This week I spontaneously went to Montreal for OFFForum. Have you ever booked a flight and flown within the same week? Wild behavior. Wasn't sure if I'd regret it.

Very happy to report it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. I met an incredible amount of really great people, saw amazing talks, and even got to tour Moment Factory HQ. Feeling very inspired.

If you’re on the fence about doing something spontaneous, use me as an excuse to just do it. 1

Design Doubloons

The world is filled with beautiful things 2

A hotel hallway where the carpeted floor features a dense pattern of red roses on a dark green leafy background, with the same carpeting continuing several feet up the lower half of the walls. A circular inset in the upper left provides a close-up of the red and white rose pattern.

CARPET ROSES
The hallway of my hotel was carpeted in rose hedges that climbed up the wall.

A stemmed glass filled with red wine, printed with a minimalist white graphic of two eyes and a tilted slash nose. In the background, a framed classical portrait features the same painted graphic over the subject's face, beside a cocktail menu displaying a cartoon figure with the same stylized expression.

OLO
Prezze Mollo uses this simple face for branding. They painted it on pictures on the wall and charmingly on wine glasses.

A subway corridor wall covered in an extensive grid of square ceramic tiles, each printed with cobalt blue pictograms designed by Bing Lee. A circular inset highlights close-up tiles showcasing playful, folk-inspired symbols and characters, including a crown with an eye and a curl, a lightning bolt inside an emblem, stylized masks, abstracted dancing figures, and small cartoon creatures with antenna-like ears.

NYC CANAL
This pictogram wall by Bing Lee has been around since 1999 and always makes the Canal Street subway station my favorite transfer.

A black Canadian cigarette pack labeled "Marlboro Velouté" at a dining table. The package is dominated by a large Health Canada graphic warning showing a pregnant person in a red dress alongside bold yellow text reading "WARNING: Cigarette smoke HARMS BABIES."

THOSE ARE CIGARETTES?
In Montreal the cigarette packaging looks like pregnancy medicine. I saw it sitting on the table at dinner and would’ve never guessed what it was.

Design, tech, creative, and other fun stories I’ve come across

This Week’s Video

Only had time for one, but it’s been my biggest hit in awhile!

A split-screen vertical thumbnail showing Ryan Selvy speaking directly to the camera in the lower half, while the upper half displays a graphic comparing a clear can of three neon yellow tennis balls to clear cans of Moët & Chandon champagne cocktails filled with stacked cut limes. A red curved arrow points from the tennis ball packaging to the lime slices, beneath bold overlay text that reads, "THIS TENNIS BALL DRINK IS TRASH," set against a blurred tennis court background.

COOL PACKAGING STRAIGHT IN THE GARBAGE
The US Open continues to become just 50% a foodie festival lol. One of the new drinks this year has an amazing visual concept, but its form factor makes it so it’s not recyclable. Raises the question: when is a good idea good enough to ignore its negative implications?
YouTube | Instagram

Found Design Treasure

Riding off other creatives’ coattails

3D typographic artwork set against a black background, featuring stacked block letters extruded with vibrant rainbow stripes and textured black patterns by Kiel Mutschelknaus

TYPE THAT’S READY TO PARTY
Kiel Mutschelknaus makes playful and artistic type toys and publishes some online. But I just want access to all the ones he doesn’t . (Met him this week at the conference!)

An Etch A Sketch toy held by hands in blue rubber gloves against a bright blue backdrop, cut in half to show the classic red frame with a white knob on the left and the internal mechanical rear casing on the right.

WHAT’S INSIDE AN ETCH-A-SKETCH
I never thought about the word “etch” in the title, but turns out when you’re drawing something you’re just cleaning the glass for that specific spot. Just followed WorldByCharlie

A gouache painting on paper depicting whimsical, anthropomorphic raccoons in various posed activities, such as holding up a glass of red wine, sipping from a cup, and eating, arranged beside a watercolor paint palette and brush.

HERE’S SOME HAND MADE ART
LeeshMadeArt painted the most sophisticated raccoons abroad in gouache. Ordered a print last night.

Two stacked photographs showing a dusty desert landscape with a large metal lattice sculpture depicting a fractured, toppled Eiffel Tower resting on the ground, with silhouetted figures walking nearby.

PARIS IS BURNING?
There’s a 1/10th size replica of a toppled Eiffel Tower at Burning Man this year by Philippe Maindron

This Week’s File New

This week on File New: Recorded this episode before my short, so I began with the Moët & Chandon's US Open drink, then moved on to Smucker's suing Trader Joe's over their crustless PB&J packaging, and Walmart is selling a rotisserie chicken purse.

You can watch the full unedited replay on YouTube or Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Also in this episode:

  • Legally, who owns AI brain rot? We’re about to have some landmark legal cases.

  • The Met Gala dropped John Galliano after the world reminded The Met he’s super extremely problematic

  • Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event is next week with the new CEO

  • A new logo for the WNBA Finals

  • Sam Register left Warner Bros. after 18 years

  • A whole lot more

    YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Have A Great Long Weekend!

👋

Footnotes

1  Unless it’s unlawful, and in that case my lawyers want me to disclose that I am not associated with you or your stupid decision making.

2  Except the cigarettes. My team of lawyers doesn’t want me to endorse smoking.

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