Architect Approved Gift Guide 2024

I ascribe to three rules of gifting (h/t: Van Neistat): thoughtful, nice, and made.

  1. Thoughtful: Shows you've considered the recipient’s specific needs or aspirations rather than grabbing something generic.

  2. Nice: Well-crafted from quality materials with attention to detail in its execution. Nice doesn’t always have to mean ‘expensive’ it’s choosing something beautifully designed + built to last.

  3. Made: Contains an element of personal effort or customization that transforms it from off-the-shelf to bespoke. This could be anything from a handmade item to thoughtful packaging, a personal note, or custom engraving.

Design professionals inherently understand this trinity - it mirrors how we approach our own work. Thoughtful consideration of context + user. Quality in materials + execution. The personal touches that transform generic solutions into specific, meaningful experiences.

If you can’t hit the trifecta, hitting two will still count as a really good gift. A handwritten letter accompanying a carefully selected book (thoughtful + made) can be more impactful than an expensive purchase without personal connection (i.e. - new piece of tech). A beautifully crafted tool with a considered purpose (nice + thoughtful) often becomes a daily favorite.

On to the gifts…please enjoy!

Ephemeral

  • DAOU Reserve "By the Glass" Collection ($45) Here's the perfect example of nice: three precisely portioned (100ml) tastes of wines that would cost hundreds to purchase by the bottle. The Seventeen Forty blend leads with Cab Franc, which I find more interesting than the usual Cab Sauv. In a luxury box, it's just enough to fully appreciate each wine without committing to full bottles. Add your tasting notes to make it personal (made) and you've hit all three principles of gifting.

  • Smoking Goose Duck Prosciutto ($28) Nice + Made: Made in small batches by an Indianapolis curer who's obsessed with process - you'll pay more per ounce than the Italian stuff, but that's what happens when you prioritize craft over scale. The silky texture and subtle smoke prove they know exactly what they're doing. Skip the note on this one and just invite them over for aperitivo. Good company makes everything taste better.

  • Gubbeen Cheese ($22/half pound) My wife and I discovered this at a small shop in Cork, Ireland on a recent trip this fall and I think it hits all three… Nice: small-batch handcrafted Irish cheese. Made: supporting artisanal creators - the Ferguson family has been perfecting this process for generations. Each wheel develops differently based on the coastal weather. Thoughtful: Include a note that talks about how site + process shape what's in front of us, or something witty: "Tasted this and thought of you - it's complex, a bit stubborn, and gets better with age."

  • Concert Tickets ($45+) Nice + Thoughtful: Better than any physical gift - it's a future memory. My wife gifted me tickets to see one of my metal favorites: InFlames in 2025… to make it extra: meet + greet experiences are an option, signed merch, or include a playlist of essential tracks to build anticipation. Gift experiences outlast objects every time.

home + studio

  • DECKED Sixer 16 Case ($90) Nice + Thoughtful: I continue to be seduced by smart, stackable storage, these are perfect for organizing the chaos of practice and cost less than my other favorite: the Yeti GoBox series. Weather-sealed, a smart flip up handle for easy carrying, and the removable tray keeps everything in its place. I use one for site visits, one for a photo shoot styling kit, and one for hauling samples to client meetings. Gift it already organized with a few essential tools or material samples to get them started.

  • Kaweco Special AL 0.9mm Pencil ($38) Nice + Made: German engineering applied to sketching. I've moved to thicker leads lately - the 0.9mm feels more natural than standard drafting pencils without sacrificing precision. The octagonal aluminum barrel has just enough heft to make every line feel intentional. Add a few spare leads to complete the gift.

  • BLANK Sketchbook or TRACE sketchbook - trusty favorites designed + manufactured by 30X40

  • Roterfaden Recycled Paper Stars ($13) Nice + Made: This is what happens when German designers get hold of your recycling bin. They've transformed their signature planner pages into precisely cut stars. Use them on everything from gift wrap to your tree. Because even your holiday decorations should show you care about the details. Alternative made version: raid your own studio’s recycling bin + start cutting.

