What the studio is reading.
Daily, curated. 5 to 7 items a day across design, branding, packaging, consumer trends, technology, and India. Every link goes to the source.
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material, structure, and scent converge in so koizumi’s south korean solo exhibition
So Koizumi's Seoul exhibition collapses material, structure, and scent into a single sensory argument, a reminder that the strongest brand experiences work on more than one sense at once.
Read on Designboom -
Mingei at 100: why Japan’s folk-craft movement still shapes design today
Japan's Mingei folk-craft movement turns 100, and its core argument (that everyday objects deserve the same care as fine art) is still the most useful brief a brand team can receive.
Read on Wallpaper* -
who gets to live in the wall? architecture makes room for nonhuman residents
Architects are literally redesigning walls to house birds, bees, and bats alongside humans, which raises a pointed question about whose needs your own built environment is actually designed around.
Read on Designboom -
Torishéju Dumi is building a fashion brand on her own terms: ‘I’d rather play the long game’
Torishéju Dumi is turning down fast fashion's growth playbook to build a fashion brand on patient, principled terms, a rare case study in what brand conviction actually costs.
Read on Wallpaper* -
This serene Copenhagen boutique is a haven for Korean design
A new Copenhagen boutique dedicated entirely to Korean design proves that a tight editorial point of view is a stronger retail strategy than a broad, crowd-pleasing selection.
Read on Wallpaper* -
traditional potter’s stand becomes a timber bench shaped like a stretching cat
A Tokyo studio reread a traditional potter's stand and came out with a timber bench shaped like a stretching cat. Constraint as creative brief, executed without explanation needed.
Read on Designboom -
Albania recruited top starchitects to transform its image. A new book is raising questions about that process
Albania hired starchitects to rebrand an entire country, and a new book is now asking whether the process served the nation or the architects' portfolios. Nation branding at its most complicated.
Read on Wallpaper* -
New book 'Chromatic Architecture' celebrates colour as a 'fundamental aspect of human pleasure'
A new book argues colour is not a finish or a mood board afterthought but a *fundamental driver* of how people experience space, a useful reframe for any brand team briefing an architect.
Read on Wallpaper* -
Instagram's ‘Instagzam’ moment: When does a logo refresh become a brand risk?
Instagram's logo refresh is already drawing heat in India, and Brand Equity breaks down exactly where the line sits between a calculated rebrand and a brand equity bonfire.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times) -
India vs Global — How the landscape is different in live commerce
Live commerce in India runs on trust, vernacular, and creator proximity, not the slick checkout flows that work in China or the US, and the gap matters if you're building for Bharat.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times) -
New Claims In WPP Whistleblower Suit Allege Sony Probe Found Rebate Fraud
New claims in the WPP whistleblower suit allege a Sony probe uncovered rebate fraud, putting fresh pressure on holding-company media buying practices that clients have long suspected.
Read on Adweek -
Nielsen’s DoubleVerify Deal Isn’t About AI Adoption: It’s About Controlling What the Models Measure
Nielsen buying into DoubleVerify is less about AI and more about who gets to define what AI measurement models treat as ground truth, which is a much bigger power play.
Read on Adweek -
Lágrimas de Cocodrilo Turns Local Slang Into a Beautiful Label
Lágrimas de Cocodrilo built its entire label around local Mexican slang, proof that the sharpest brand voice often comes from the street, not the brief.
Read on Dieline -
brussels rolls out hokusai’s great wave in 750,000 dahlias for flower carpet 2026
Brussels recreated Hokusai's Great Wave using 750,000 dahlias for its 2026 flower carpet, a reminder that the most memorable brand experiences are still physical, temporary, and completely unrepeatable.
Read on Designboom -
Mahindra drapes the tricolour on I-day eve at London's old dock
Mahindra wrapped London's Old Dock in the tricolour on Independence Day eve, a brand moment that works because the location earns the statement rather than just decorating it.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times) -
As luxury car buyers grow younger, lifestyle-led marketing takes the wheel at MINI India
MINI India's buyers are getting younger and the brand is responding with lifestyle-led marketing over spec sheets, a useful case study for any premium brand rethinking who it is actually talking to.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times) -
Gen Z replaced the mall with screenshots. Peter England wants to meet them there
Peter England is chasing Gen Z where they actually shop: the screenshot folder, not the mall, and that shift in thinking matters for every apparel brand with a legacy problem.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times) -
Brand Footprint India 2026: Sunrise jumps eight places to enter top 50 as FMCG consumer reach grows
Sunrise climbed eight spots to crack the Brand Footprint India top 50, a signal that FMCG consumer reach is shifting and smaller challengers are finding real ground.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times) -
former textile warehouse transforms into fractal-inspired jaipur rugs showroom in mumbai
A former textile warehouse in Mumbai becomes a Jaipur Rugs showroom built on fractal geometry, proving that retail spaces can carry a brand's craft logic all the way into the architecture.
Read on Designboom -
Samsonite’s $178.5M Béis Buy Is All About Winning Over Gen Z Women
Samsonite paid $178.5M for Béis, a direct bet that Gen Z women will drive the next decade of travel goods, and that legacy brands can only buy their way into that cultural moment.
Read on Adweek -
Dior Beauty’s history is now an animated film – meet the director and watch it here
Dior Beauty commissioned an animated film to tell its own history, a format choice that says more about where luxury brand storytelling is heading than any campaign brief could.
Read on Wallpaper* -
Chef Esther Choi Takes Her Expertise to the Pantry with Korean Essentials Brand, Sessy
Chef Esther Choi is turning her restaurant credibility into a Korean pantry brand called Sessy, the clearest sign yet that chef-led CPG is a real category, not a vanity project.
Read on Dieline -
Before Betting on a New Flavor, Oreo Is Letting Consumers Choose
Oreo is letting consumers vote on its next permanent flavor before committing to production, which is either smart co-creation or a sign that the brand has run out of internal conviction.
Read on Adweek -
island records and emi turn their king’s cross headquarters into a spatial mixtape
Island Records and EMI converted their King's Cross HQ into a spatial mixtape, a rare case of a music label treating its own building as a brand medium worth designing seriously.
Read on Designboom -
The Business Lever That Compounds When You Watch It. And Decays When You Don't.
Brand Equity's piece on brand as a compounding asset is worth reading slowly: the argument is that neglect has a lag, and by the time the decay shows in revenue, it is already expensive to fix.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times) -
Why The Arena Group Has, Implausibly, Rebranded Into an AI Company
The Arena Group, owner of Sports Illustrated and dozens of other media brands, has rebranded as an AI company, which tells you more about where media valuations are heading than any trend report will.
Read on Adweek -
Lumee Turns Light Into the Whole Design
Lumee's packaging makes light itself the design system, not a feature or a mood, and the result is one of those rare cases where the concept and the execution are actually the same thing.
Read on Dieline -
What should the future look like? Inside the tech-funded program to create a new aesthetic
A tech-funded program is actively trying to manufacture a new visual aesthetic, and the question of who gets to define what the future looks like is one every brand team should be paying attention to.
Read on Fast Company Design -
How Burger King Drank Wendy’s Milk Shake
Burger King's latest campaign borrows a cultural moment that belonged to Wendy's, and it worked, which is a reminder that brand positioning is always up for grabs if you move fast enough.
Read on Adweek -
The Manipulators Of Memory
Brand Equity's piece on memory manipulation is sharp reading for anyone building a brand in a market where nostalgia is a competitive tool, not just a creative mood.
Read on Brand Equity (Economic Times)
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