A grand welcome to gr8 collab newsletter
How relentless curiosity got us here, the French Communist Party's HQ is chic?, and a Q&A with a creative you should know.
Hi, welcome. Thanks so much for being here for the first issue of my newsletter! The plan is simple: amplify brands, spaces, and creatives all through the lens of design and see where it takes us.
Before we get into this week’s roundup, a little context of who I am, what I do, and what’s happening. With a relentless curiosity, I’ve always been obsessed with meeting new people (and connecting them to other people), discovering new things, and sharing with anyone who will listen. Some would say, I was born to link and build.
While in business school at University of Miami, this manifested itself in This is Twenty, a platform where I interviewed women in creative fields about their early twenties and their advice to themselves back then. Also in an Instagram account, sitting.athome, dedicated to curating chairs which later turned into designing and building my own spot to sit.
I was Thingtesting’s first community hire and took the platform from 0 to 100K+ reviews, curated the weekly newsletter and website, and created the platform’s product testing program, Thingdrop.
I started writing for Architectural Digest in 2022 after I met
who would later become a very close friend, but first my editor. Contributing to the publication has allowed me to lean further into design, championing creatives, and spotting trends in a new way.In November 2023, I challenged myself to post one TikTok a day 30 days, to simply learn the platform. No rules, no KPIs, just me and my relentless curiosity feeling something out. On the 30th day, I had 84 posts and 10K followers who were tuning in for my perspective on design and brands. I didn’t know what I was onto, but it was something, so I doubled down on it.
gr8 collab started as a TikTok, but quickly turned into inbound brand strategy requests. This consulting work led me to take the leap and leave my job at the end of February.
Now gr8 collab is officially gr8 collab LLC, a consultancy and partner to story and design-led brands across commerce, hospitality, and tech, focused on building community, content, and collaborations.
As of today, gr8 collab is also a newsletter. And that’s on relentless curiosity. Let’s get into it…
From brand land
Comme Si x USM Modular Furniture launches today at USM’s Soho showroom. Designed by Jenni Lee, Comme Si’s founder and creative director, the collection of eight furniture pieces is rooted in meditative and gathering spaces. When I first got word of the collab last week (thank you, Ben), I was thrilled– I love it when heritage brands (USM launched in 1885) partner with young brands. It breathes new life and a fresh perspective into what’s been around and gives a big stamp of credibility to what’s new. That’s what I’d call a gr8 collab.
Spaces to lose sleep over
I’ve pinned this colorful bathroom so many times but never thought to look into it further until this week and it shocked me to my core when I saw the rest of the home and read up on its history. Located in East Hampton, NY, the house was designed and completed in 2008 by architect-artist couple Shusaku Arakawa & Madeline Gins with the intent of fighting death. The pair dedicated their careers to their “Reversible Destiny Foundation” with projects like this Bioscleave house, and the belief that uneven floors, light switches at different heights, and textured walls would keep the body alert, stimulating the immune system, and keep you alive forever. It’s a fascinating deep dive…
The French communist party HQ in Paris is truly business on the outside and, party on the inside. I honestly thought the images were AI-generated when I first discovered the project. While the exterior screams typical office (and potential planetarium?), Architect Oscar Neimeyer, who was a protege of Le Corbusier, had a field day designing the futuristic interior between 1967-1980. Every detail was long thought out to create a world that contrasts harsh concrete and a whole lot of mystery by bringing the outside terrain in through grass-colored carpets and thousands of light-diffusing aluminum strips in the auditorium where natural light peeks through.
On the topic of HQs, here’s a very different one I should mention: I visited at the Ghia house in LA a few weeks ago, where she gave me the full tour of the non-alc brand’s office inside a Tudor-style 3-bedroom house.
A creative you should know
Lauren Bamford is the Melbourne-based still-life photographer whose work sent me on a rabbit hole when an image she shot for Loewe popped up on my feed last November. Having just started my TikTok the week before, I decided to share about her work, launching my series, “Behind the brands.” The post quickly reached 100K+ people, including Lauren herself. After that, I learned she also has a dreamy home in Tasmania that features Australian artists and is available for rent. When I started concepting this newsletter, I knew I had to get Lauren on the phone…
As someone whose work is so impactful to the storytelling that brands do, how have you seen the landscape shift? Any predictions on how the brand space and these stories will continue to evolve?
I have definitely seen a shift in the last 3 to 5 years of a trend towards recreating those iconic vintage advertising images from the 70s and 80s etc. I know I and many others look to Irving Penn’s work for inspiration. I think that there is a nostalgia to that aesthetic that everyone is kind of desperate for, amongst a sea of fake and contrived advertising.
Sometimes I wonder if the rise of this trend came about through the pandemic, and the lockdowns and needing to simplify art direction concepts that could be executed alone, or with a small team. I know that for me personally, I was looking to change direction of my work around about 2019, so the pandemic and subsequent lengthy lockdowns that took place here in Melbourne were the catalyst for me to rebrand in a way. I predict the way the trends will evolve will be via AI editing. It’s early days, but I think once people catch on that there is so much potential to create weird and wonderful images, that we will see it create a new trend.
Where do you look to for inspiration?
I look to my memories for inspiration and my surroundings, wherever that may be. The way light hits an object or a wall or a plant or a person. The colour palette, the textures of life – anything and everything. Old movies and TV shows are also a fun source of inspiration if you are going for some kind of high-concept narrative.
Shoutout a brand, space, or creative on your mind.
A newish brand that I have been working with since its launch is Tsu Lange Yor, which is a fragrance and lifestyle brand created by Troye Sivan and his brother Steele Mellet. I just really admire the team and their vision - and their products smell amazing. It’s been a pleasure to work on that brand and be trusted and nurtured to create images without interference
Where can readers find and follow your work?
Amazing as usual!
brilliant first issue 👏👏👏👏