Care for an Espresso? ☕️
Everyone’s office looks the same (a blend of WeWork/Soho House lite). Everyone’s coffee shops look the same and everyone’s coffee looks the same. Our high streets and malls all look the same (Main Street = chain street). Check into a hotel aimed at people in their 20s-40s...which city are you in? Which country, then? Ok, which continent?
Beth Bentley • Is the Algorithm Making Us LESS Stylish, LESS Interesting, LESS...ourselves?
- Merit Beauty could only feel like a calming Millennial brand once it was positioned in the chaos of Sephora’s Gen Z aisles.
- Costco spends a lot of money to make their warehouses look stripped down, so what you buy off the crate feels like a good deal.
- Red Bull didn’t mean anything until Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya started placing empty
In branding, the context has become the product
The homogeneity contrasted with the general hipster philosophy of the 2010s, namely, that by consuming certain products and cultural artifacts you could proclaim your own uniqueness from the mainstream crowd—in this case a particular coffee shop rather than an obscure band or clothing brand. “The irony of it all is that these spaces are supposed to
... See moreKyle Chayka • Filterworld
Shout out to Bemelmans, an inarguable treasure. And shout out to the immensely & similarly charming Tosca , in San Francisco, where Erin & I had dinner the other night and which never disappoints.
BUT these places are not U.G.H.Z. because they are highly grammable and therefore susceptible to invasion by annoying hordes, screaming out to be
... See moreJonah & Erin • Too Many Places Are STERILE and TORCHED — Let’s Make Them COOL and FUNKY
Sometimes people expressed annoyance at the very presence of subway tiles in coffee shops. But I think it was the sameness of AirSpace that was off-putting, not exactly the style…
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