I just received a lovely edition of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London in the mail. It’s part of a series of Orwell classics that Penguin rereleased with beautiful covers designed by David Pearson. 1984 certainly wins the creativity price with a plain cover and blacked-out title. That said, I really love the detail of Down and Out. Not long ago, I refused to buy Penguin books. The quality was just complete crap. Which is ironic, considering the company’s history. Sir Allen Lane started Penguin precisely because he disliked the poor quality of paperbacks found at his local train station. So, he began publishing well-designed books of literature for the masses. As the company grew into a global publishing powerhouse, profitability became the sole objective and graphic design was considered an unnecessary expense. As soon as head designer Germano Facetti left the company in 1971, quality just went to hell. I’m not entirely sure what happened, but it looks like they are finally returning back to their roots. Over the past few months, Penguin came out with a whole bunch of amazingly designed books. I mean, Down and Out has a letterpress cover! Now, there’s an important point to this story. Publishers are constantly freaking out because they still don’t know how to deal with digital. Will print die? I don’t think so. People will always love the tactile experience of reading a book. But here’s the thing: Digital will be a commodity while print will be a luxury. Just look at vinyl. LP sales have increased by 17.7% last year and most of the buyers are millennials. You consume everyday music streaming, but when you really really like a record, you will buy the vinyl. Same holds true for books. Once you saw the cover for Murakami’s 1Q84, you just had to hold it in your hands. You just had to own it. People just had to see you with that book! Publishers can survive the future, but they won’t do so by competing with digital. Instead, they must focus on stuff that digital cannot offer. In the end, hiring an amazing graphic designer might just be the key to profitability.
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I just received a lovely edition of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London in the mail. It’s part of a series of Orwell classics that Penguin rereleased with beautiful covers designed by David Pearson. 1984 certainly wins the creativity price with a plain cover and blacked-out title. That said, I really love the detail of Down and Out.

Not long ago, I refused to buy Penguin books. The quality was just complete crap. Which is ironic, considering the company’s history. Sir Allen Lane started Penguin precisely because he disliked the poor quality of paperbacks found at his local train station. So, he began publishing well-designed books of literature for the masses. As the company grew into a global publishing powerhouse, profitability became the sole objective and graphic design was considered an unnecessary expense. As soon as head designer Germano Facetti left the company in 1971, quality just went to hell. I’m not entirely sure what happened, but it looks like they are finally returning back to their roots. Over the past few months, Penguin came out with a whole bunch of amazingly designed books. I mean, Down and Out has a letterpress cover!

Now, there’s an important point to this story. Publishers are constantly freaking out because they still don’t know how to deal with digital. Will print die? I don’t think so. People will always love the tactile experience of reading a book. But here’s the thing: Digital will be a commodity while print will be a luxury. Just look at vinyl. LP sales have increased by 17.7% last year and most of the buyers are millennials. You consume everyday music streaming, but when you really really like a record, you will buy the vinyl. Same holds true for books. Once you saw the cover for Murakami’s 1Q84, you just had to hold it in your hands. You just had to own it. People just had to see you with that book! Publishers can survive the future, but they won’t do so by competing with digital. Instead, they must focus on stuff that digital cannot offer. In the end, hiring an amazing graphic designer might just be the key to profitability.

DAPP Frankly, we started dapp for selfish reasons. Pablo was looking for an iPad case and I was looking for a new kitchen table. But somehow, we couldn’t find anything we liked. You essentially have three options: Modern and crappy made, well crafted and old-timey, or spend thousands of dollars. We started dapp to make modern, affordable, well crafted products. Modern goods made with traditional methods and materials. From humble beginnings in Pablo’s living room, we quickly grew into a travel inspired lifestyle brand. We made minimalist furniture from reclaimed Michigan barn wood, mid-century modern iPad cases from hand pressed Japanese chiyogami paper, and released records of rare international grooves. Dapp was acquired in 2012. Visit the current dapp website here. The Verge wrote a great review of our FlightPad iPad case. Read it here.
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DAPP

Frankly, we started dapp for selfish reasons. Pablo was looking for an iPad case and I was looking for a new kitchen table. But somehow, we couldn’t find anything we liked. You essentially have three options: Modern and crappy made, well crafted and old-timey, or spend thousands of dollars. We started dapp to make modern, affordable, well crafted products. Modern goods made with traditional methods and materials.

