Think Piece: Standard Issue
Welcome to the Human Race, Such As It Is
Here's your standard-issue iPhone. Or Android, if you're one of those tinkering open-source fanatics. Hi ho.
I knew a stoutly fella once, calves like tree trunks from Punta Gorda Florida who collected spent Marlboro butts, Coka Cola Memorabilia and telephones. Not the little rectangles people carry as EDC gear containing all human knowledge. Actual phones.
Here's your standard-issue Instagram account. Techies in California designed it to make you feel simultaneously connected and lonely as heck. They succeeded.
Now for your attire, take your pick: jeans manufactured in seven different countries, joggers (whatever those are), or something from the athleisure kingdom. Black, gray, or off-white. Congrats... you are now indistinguishable from the rest of the herd. Moo.
Are we living in some bizarro-world Black Mirror episode where every human runs on the same operating system? Twinning in the same uniform. Saying the same nails on the chalkboard cliches. “Just Vibes.” “New Drop.” “Blessed.” "Goat." "LFG."
We are drowning in a sea of sameness. That's what GenX says.
Not to be dramatic - here comes something dramatic - but doesn't it feel like humanity is stuck in one long Twitter/X thread where no one's actually saying anything? People used to speak in paragraphs. Now they speak in branded abbreviations. LOL. YOLO. FOMO. FACTS. Etc.
I don't despise Carbon Copyism, Big, Boring, Common, Traditional, Fast, Conventional, Uniform, Ubiquitous, Repetition, Non Creative, Soulless. YIKES! That's quite a list. If those qualities were guests at a dinner party, the conversation would be terrible, but everyone would arrive on time.
These qualities have a place within the law of average.
Average people. Average service providers. Average businesses. Average consumers. Average stuff. The universe tends toward average.
I just rep Small, Slow, Unique, Irreverence, Personality, Creativity, Soul. I appreciate better than average. Much better.
I wonder? What would the world look like with a billion above average small brands? Each one built by a creative living an interesting, quasi-unique life, crafting a business that reflects their worldview, their quirks, and - listen closely now - their soul?
I once met a South African man who made custom bracelets by binding marble-like heavy beads, with waxed string. The weaving and knot making was exquisite.
Mine is very handsome. Blue tiger eye. Not many people bought. He didn't care. He was building for meaning, not money. The man was poor, poor, poor but happy. As was I. [Sorry, Daydreaming]
Like I was saying... These creatives wouldn't be building for venture capitalists or hyper-quick-growth. These creatives would build for meaning. For community. For belonging.
They'd build lifestyle brands for the few, not the masses. Brands that whisper, "You see the world the way we do." Whispering brands. What a harrowing concept. Most brands scream until you want to stuff Air Pods over your ears.
Imagine: 1 billion lifestyle brands. 1 billion micro-communities. Pockets of people just like you and I. It sounds exhausting. It sounds beautiful. It sounds like chaos. It sounds like freedom.
Would that eliminate the sea of sameness? Who knows. But that's a world I'd like to live in.
Who
What
When
Why
This manifesto is about the why. And, yes it's ok to ask this man why.
I. THE CRISIS: WE’RE BUILDING ALONE
"I’ve so often shared the day’s glittering discoveries with no one at all."
— The French Dispatch
It’s the punches you don’t see coming that knock you down.
That line? That scene? What a wallop? Words can do that. Knock you flat.
Blaak Museum exists because of loneliness. I know a thing or two about loneliness.
I’m lonely. I travel alone. Build alone. Work alone. Eat alone. Some people collect Seiko watches. I collect solitudes. Yeah!
I enjoy my solitude—until I don’t.
Still, I long for a community of people who see the world the way I do. People creative as me. Think like me. Feel like me. People who care deeply about the texture of life. Texture of life. That's a nice phase. I didn't invent it. Harold Finch on Person of Interest did. Best character on TV ever. Behind Raymond Reddington of course.
A year ago, at a watering hole in Winston-Salem, I watched a guy—average height, draped in Ralph Lauren prep, bow tie included—sitting alone with a cocktail as complex as Greek algebra. I struck up a chat with Bow Tie Man. Turns out, he’d just booked a one-way ticket to Munich.
He said, “My people are in Munich.”
I got it.
“Go where you find community,” I suggested, unsolicited. Advice is always unsolicited. That's what makes it advice.
II. BELONGING IS THE REAL PRODUCT
We need community.
We need belonging.
We need to feel normal.
Sometimes, we don’t find our people in real life.
So we search for them in brands.
The brands we wear, follow, and love are often silent signals that say: Hey, I see you.
I don’t usually wear clothes with words on them—unless it’s a Formula One kit dripping in irrelevant sponsors.
But I deeply respect the brand Dad Gang.
They didn’t just build a lifestyle brand. They built a world. They populated it with people like them. Not my people—but still, chapeau.
You’ve seen it: proud poppas from Jersey City to Seattle quietly signaling to one another with a cap or tee—You’re a good dad too? You read bedtime stories and make waffles on Saturdays? Nice, bro. Respect. ✊🏾
In Buenos Aires, entire neighborhoods shut down during Boca Juniors matches.
In Barcelona, friends pass around a porrón—straight from the spout, into your face - Anthony Bourdain.
In Paris, moms eat lunch with moms.
In Istanbul, tea sellers waltz through bazaars, delivering silver trays stacked with glasses to their vendor friends—not a single drop spilled.
The world has community.
The States? Not so much. We belong to our subscriptions.
We seek out community in subreddits, Slack groups, Twitter /X comments and—more than anything—in brands.
We look for ourselves in the stories brands tell.
III. MEANING IS YOUR MOAT
Let’s be honest:
We don’t have a sneaker shortage.
Or a protein powder shortage.
Or a watch shortage.
What we do have is a shortage of meaningful.
A shortage of work that makes us feel.
We don’t have a shortage of creatives building for exit.
We have a shortage of creatives building for soul.
The algorithm wants creative work that’s predictable.
Hustle culture wants you tired.
So we pollute the internet with more noise, more sameness, and zilch soul.
But soul is the only thing that cuts through.
`Neri Oxman once said that design is a solution to escape crisis.
I believe that.
I believe we can solve for lonely.
I believe design, story, and soul can stitch people back together.
Small brands won’t survive by shouting louder.
They’ll survive by meaning more.
Meaning builds community.
Community builds loyalty.
And loyalty builds resilience.
Meaning is your moat.
It’s what makes your brand unforgettable.
And in a sea of sameness, it’s the only thing that can’t be copied.
IV. CHASE WONDER. MAKE SOUL
A design principle.
A business philosophy.
A way of life.
Chase Wonder means living with curiosity and empathy.
It’s flâneur energy: casually observing, deeply present, always learning.
It’s moving through the world open and inquisitive, exploring identity, ritual, and narrative.
You feel, you listen, you participate—then you make.
Make Soul means building something that invites others to belong.
It’s not just branding—it’s world-building.
It’s creating spaces, products, and experiences that whisper to people, “You belong here.”
At Blaak Museum, I build brands for participation.
I build brands for connection.
I build brands with soul—
So my clients can lead with it.
Because when creatives lead with soul, they don’t just sell.
They connect.
They inspire.
They make change.
Change that lasts.
Never ask a man why.
Unless he's building with soul.
Then ask him everything.
` I confess, I was giddy-in-the-making watching Neri's Ted Talk, but she's a married woman, so I didn't stare too hard. I'm mesmerized by her essence and grace. What makes me wonder, can a man exhibit similar otherworldly essence?