I'm fed up. At this point in my career, I'm tired of writing the most milquetoast, pushover, inoffensive, coddling copy that (seemingly) every brand wants to use in marketing and advertising communications. "We help build solutions." "Our people are our secret sauce.""Customer service sets us apart.""We're eco-friendly.Every brand says this. These ... See more

But busyness has a way of stealing creativity from you. Generative work, like art and writing, requires long periods of nothingness: it’s only in that wide empty space that ideas emerge. Long runs, hot showers, commutes that don’t involve harried Slack messages and listening to podcasts at 2x speed. Sitting at the edge of a dock, listening to the o... See more

More and more it seems to me that about the best thing in life is to have a piece of work worth doing and then to do it well.

“A lot of writing consists of waiting around for the aquarium to settle so you can see the fish. Walking around muttering seems to hasten the process. Taking public transportation nowhere helps. Looking out the bus window lets the back of your mind move forward. Don’t listen to anything but natural sound. Don’t look at anything you have to turn on.... See more

“What I need, what I am trying to build, is — I coin this phrase by analogy to a memory palace — an attention cottage . ... When I sit down in a chair with a book in my lap, a notebook at my side, and no screens within reach or sight, I am dwelling in my attention cottage.

The great artists and thinkers cultivate a systolic/diastolic rhythm, tension

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Transparency in sourcing and manufacturing has become table stakes in the minds of over two-thirds of 18 to 35-year-olds. Where something is made, under what kinds of working conditions, and environmental sustainability across the entire distribution chain are now all a part of the decision-making process.

Research continues to show that while online shopping continues to grow across most demographics, the youngest customers, Gen Z’s remain very comfortable shopping in-store, particularly if it includes a high level of experience, both through tech and touch. Walker Sands research shows 59% of 18 to 25-year-olds prefer a “brand experience”, but it be... See more

Many brands that typically have large stores, including Sephora and Nordstrom, are creating smaller-format stores embedded in neighborhoods. These stores feature less inventory, since customers can order items to be delivered to their homes, and store managers curate the products available on shelves to meet the needs of the specific community.

The draw of big cities, like New York, London, LA, or Tokyo is that they are made of a series of distinct, colorful neighborhoods, each with their own identity, vibe, and demographic. What makes them different are the small, local, mom-and-pop shops—not the chains of identical mass retail stores.