From humble beginnings in Pablo’s living room, we quickly grew into a travel inspired lifestyle brand. We made minimalist furniture from reclaimed Michigan barn wood, mid-century modern iPad cases from hand pressed Japanese chiyogami paper, and released records of rare international grooves.

Dapp was acquired in 2012. Visit the current dapp website here. The Verge wrote a great review of our FlightPad iPad case. Read it here.

Over the last year, I spent most of my days hunched over computers, which had some unavoidable physical consequences. Since I prefer not being an amoeba, I recently started going on brisk walks through the backwoods. Now, I like nature just fine, but I also tend to get bored quickly. Conveniently, this allows me to catch up on some podcasts. With thousands out there, I had to come up with a listening strategy. Eventually, I decided on two possible avenues: Deep dive and listen to podcasts that further my knowledge of one particular area, or listen to a variety of subjects to discover things I would normally not come across. I decided on the latter. For one, it’s more entertaining on a daily bases, but it also gives me new perspectives. I believe in the power of patterns. Listen to a range of subjects for a while and universal patterns will emerge across disciplines – and these patters reveal underling systems. Suddenly, you realize that all this stuff is still connected and everything makes sense on a whole new scale. Granted, I am not listening to ESPN radio. But in case you care, here my nine favorite podcasts from the world of design, innovation and music: 1. Design Matters: Produced by Design Observer, the legendary Debbie Millman interviews leading designers and “change agents.” The interviews have a great personal note and you really get to know the guests and their thoughts. 2. Radiolab: It’s like This American Life for science. Or a non-hipster version of This American Life. About science. Amazing. 3. The Monocle Weekly: Oh Monocle Magazine, you sure are the most pretentious publication out there. But you know what, Tyler Brûlé and crew constantly find stories from around the world that no one else does. The Weekly brings you one hour of interviews with thinkers from business, culture and design. 4. Notebook on Cities and Culture: Each week, Colin Marshall sits down with some interesting character to talk about stuff related to, well, cities and culture. Originally, the show was Los Angeles centric but has gone global recently. Love it. 5. XLR8R Podcast: Hands down, my favorite music podcast. Each week, a quality artist drops a quality mixtape. Usually some crazy free play, things mostly stay within the trifecta of electronic, hip hop, and dusty grooves. 6. Mr. Phipson: Sadly no longer with us, Mr. Phipson provided glorious tropicália, broken salsa and all sorts of tropical funk. Check the archive. 7. On Being: Officially, Krista Tippett talks about religion and ethics. But this is so much more. Each episode is a thoughtful journey to regions where science no longer has clear answers. “Driven By Flavor,” an interview with Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farm, might be the greatest hour of radio ever recorded. 8. The Urbanist: Another podcast by our snob friends at Monocle 24. But seriously, if care about cities, this is a must. 9. 99% Invisible: It’s like Radiolab for design. Or This American Life for… you get the picture. Any show that dedicates an episode to Kowloon Walled City is a winner in my book.
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Over the last year, I spent most of my days hunched over computers, which had some unavoidable physical consequences. Since I prefer not being an amoeba, I recently started going on brisk walks through the backwoods. Now, I like nature just fine, but I also tend to get bored quickly. Conveniently, this allows me to catch up on some podcasts. With thousands out there, I had to come up with a listening strategy. Eventually, I decided on two possible avenues: Deep dive and listen to podcasts that further my knowledge of one particular area, or listen to a variety of subjects to discover things I would normally not come across.