  • Picofire Pouch ($20, shown below) Just larger than a phone but somehow fits everything - cords, portable battery, pen, lip balm, cards, keys - without the bulk. The 500D nylon and YKK zippers mean it'll outlast whatever you put in it. Gift it loaded with their everyday essentials, arranged just so. Because good tools deserve better than floating loose in your bag. Click below to see all the fun things I load mine with.
    NOTE: stock is low on this as it’s a small company - you could also opt for the slightly larger Ember Pro version. Or, upgrade to the Nutsac admin pouch (oxblood leather)

cutting edge Tech

Nice + Thoughtful:

  • Nice → AI Assistant Subscriptions ($20/each per month) My secret weapons for research and writing aren't kept in a drawer. ChatGPT Plus (great for synthesis, summary + analysis) and Claude Pro (shines at nuanced writing + research) feel like having dedicated assistants at my side - they've transformed how I write project descriptions, research precedents, reply to email and even tackle building code questions. AI won’t replace creatives in the future, those who know how to use AI will.
    ”Made” tip: Keep a document of your best prompts and include a card with your favorites to get the recipient started. It's the kind of gift that makes you look like a genius for thinking of it, and the recipient will thank you every month.

  • Nice → Midjourney Subscription ($30/month) Nice + Thoughtful: Not a replacement for design thinking, but a surprisingly powerful tool for early exploration. Once you learn its quirks (Discord is a bit quirky if you’re not used to it), it becomes like having a rendering team that works at the speed of thought. Gift a few months and include a few of your hard-won prompt formulas - the ones that consistently generate useful architectural visualizations. Or, borrow a few of mine (blog link)!

  • + Thoughtful → Prompt Engineering Course. I highly recommend Dave Talas’s course to get them started with a good foundation.

  • Treat yourself to the Start Your Design Business Bundle (this is only offered during Black Friday/Cyber Monday). Also, everything in my digital shop is 20% off through December 4th, check it out here.

Flat lay of business assets included with the Start Your Design Business Bundle

Get Organized for 2024 with the Start Your Design Business Bundle

travel

Flighty Pro ($48/year) Nice + Thoughtful: Tracks your inbound aircraft 25 hours before departure and predicts delays using pilot data. Watch where you are in the runway queue in real-time. I appreciate the annual "travel passport" (see above) showing miles covered + which airlines/airports have delayed you most. The email import feature means you're never manually entering flights, and calendar sync keeps your schedule current across devices. At $4/month, it's cheaper than airport coffee and far more valuable.

Peak Design Wash Pouch ($47) Nice + Thoughtful. Leave it to Peak Design to solve problems I didn't know my dopp kit had. The whole thing unfolds to hang flat, every pocket is actually useful, and those magnetic closures make hotel bathroom routines feel intentional. Over-engineered? Absolutely. That's why it works as a gift. Fill it up with some of the Matador items below to make it even better…

Matador Travel Accessories ($10-36) Nice + Thoughtful: Finally, someone approached travel gear like industrial design. Each piece is ruthlessly engineered to pack flat and weigh nothing. The welded seams and technical materials feel like outdoor gear, but the minimal aesthetics work in luxury hotels. Personal favorites: soap case, the FlatPak bottles, refillable toothpaste tubes, + the travel canisters.

Nord Solid Fragrance ($55 - 1 case + 2 capsules) Nice + Made: Stay smelling good on the go with this Dutch-designed natural fragrance. The slim aluminum case (with a magnetic closure you won't stop playing with) comes in three finishes and makes TSA liquid limits irrelevant. All plant-based, refillable (€29 capsules), and they offer a 14-day trial to find your perfect scent.

