• In my household we cook a lot, especially during the week. Keeping things interesting is always a challenge, along with doing our best to cook seasonally. So when I see a new cookbook, I’m always interested. Hato Press has released their third edition of their Studio Cookbook series, inviting collaborators, friends and creators we admire to share a dish they enjoy as part of their working day. 

    I’m sold. There are 37 recipes in all, organized by Snacks, Mains, Sweets and Drinks. I’m so curious to try “The Pin” (photo below) which appears to be a cocktail with pear and lime and something sparkling, all pulled together with a giant nail.

    Studio Cookbook by Hato Press Shares Beloved Recipes from Creatives
    Studio Cookbook by Hato Press Shares Beloved Recipes from Creatives
    Studio Cookbook by Hato Press Shares Beloved Recipes from Creatives
  • In 2013, Terranova started out as a production company, but its focus shifted to publishing when photographer Rafa Castells approached Terranova founder Luis Cerveró for assistance in releasing his debut book, Schlecker. Over the course of eight years and the creation of more than forty books, Cerveró made the decision to collaborate with “bouquiniste” Lucía Boned, transforming Terranova into a bookshop and gallery while continuing their publishing endeavors.

    Publisher Turned BookStore in Barcelona's Terranova


    Following extensive restoration efforts, Terranova unveiled its new premises in Barcelona’s Sant Antoni neighborhood in the autumn of 2021, situated within a refurbished 19th-century modernist shoe shop. Their main gola is to offer the city a diverse range of books that are often challenging to find elsewhere, including international art publications, vintage rarities, and self-published fanzines. I’m taking a trip to visit on Saturday, I’m so excited. I love books so much (we shipped so many over here with us) and along with cologne, is my other biggest weakness.

  • Sander Coers is a Rotterdam-based photographer whose photos navigate the delicate intersection between documentary and fiction. Through a discerning lens, Coers offers fresh perspectives on masculinity by capturing, revisiting, and deconstructing memories within evocative and romantically hued realms that possess an undeniable cinematic quality.

    Central to his body of work is the recurring theme of coming-of-age, contemplating narratives of love, friendship, and self-acceptance, drawing inspiration from his family, friends, and peers. Coers’ visual vocabulary is heavily influenced by nostalgic recollections of his youth in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, infusing his portraits, still-life compositions, and landscapes with vibrant hues and profound emotional depth, resulting in photos that feel ethereal and introspective.

    Sander Coers Photography
    Sander Coers Photography
    Sander Coers Photography
    Sander Coers Photography
  • Combining the forces of acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson with musical royalty of The Smile (Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood Radiohead, plus drummer Tom Skinner) and you know you’ll get something great. They collaborated on the video for the song “Wall of Eyes,” the title track to the EP of the same name that’s being released 26 January, 2024.

    From my perspective, this feels like a good old fashioned music video, which I love. It’s beautifully shot, a lot of mystery and nuance into the meaning, or maybe it doesn’t mean anything and it’s just lovely to look at? Either way, I enjoyed both the song and the video immensely.

    Paul Thomas Anderson Directs  Music Video for The Smile's New Track, "Wall of Eyes"
    Paul Thomas Anderson Directs Music Video for The Smile's New Track, "Wall of Eyes"
    Paul Thomas Anderson Directs Music Video for The Smile's New Track, "Wall of Eyes"
  • I’ve long admired the clothing of Japanese brand visvim, with their commitment to unique expressions in clothing. In the past, they’ve drawn inspiration from vintage Americana, Japanese Edo period garments, French workwear, Amish patchwork fabric, Native American clothing, the Alaskan outdoors, and Finnish Sami tribe culture.

    Last week, they announced the opening of a new shop in Carmel, California, a small town near Monterey. It’s a super charming town that values small businesses over chain stores, so visvim founder Hiroki Nakamura decided to set up shop, saying he was “drawn to the ideology of creating a life of their own and taking pride in the culture and history of the city.”