I decided on the latter. For one, it’s more entertaining on a daily bases, but it also gives me new perspectives. I believe in the power of patterns. Listen to a range of subjects for a while and universal patterns will emerge across disciplines – and these patters reveal underling systems. Suddenly, you realize that all this stuff is still connected and everything makes sense on a whole new scale.

Granted, I am not listening to ESPN radio. But in case you care, here my nine favorite podcasts from the world of design, innovation and music:

1. Design Matters: Produced by Design Observer, the legendary Debbie Millman interviews leading designers and “change agents.” The interviews have a great personal note and you really get to know the guests and their thoughts.

2. Radiolab: It’s like This American Life for science. Or a non-hipster version of This American Life. About science. Amazing.

3. The Monocle Weekly: Oh Monocle Magazine, you sure are the most pretentious publication out there. But you know what, Tyler Brûlé and crew constantly find stories from around the world that no one else does. The Weekly brings you one hour of interviews with thinkers from business, culture and design.

4. Notebook on Cities and Culture: Each week, Colin Marshall sits down with some interesting character to talk about stuff related to, well, cities and culture. Originally, the show was Los Angeles centric but has gone global recently. Love it.

5. XLR8R Podcast: Hands down, my favorite music podcast. Each week, a quality artist drops a quality mixtape. Usually some crazy free play, things mostly stay within the trifecta of electronic, hip hop, and dusty grooves.

6. Mr. Phipson: Sadly no longer with us, Mr. Phipson provided glorious tropicália, broken salsa and all sorts of tropical funk. Check the archive.

7. On Being: Officially, Krista Tippett talks about religion and ethics. But this is so much more. Each episode is a thoughtful journey to regions where science no longer has clear answers. “Driven By Flavor,” an interview with Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farm, might be the greatest hour of radio ever recorded.

8. The Urbanist: Another podcast by our snob friends at Monocle 24. But seriously, if care about cities, this is a must.

9. 99% Invisible: It’s like Radiolab for design. Or This American Life for… you get the picture. Any show that dedicates an episode to Kowloon Walled City is a winner in my book.

One of the first things you’ll learn in Business School is that brilliant ideas never come out of nowhere. Instead they build on stuff that’s already out there, add new insights, ideas and viewpoints. As for many in design community, Dieter Rams, the legendary industrial designer for Braun, always had a special place in my heart. Oddly enough, I never realized how much his design influenced Apple. When I discovered this graphic at the wonderful Startups, This Is How Design Works I spent a good 30 minutes staring at it in disbelieve! In hindsight, it only makes sense that the company with the greatest industrial design of our age borrows from the greatest industrial designer of all time. Either way, this graphic is quite brilliant and gets even better when we add his own words: “We designers, we don’t work in a vacuum. We need business people. We are not the fine artists we are often confused with. Today you find few companies that take design seriously, as I see it.” Well Dieter, we are certainly hard at work to change that!
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One of the first things you’ll learn in Business School is that brilliant ideas never come out of nowhere. Instead they build on stuff that’s already out there, add new insights, ideas and viewpoints. As for many in design community, Dieter Rams, the legendary industrial designer for Braun, always had a special place in my heart.

Oddly enough, I never realized how much his design influenced Apple. When I discovered this graphic at the wonderful Startups, This Is How Design Works I spent a good 30 minutes staring at it in disbelieve! In hindsight, it only makes sense that the company with the greatest industrial design of our age borrows from the greatest industrial designer of all time. Either way, this graphic is quite brilliant and gets even better when we add his own words: “We designers, we don’t work in a vacuum. We need business people. We are not the fine artists we are often confused with. Today you find few companies that take design seriously, as I see it.” Well Dieter, we are certainly hard at work to change that!