Proof Merino shirts ($78, Stone black is my favorite) Nice + Thoughtful: The perfect travel shirt exists! Field-tested on countless site visits, long haul flights, unending meetings, and you’ll come through looking (+ smelling) clean. The merino-nylon blend means it doesn't wrinkle like pure wool, regulates temperature in both hot site walks and cold conference rooms, and somehow never feels like technical gear. Highly recommend!

Travel Mementos Worth Displaying. Nice, Made + Thoughtful: When I travel, I skip the gift shop + look for pieces that capture something essential about a place. Could be a vintage relief map like the 1933 Maine one shown above ($170 sold out), a postcard from a tiny print shop in Copenhagen, or a hand-printed textile from a Tokyo maker. The key is finding something that tells a story beyond typical tourist fare. I frame them simply when I get home - these collected moments become a personal atlas of places and projects. Include a note about where you found it and why it caught your eye.

Books

A few favorites from 2024 (I try to read widely, not only about design topics):

  • Unreasonable Hospitality - Will Guidara
    Thoughtful + Made: The former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park on elevating service to an art form. Reads like a masterclass in client experience and attention to detail. I've started giving this to all my business friends - it's changed how I think about presentations and client interactions.

  • World Travel: An Irreverent Guide - Anthony Bourdain with Laurie Woolever
    Nice + Thoughtful: Travel inherently makes you a better designer and we can all learn to travel more thoughtfully, this is Bourdain's unfiltered take on everything travel. The essays by friends and family add layers of insight you won't find in Wallpaper guides. Perfect for anyone who believes truly understanding a place means venturing far from the tourist trail. Include a note about your own unexpected discovery in one of the cities he covers, or bookmark a few pages that resonate (and don’t forget to personalize the first page).

  • Nuclear War. A Scenario - Annie Jacobsen
    This doesn’t fit nicely into nice, thoughtful or made if I’m being honest. However, this is easily the best book I’ve read in the past five years. A sobering look at the infrastructure and decision-making systems behind our nuclear response plans. Through interviews with the military and civilian experts who built these systems, Jacobsen examines the handful of minutes that could change everything. The audiobook is chilling.

  • Soft Minimal: Norm Architects: A Sensory Approach to Architecture and Design ($64) Nice + Made: A minimalist studio addressing the human side of reduction. Through projects across three regions, Norm demonstrates how to create warmth through restraint. The photography alone reshapes how you think about materiality and light. Add a note about your favorite space in the book - mine's their Japanese work.

A few of the links above are affiliate links which cost you nothing extra but may provide a small commission to me if you choose to purchase using them. Many thanks for your support!

Architect Approved Gift Guide 2023

This year’s curated list of gift ideas is - in part - influenced by my shifting perspective having recently turned 50. Do you sense a theme? Please enjoy!

EDC

Ephemeral

  • Wine. You don’t have to be an expert to appreciate how a nice bottle of wine shared amongst friends connects past + present. It’s impossible not to savor both in the moment. Really loving Cabernet Franc single varietals lately.

  • Pair it with this book, Wine Folly The Master Guide for an accessible deep-dive into tasting.

  • Experiences. Things wither and fade, the memory of shared experiences persist.

    • To celebrate our milestone birthdays, my wife and I along with some friends splurged on a trip to the French Laundry in Yountville, CA. Touring Snøhetta’s addition to the original structure alone was worth the price of admission.

    • Side trip to Paso Robles for a Cave tasting at Eberle Winery (lower left). With more than 250 wineries and tasting rooms to choose from you won’t leave thirsty.

    • My wife and I love combining shows + travel: Pantera, LoG, Megadeth, InFlames…these are just a few of the shows we took in this year. More in the queue for 2024 as we become empty nesters.

  • Die with Zero by Bill Perkins is a great read to accompany this category.

    “The utility of money changes over time, and it does so in a fairly predictable way: starting sometime in your twenties, your health very subtly starts to decline, causing a corresponding decline in your ability to enjoy money. The ability to enjoy experiences based on health is limited as everyone's health declines with age.”

Tech

  • DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo - Integrated screen on the controller is a massive upgrade from the Gen 1 model I started with.