    Japanese Clothing Brand visvim Opens Up Shop in Carmel


    The shop, previously a grocery store, is beautifully detailed, with a hand- carved countertop for purchasing goods, as well as snagging an espresso. The displays are also made of wood, nicely tying together the elements. I’m a big fan of a river rock floor, it gives such a tactility when you walk around a space, and the seafoam green carpet in the back ties in nicely to the waters of the Pacific Ocean, which lie only half a mile west. I’m also gagged by that hi-fi setup. You know they’re going to throw the best kickbacks there. If you’re in the Bay Area, it might be worth you time to take a day trip out of the city to check this out.

    Japanese Clothing Brand visvim Opens Up Shop in Carmel
    Japanese Clothing Brand visvim Opens Up Shop in Carmel
    Japanese Clothing Brand visvim Opens Up Shop in Carmel
    Japanese Clothing Brand visvim Opens Up Shop in Carmel
    Japanese Clothing Brand visvim Opens Up Shop in Carmel
  • Vincent Vrints and Naomi Kolsteren are the partners behind Antwerp-based design studio, Vrints-Kolsteren, working across creative direction, photography and graphic design. I found a project of their’s that I really liked, some branding work for the Doel Festival, which takes place in what I believe is sort of a “ghost town” in Belgium. The festival works together with local entrepreneurs and supports the current inhabitants and redevelopment of Doel by donating a percentage of each purchased ticket into a support fund, specifically set up for that purpose. We love projects that give back to a community.


    The work itself is fluid and dynamic, creating a visual identity which evolves with every edition, and references the shiny metal perforated plates covering up the windows and doors of houses, as well as the the washed off graffiti and faded signage. I love the mood this identity has. It’s so messy and captivating and beautiful all at the same time. The way they play with the legibility of the wordmark is a really nice touch, and the color palette they’re using (which is kind of all the colors tbh) feels very contemporary. Overall, really excellent work.

    Vrints-Kolsteren Brings A Dynamic Identity to the Doel Festival
    Vrints-Kolsteren Brings A Dynamic Identity to the Doel Festival
    Vrints-Kolsteren Brings A Dynamic Identity to the Doel Festival
    Vrints-Kolsteren Brings A Dynamic Identity to the Doel Festival
  • The Hoxton has opened it’s newest hotel location in the leafy Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg, 25 minutes outside of the city center. The hotel, who’s interiors were designed by AIME Studios, reflects an extremely eclectic style that was inspired by the neighborhood and local culture. Elaborately designed tiles, boldly patterned fabrics, and a mix of deep, warm wood tones are seen throughout the space. It creates this effect of entering into a space that feels like visiting your very cool and rich aunt with no children. There’s so much to soak in, and you never want to leave.

    Personally, I love The Hoxton here in Barcelona. They’ve done a beautiful job with the lobby areas, and the restaurants are absolutely top notch. They clearly understand the value of creating a unique experience. An experience that you can’t get anywhere else, and gives you that feeling that your money is being well-spent.

    The Hoxton Hotel - Charlottenburg, Berlin
    The Hoxton Hotel - Charlottenburg, Berlin
    The Hoxton Hotel - Charlottenburg, Berlin
    The Hoxton Hotel - Charlottenburg, Berlin
  • As I wrote about in this week’s newsletter, I’m approaching a turning point in life, and this piece from Maria Popova has been top of mind for me, 17 Life-Learnings from 17 Years of The Marginalian. Here’s one of my favorites:

    Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living — for, as Annie Dillard memorably put it, “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

  • The ever-inventive Christoph Niemann has released a 2024 calendar called “On The Road II”, featuring a series of pieces of Niemann made of iconic locations. The calendar is meant to be a minimal in it’s presentation of information, only the month and location are jotted on the bottom of each. I assume most people use Google Calendar at this point, so you can think of this calendar as a piece of art that helps mark the passage of time. It helps justify the steep price tag, €120 each, so you may want to consider this an investment for future you, who will have twelve beautiful pieces of art framed around your home.

