Journal

What Stoicism Sounds Like When It’s Quiet

Stoicism — the Greek philosophical school founded by Zeno of Citium around 300 BC and developed by Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca — is the most practiced philosophy of the ancient world. Here's what it actually sounds like when nobody's performing it.

The Best Gifts for Philosophy Lovers (That Aren't Another Book)

They’ve read the books. They’ve argued the positions. Here’s what you actually give the person who takes ideas seriously — and won’t be impressed by anything generic.

Helen Frankenthaler Was Right in 1952. The Art World Took Another Decade.

In the fall of 1952, Helen Frankenthaler spread an unprimed canvas flat on the floor of her New York studio and poured thinned paint directly onto the surface. Mountains and Sea changed painting. The art world took another decade to catch up.

From Camus to Kafka: Quotes for the Modern Absurdist

Absurdism isn’t nihilism. It’s what happens when you take the contradiction between what humans need and what the world offers completely seriously — and then keep going anyway. Eight quotes that actually hold up.

The Intersection of Abstract Expressionism and Apparel

Franz Kline, Rothko, and the question most quote apparel never asks: does the design do something before the word is read? Abstract Expressionism has the answer.

Why the Vignelli Canon Still Rules Modern Design

In 2010, Massimo Vignelli published a 100-page design manifesto and gave it away free. More than a decade later, it still embarrasses most of what we call modern design.

The Quote on Your Shirt Is Probably a Lie

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." — Gandhi. Except he never said it.

Henry David Thoreau on Getting Lost to Find Yourself

You’ve seen the short version. Not till we are lost do we begin to find ourselves.

Why We Made “The Brain — is wider than the Sky” Twice

The Brain — is wider than the Sky — is on six pieces in our Emily Dickinson collection. Four of them — tee, mug, journal, phone case — share one design language. Two of them — tee and phone case — share a completely different one. Same line. Same poet. Two ways in.