In Our Dreams We Look Both Ways Together

This week's edition features coffee branding, odd colognes, teenage engineering, patchwork sneakers, and fantastically tiled interiors

So, I’m on this flight to New York, and before I boarded, I decided to take a gummy. Chill out and be super relaxed. I should be clear, I took half a gummy. This is because, I really only eat these before bed so I can turn off my brain after a long day. Except, I don’t want to sleep on this flight because I land at 11pm and need to go to bed when I get to my hotel. And my brain is, quite literally, up in the clouds right now. Like, I’m higher than expected to be, ngl.

My intentions were to write this little intro on the plane as I have a lot of free time to handle things. This is proving to be a challenge! None of the the things I was thinking about are coming to mind, or even remembering what I did last week is currently foggy, at best. Even these last few sentences were a very big challenge to write, and I can’t tell if I’ve been noodling on this for 20 minutes or 2 hours.

Thank god I wrote everything below and add this after. There would have been no TFIB this week, haha… Oh well, hopefully my little story brought a smile to your face. Hope your week treats you right! 💙

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☕️ — Stereoscope Coffee Branding by Olssøn Barbieri

I’m not going to lie, this project is almost too minimal for my taste. That said, I’m obsessed with the work of Olssøn Barbieri, an Oslo-based design studio specializing in brand identity and packaging design. Their work is some of the best in the industry currently and their work for Los Angeles coffee roasters Stereoscope Coffee is a gem. A mix of brutalist design with clarity of message and mission, paired with the Chinese cosmology notion of yin and yang, brings to life packaging that will grab your attention.

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🌌 — George Street Plaza by Adjaye Associates & Daniel Boyd

There’s an incredibly striking energy to the George Street Plaza, a new space from the brilliant minds over at Adjaye Associates, along with artist Daniel Boyd. The project aims to highlight the site's heritage, which was once the land of the Eora nation – a group of Aboriginal Australians, with a goal “for people to connect, recharge, reflect and take a pause from the rhythm of a fast-transforming city,” says Adjaye. According to Boyd, the giant canopy, which is designed by Boyd, is meant “to evoke an Aboriginal dot painting, and the community building that is intended to emulate the shape of early settlers' homes.” Incredible work that any city would be lucky to enjoy.

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𑗎 — Oddity Fragrance

There are three things that I can’t live without: candles, sparkling wine, and a great fragrance. The more characterful and odd, the more excited I’ll be about. Oddity Fragrance is a a contemporary niche perfume house led by a design collective in Hong Kong. Their scents, with names like Naked Dance, Dead Air, and Resonant, are inspired by memories, macabre fantasies and ethereal dreams. It also doesn’t hurt that the bottles are super rad looking.

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☑️ — teenage engineering’s field ccessories

It’s easy to fall in love with the things teenage engineering makes. Everything is well-crafted, slightly nerdy and niche, an always giving you an ability to make or do something interesting. Their new field accessories line of bags and cases use as little material as possible, and each bag is custom-designed to fit your teenage engineering devices, while also accommodating your other tools. This little waist bag is calling my name.

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👟  — Palimpset Sneaker by Helen Kirkum

Women right now are leading the pack on sneaker design. Another great example, after highlighting Nicole McLaughlin and her collab with Vans, is Helen Kirkum, who became well-regarded for taking existing sneakers and transforming them into brand new ones. Her Palimpset sneaker is her first ready-to-wear sneaker with mismatched fore and rear sole components, an ode to the process of making. Sadly, they were VERY expensive and all sold out, though now I’m thinking I may see if she can make me a custom pair.

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🏁 — Irene Neuwirth by Studio Shamshiri

Continuing our never-ending journey through maximalism, I had to highlight this incredible jewelry shop for Irene Neuwirth by Studio Shamshiri. Pamela Shamshiri has an incredible eye for interiors, and the shop itself looks almost like a jewelry box, filled with eclectic objects that make you feel as though you’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of wonders. There’s even a larger-than-life giraffe by Clare Crespo that greets you when you arrive.

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🌱 — Prada Caffè, Harrods

Prada keeps getting better and better lately, and now they’re continuing this momentum into a brand new café in Harrods, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, small bites, and aperitivo in the space until the end of the year. Based on this TikTok the space looks stunning, a minty paradise, filled with all matter of indulgent patisseries and desserts, as well as a pistachio cake with pistachio croccantino and cream that sounds delightful.

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🌱 — Kyutae Lee

The algorithms blessed me with this wonderful illustration by Kyutae Lee, an illustrator from Seoul who’s making drawings that look like memories. I believe their work is mostly done with colored pencils which lend to this dreamy feeling of their work. One of my new favorites.

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by my partner, Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick, is a sharp and insightful take on culture from around the world. Arrives every Sunday to your inbox. Highly recommended, obviously.