    "On the Road II," A New Calendar from Christoph Niemann
    "On the Road II," A New Calendar from Christoph Niemann
    "On the Road II," A New Calendar from Christoph Niemann
    "On the Road II," A New Calendar from Christoph Niemann
  • There are a few key individuals in the world of creative who I really admire and look up, one of the being Ramdane Touhami. Some of you may know Officine Universelle Buly, or simply Buly for short, the French beauty brand that he brought back to life with his partner Victoire back in 2014. Now, he’s back with his newest project is a lodge tucked away in Mürren, Switzerland, the Hotel Drei Berge.

    The Hotel Drei Berge, in Murren Switzerland, redesigned by Ramdane Touhami


    Essentially, he’s found a far off place where he can experiment, a playground for Touhami’s ideas where you’re allowed to sneak away and join in for the winter. Built in 1907, the space looks as you might imagine in a movie, a forest green exterior with candy striped shutters. There’s a great piece on Touhami and the Drei Berge, stating:

    “He likes to occupy new spaces and, at the Drei Berge, Touhami believes he has found a middle ground between “bullshit hip” and luxury hospitality offerings. The rooms have a cool, quirky aesthetic, where beaten-up vintage camping chairs reside beside sleek midcentury classics. Monogrammed towels await in the bathrooms, and the beds were handpicked for comfort – the bedlinen, containing a mix of cotton and wood, is so soft that Touhami bought part of the company that makes them.”

    For me, this is so inspiring. I want a space like this (maybe not a hotel in a cold place) where I can create, and make, and build something that is of my own doing. That’s next on my bucket list.

    The plates at The Hotel Drei Berge, in Murren Switzerland, redesigned by Ramdane Touhami
    The Hotel Drei Berge, in Murren Switzerland, redesigned by Ramdane Touhami
    The Hotel Drei Berge, in Murren Switzerland, redesigned by Ramdane Touhami
  • A+ is the studio of Graham Bradley, who describes the practice as “a design and technology studio that creates type.” And as it turns out, they’re one of my favorite studios, I just didn’t realize it. So there’s this restaurant called Bell’s located in Los Alamos, a small town in the middle-ish of California’s, roughly 2.5 hours north of Los Angeles. Owned by Daisy and Greg Ryan, Bell’s holds. special place in my heart because the food, service, and experience of eating there, are all incredibly thoughtful. A small but important aspect of said experience, is the branding, which is where A+ comes in.

    Bell's in Los Alamos, branding and lettering by A+ Studio
    Bell's in Los Alamos, branding and lettering by A+ Studio
    Bell's in Los Alamos, branding and lettering by A+ Studio
    Bell's restaurant, Los Alamos - Deviled Egg with Sea Urchin and Caviar


    The look and feel of Bell’s branding is French by way of California (which is also how I would describe the food). A+ created a bespoke typeface, charmingly named Henri, as well as a number of custom logos, a flexible menu system that can accommodate new items, as well as some cutie illustrations that bring the brand some extra personality. It all feels haphazard in the best way, like an eclectic assortment of items you’d find at a French brocante.

    A+ also ended up working on Daisy and Greg’s other restaurant Bar Le Côte, a seafood tavern in Los Olivos that they opened along with co-owner and executive chef Brad Matthews. It’s like the eclectic, kinda zany cousin of Bell’s, and the vibe of the interiors and the branding help to communicate that.

    Bar Le Cote in Los Olivos, Branding and Lettering by A+ Studio
    Bar Le Cote in Los Olivos, Branding and Lettering by A+ Studio
    Bar Le Cote in Los Olivos, Branding and Lettering by A+ Studio

    The type work here astounds me, especially as A+ was able to create a dynamic typeface that can also be reorganized into a “wordmark built from geometric, Art Deco letterforms, stacked together like a set of blocks.” I hadn’t seen this animation until I found A+ and it’s so remarkable to see all the letters come together so nicely like that.

    The work Graham is doing is so inspiring and varied. He also recently worked on the new logo and typography for wework, and even an amoeba/bacteria inspired typeface that’s so blobby and beautiful.