  • Procreate - Intuitive, beautifully minimal UI, effortless and so close to the real thing you may throw out your old sketchbooks.

  • 11” iPad Pro (128GB) Sketching on glass was hard to get used to. Now, I use it every. single. day.

  • Procreate Custom Canvases - Blueprint canvas shown with my custom “Prismacolor pencil” brush

  • AOIKTYE Keyboard for Procreate - use with Procreate to speed up your workflow.

  • Black Stylus for iPad - Because…black, IYKYK

  • Sketchboard Pro - a larger surface for your hand to rest while you’re sketching and allows you to actually sketch to the edge of the iPad rather than zoom/pan. The angled surface improves ergonomics and saves your back, no more hunching over your desk.

  • Insta 360 Camera (One X2 shown, $299) Incredible time saver for site walk-throughs and documenting interior spaces at the rough-in stage. Makes it easy to reference later when you find yourself asking, “Where exactly did they run that plumbing line?”

Storage

Smart, beautifully designed storage is my guilty pleasure. I’m sure I don’t need any more boxes or trays to store or organize things in, I just can’t seem to help myself.

Books

A few favorites from 2023 (architecture + non-architecture):

Art

Collecting and consuming art always fills the creative reserves and tops my list of things to do when traveling.

  • Tom Hegen - Exploring the relationship between man and nature from above. I’m lucky to own one of his framed prints.

  • Letterpress Anything - I try to support craftspeople practicing this dying craft.

  • I Know Joshua Smith - Miniatures: cool. Urban + industrial decay: cool. Miniatures depicting urban industrial decay = irresistible.

  • Architect Cards - Runcible Studios. Sign-up for Marilyn’s newsletter while you’re there, it’s filled with BTS, insider, hard-won, architect-knowledge delivered in an accessible style.

Flat lay of business assets included with the Start Your Design Business Bundle

Get Organized for 2024 with the Start Your Design Business Bundle

A few of the links above are affiliate links which cost you nothing extra but may provide a small commission to me if you choose to purchase using them. Many thanks for your support!

Notion for Design Professionals

We all want to use our time efficiently and minimize effort spent on the administrative side of our design practice. Searching endless folders or open tabs for links to products you swore you found last week, trying to recall the milestones you agreed to or where the current Gantt chart lives and share it with the team isn’t a good use of anyone’s time.

I use Notion for all of this and more.

Notion has served as a second brain for me for a few years now; it’s the best “all-in-one-productivity and project management tool” I’ve found for both personal and professional documentation. It’s intuitive, capable and infinitely flexible; a blank canvas that can be almost anything you want. The open-ended structure is a strength when you know how to use it, but can be a little intimidating when you're just getting started and unsure of how to set up your workspace.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, watch the videos below to get set up; continue reading if you’re already using it see how I’ve set my workspace to run my design practice.

Getting Organized

Every Sunday I plan my Weekly schedule which is simply a favorited page that resides in the upper left corner of my workspace. I use the Maker’s Schedule + Manager’s Schedule as the structure for the week to keep me on-task. Also notice the annual objectives (set in the video above) are just a click away and serve as a reminder of the bigger goals and priorities I’m working toward each year.

I used to live in my inbox with the window open and collecting emails all day long. Every notification lured me back to the inbox, wasting my time and distracting me from the deep work that needed doing. The work that would push my business and projects forward. Maybe you can relate?

Using Notion has changed that. Now, I live in my “Week of” board which makes explicit the priorities I’ve set on Sunday rather than my inbox which is filled with the priorities of others.

Week Of Schedule Page (click the image to enlarge)

Below the schedule, I keep two to-do lists, one related to home the other for the business and a task table which is linked to my calendar. This is a great place to catalog recurring tasks you might otherwise neglect: like your annual architecture license renewal, LLC document filings, annual reports, etc. I also use it to schedule my regular monthly invoicing, which is something I’ve been getting better at over the years. I invoice every client, every 4 weeks, no matter what (setting a reminder in the task table is really helpful when you have multiple projects running).

