jack Kruf, 2022
    • Watermark not printed
    • Printed in Breda, The Netherlands

Interested? Please contact us for sales and shipping.

Fragmented Forest

© Jack Kruf (2023) Fragmented Forest [fine art print]. Breda: Private collection.

Fragmentation of the forest reduces the quality and diversity of the ecosystem. Roads (white) and system borders (black) are really the main causes of the decline. Roads are for humans not for forests. They serve as carriers for leisure in, exploitation and destruction (red) of the natural habitats. Forest simply can not handle human dynamics.

Rainy Day Perspective

Today was a rainy day. I look out my window and see the city lights in the far distance, through the palette of raindrops. Where a romantic late evening view with a good glass of wine can cross the thoughts of a near future. A reflective mood.

Photo: © Jack Kruf (2020) Rainy day perspective [fine art print]. Breda: Private collection.

Track & Trace

© Jack Kruf (2019) Track & Trace [fine art print]. Breda: Open end edition.

The streets of the city are full of signs to tell us how to navigate and where to find essential elements of the architecture how we build our communities, especially here about how to track and trace the gas pipeline. It is almost a peace of art.

Well, step back 1,3 meter from the wall and step 40 cm to the right. If you want to visit this part of the underground world of the city –  for reason of maintenance or development – dig here and find the gas pipeline, which connects this house to the world wide web. Smart it is. Art too.

Business models

Jack Kruf

To choose, implement and communicate a business model is challenging. It can at the same time be inspirational, strategic and for business continuity necessary, with the eye on the market, the client and of course the competition. I collected some frequently used models and main techniques used at board rooms in government, business and non-profit.

In the office you can express and communicate your core philosophy and business approach with your clients, customers and guests. With that you can make a statement. Showing them as wall-art can possibly contribute to the branding and understanding of your company.

Colour management

The Pantone® colours in our design are hand-picked, corresponding with the biomes, for accurate colour management and print reproduction. Note: the colours in the slides shown here may differ from those of the actual prints.

Delivery

One of the most relevant cycles in business is that of delivery, the cycle of Production-Service-Check-Improvement. It is where the place where all strategies, policies  and investments lead to the actual services. Customer satisfaction has to be checked and, based on this, improvements need to be made. It is the cycle where businesses are at the closest to the clients and governments to the citizens they serve. Delivery counts. It is perceived as one of the most critical ones for business continuity and customer satisfaction.

Risk

The ISO 31000 guideline is about risk management. The major steps in the process are Identify-Analyse-Evaluate-Treat. International Organization for Standardization in Geneva underlines for the long-term success of an organisation, the reliance on many things, from continually assessing and updating their offering to optimising their processes. Addressing operational continuity is key, providing a level of reassurance in terms of economic resilience, professional reputation and environmental and safety outcomes. The cycle has many variants, and depends on the school of philosophy or commercial approach.

Steering in dynamics

The Observe-Orient-Decide-Act loop shows that all decisions are based on observations of the evolving situation tempered with implicit filtering of the problem being addressed. It is about steering in, sometimes high, dynamics. The concept of OODA was developed by military strategist and United States Air Force Colonel John Boyd. He applied the concept to the combat operations process, often at the operational level during military campaigns. It is now also often applied to understand commercial operations and learning processes. The approach explains how agility can overcome raw power in dealing with human opponents.

Control and improvement

The Plan-Do-Check-Act loop is an iterative four-step management method used in business for the control and continual improvement of processes and products. The concept of PDCA is based on the scientific method. A fundamental principle here is iteration – once a hypothesis is confirmed (or negated), executing the cycle again will extend the knowledge further. Repeating the PDCA cycle can bring its users closer to the goal, usually a perfect operation and output.

Performance

Performance management is working in the cycle Plan-Develop-Perform-Review. It is an ongoing process of open communication in support of accomplishing the strategic objectives of the organisation, team or person. The communication process includes clarifying expectations, setting objectives, identifying goals, providing feedback, and reviewing results.

Public finance

The cycle of public finance, that of Tax-Budget-Spending-Accountability in fact is a simple one, but one of the most crucial ones in present approach of major social and economical challenges. Government needs tax as its basis, decides how to budget their plans, products and services, then spend the money for production, implementation and delivery and at the take accountability for this to its voters, clients and citizens. It is a cycle, that repeats itself every year, on all levels of government.

Quality

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is about the connection of Leadership-Resource-Process-Result. It is use as the European quality management instrument for the public sector. It is there to assist its organisations to improve their performance. This quality framework helps the organisations to perform a self-assessment, to develop an improvement plan based on this and to implement the improvement actions. The model is based on the premise that excellent results in organisational performance, citizens/customers, people and society are achieved through leadership, driving strategy and planning, people, partnerships, resources and processes.

Strategy

One of the most heard and used terms in the public sector is the word strategy. In times of change it is considered as the model which shares light on the path towards the future. One of the cycles is Diagnosis-Course-Policy-Implementation. It is about the process of defining a new course, based on proper diagnosis and with the explicit purpose or at least intention to elaborate the course into policy (read: planning) and at the end implementation. Strategy can be considered as a cycle – as it has done here – but is often is used as stand-alone step on its own. The cycle has many variants, and depends on the school of philosophy.

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On location

Every design is available for print. The models are designed in a consistent way, for a broad use and applicability in a wide range of dimensions, from postcard to ‘museum’ dimensions. Here you find a selection of the collection for gallery, hall, home, office, outdoor and public space. Showcasing them in rooms where clients or guests meet raises the awareness of the richness of concepts, thoughts and wisdoms.