Source: startupsthisishowdesignworks.com

This post occupies a weird space between gross and absolutely amazing. The Taiwanese carrier EVA decided to convert parts of its fleet into Hello Kitty Air. They seriously converted everything from the truck that taxis planes down the runway to the sugar packs. Even the inflight meals, as in the food itself, are Hello Kittified. The attention to detail is just staggering! I always said that it’s my dream to rebrand an airline. This is certainly not what I had in mind. But I cannot help but secretly in love it! And honestly, who knew that Hello Kitty “is five apples tall and weighs three apples?”
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This post occupies a weird space between gross and absolutely amazing. The Taiwanese carrier EVA decided to convert parts of its fleet into Hello Kitty Air. They seriously converted everything from the truck that taxis planes down the runway to the sugar packs. Even the inflight meals, as in the food itself, are Hello Kittified. The attention to detail is just staggering! I always said that it’s my dream to rebrand an airline. This is certainly not what I had in mind. But I cannot help but secretly in love it! And honestly, who knew that Hello Kitty “is five apples tall and weighs three apples?”

Los Angeles I’m Yours just posted an interview with Eric Nakamura of the amazing Giant Robot. Of the many inspirations I had in my life (and for dapp), GR always had a special place in my heart. The article title perfectly sums up why: The Ability To Do Everything. But this is not a mere matter of self-indulgence. It’s the idea that everything in life is connected to a larger system. When we isolate things, we miss the wonderful whole. GR is a magazine, brand, restaurant, gallery, design studio and many things more. But none of those things just float around in empty space - they all integrate with each other. OK, maybe I’m even a little bit jelly. But not in a negative way. Giant Robot is just that cool.
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Los Angeles I’m Yours just posted an interview with Eric Nakamura of the amazing Giant Robot. Of the many inspirations I had in my life (and for dapp), GR always had a special place in my heart. The article title perfectly sums up why: The Ability To Do Everything. But this is not a mere matter of self-indulgence. It’s the idea that everything in life is connected to a larger system. When we isolate things, we miss the wonderful whole. GR is a magazine, brand, restaurant, gallery, design studio and many things more. But none of those things just float around in empty space - they all integrate with each other. OK, maybe I’m even a little bit jelly. But not in a negative way. Giant Robot is just that cool.

Source: laimyours.com

I recently browsed around RTKL’s website and stumbled across the quote “We consider local culture not only in terms of plugging into its context, but also as a key piece of a place’s brand.” I find that place branding is one of the most undervalued aspects of place making. Ideally, a brand should tell a compelling narrative and capture audiences to form an emotional bond. Places, as they engage customers (visitors and citizens alike) on all levels, have nearly unlimited potential to do so. But they rarely do. Instead, the brand is nothing more than a generic slogan (Hong Kong is “Asia’s World City”) and glossy pictures. The Norwegian region of Nordkyn certainly raises the standard with its beautiful marketing campaign. However, not much of it transcends into the actual place. Proud Creative, in collaboration with Icon Magazine, takes the idea of city branding to whole new level. Rhyl, a small town on the Welsh coast, received a complete rebrand. And it’s not even cheesy. Colorful patterns weave through logos and brochures, resurface on buildings and even ice cream trucks. Check out the entire project here. For the longest time, I dreamed of rebranding an airline. I think I’d rather rebrand a town!
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I recently browsed around RTKL’s website and stumbled across the quote “We consider local culture not only in terms of plugging into its context, but also as a key piece of a place’s brand.” I find that place branding is one of the most undervalued aspects of place making. Ideally, a brand should tell a compelling narrative and capture audiences to form an emotional bond. Places, as they engage customers (visitors and citizens alike) on all levels, have nearly unlimited potential to do so. But they rarely do. Instead, the brand is nothing more than a generic slogan (Hong Kong is “Asia’s World City”) and glossy pictures.

The Norwegian region of Nordkyn certainly raises the standard with its beautiful marketing campaign. However, not much of it transcends into the actual place. Proud Creative, in collaboration with Icon Magazine, takes the idea of city branding to whole new level. Rhyl, a small town on the Welsh coast, received a complete rebrand. And it’s not even cheesy. Colorful patterns weave through logos and brochures, resurface on buildings and even ice cream trucks. Check out the entire project here.

For the longest time, I dreamed of rebranding an airline. I think I’d rather rebrand a town!