During my last trip to Kyoto I serendipitously came to Kanjiro Kawai’s house in the Gojō-zaka neighbourhood. Kawai (1890-1966) was a prominent potter and one of the driving forces, together with philosopher Sōetsu Yanagi and fellow potter Shōji Hamada, behind the Mingei or Folks-Craft Movement in Japan. Fire in my hand,A cold ball of fire,Fire […]
Author archives: Gian
Travel: A Portable Aroma Diffuser For Better Sleep
I travel for almost one third of the year, with a big part of it being 3 to 6 day long work trips, and I’m always looking for better ways to mitigate the effect that sleeping on different beds and eating out 3 times a day has on my mood and energy. I believe aroma […]
My LEGO Wall – From Work Tool to Art Installation
If you’ve visited my home in the last 5+ years or if we had a video call while I was working from home, you’ve certainly noticed my LEGO Wall. It’s a conversation starter for adults and a magnet for kids (a colleague once asked me how do I keep small kids from ransacking it). What […]
Velocitize Interview on Storytelling, Great Digital Work, and Personal Vs. Personalised Experiences
Back in November 2018 I sat down with Andy North from Velocitize, a publication by WP Engine that shares strategic insights on digital experiences to marketers and agency folk, to discuss marketing trends and how brands can approach the constant evolution of how we converse and tell stories online. Some trends, such as voice, transcend […]
The Tsubame-Sanjo Factory Festival: Helping People Understand the Value of Well Made Products
This post is part of Issue n.011 of The Craftsman Newsletter. When our attention is being sucked away by digital gadgets, how can you help people understand the value of well made products and create a closer connection to their makers? For the Japanese manufacturing district of Tsubame-Sanjo, the answer was rooted in the simplicity […]
8 books that captivated me in 2018
As 2018 comes to a close, many have been sharing their favourite books of the year and going through some of my friends’ lists I realised that I’ve read quite a few too. This is a positive thing I take from this year onto the next, and that is that I’ve made plenty of time […]
Taking a break, Breathing and Zen
I often need to create space and change things up a bit to counterbalance the “busy-ness” of work, submerged in emails, chats, and the stress that comes with the daily sense of urgency. Luckily, it’s not all screen time and I get to do a decent amount of public speaking, which means I get to […]
Tom’s Studio: The Most Beautiful Pens in the World
Tom Gyr makes arguably the most beautiful calligraphy pens in the world. Tom trained in graphic design and fresh out of university started a furniture company in Newcastle, but that folded pretty quickly because he had no channel to showcase his products. He later moved to London to do web design at tech startups, […]
Creating Ultra-Personalised Shoes Combining Shoe Data with Life Data
An old shoe-dog saying goes something like “the shoes you wear in your 20s and 30s are what will hurt your back in your 70s and 80s”. Troy Nachtigall, a Fashion Designer dedicated to Wearable Technology and a Marie Curie Researcher at the Technical University of Eindhoven, wants to scientifically prove that correlation, that if […]
Rossi & Rei, a Global Marketplace for Custom Luxury
This article will be featured in the next issue of The Craftsman Newsletter. Subscribe here. The enthusiasm that exudes from Elisa Rossi when she talks about her new company, Rossi & Rei, is comparable to the enthusiasm you find when you visit Silicon Valley. That’s not a coincidence given that she has worked in the […]