Sharing Inspiration Images with Clients or Team

Embed images from site visits

When entering the task on the table, you can use tags to assign it to a project, a person, or anything you choose. Then, on the project page, you can copy this table and filter the view to show only those tasks related to the project, or a team member, or any other tag you’ve set up. The tables are called ‘databases’ and are the key to unlocking the true power of Notion. If you’re running a team, each member can utilize a custom dashboard showing only their projects, tasks and deadlines.

This summer I’ve had an intern working in the studio and I build out the weekly task list each Sunday for the week ahead so it’s clearly laid out for them when they arrive on Monday. I can include links to SOPs and all the project files and information they need in one place. This saves both us time and limits questions (“Check your Notion dashboard”).

Task Table

Filtered Task Table for a Team Member

Any project specific commitments can be embedded directly in the weekly schedule by pasting a link to the project page or, even links to specific blocks from any page. In the schedule above you can see I made a site visit on Wednesday afternoon and the To-Do list for that project is hyperlinked right in the schedule. Clicking on it brings me to the project dashboard and the in-progress items for each stakeholder are immediately visible. Each toggle by the stakeholder can be clicked open revealing the outstanding items, documents and anything related right there.

Below that is a task table with a filtered view of the tasks related only to this project.

Project Dashboards

Dashboards are simply a collection of the various building blocks available to you in Notion: text, images, hyperlinks, images, videos, tables, quotes…the list is long. I create one for each project, and once you have a format you like you can turn it into a template to use for all projects (download my template to see the one I use).

When starting a new project this template brings over all your office standards in one click. My project template has an embedded a project brief, meeting notes templates, site visit templates, design and documentation checklists, code and site analysis information, client and contractor onboarding information, links to questionnaires, task tables, and more.

Don’t let this overwhelm you, all of this can be built out, customized and added to over time to suit your needs.

Creating custom dashboards for clients with all the project information you want to share - current drawings, checklists for next actions, contracts, permits, invoice due dates, and project wikis - empowers you and your clients/collaborators to seek out the information they need rather than picking up the phone, emailing, or worse - texting you - to ask! Simply share the project dashboard and teach them to check there for updates.

Project Specific Task Table

Checklist Example

As design professionals, our work involves handling an abundance of information. From site and field documentation, to client and contractor requests for changes, to design ideas and inspirations; all of the administrative tasks of project management can easily crowd out the exciting work that drew us to this profession, which for most of us is design.

I've found that Notion has provided a framework that's easy to keep updated with to-do checklists, preconfigured systems, a place to collaborate with clients, consultants and contractors, and a place for me to collect and organize all of the administrative minutiae in one place. No more stickies lining my monitor's perimeter, or bookmarked links in random folders; when it's project-related, I have a place to paste it and keep track of it.

Download my template and watch the videos above for more details on how it can help organize your professional practice.

Still not convinced?

A few more Reasons I use notion

In the past I’ve used Trello, Asana and Evernote to run and organize my business operations. While Evernote was searchable, it was messy. Trello and Asana were as customizable as I had wanted. And implementing templates and systems with each was hit or miss. These are some of the strengths of Notion and considerations when choosing a new tool:

  • Easy to use + implement

    • Onboarding with Notion is simple; a very low learning curve. Advanced features unlock more potential, but take longer to comprehend and integrate. It can grow with your needs.

  • Systems Oriented

    • Templated work will save you time managing your projects + administrative tasks. Notion allows you to create custom templates for almost anything you can imagine: projects, notes, files, tables, etc.

  • Collaborative

    • Sharing Projects + Pages with clients and collaborators is easy and allows everyone to see the most up-to-date files, checklists and information. You can assign tasks and comments to others by right-clicking on any object, assigning a due date and custom requests.

  • Searchable

    • Notion allows you to find the information you’re looking for quickly and reliably, listing every instance of your search phrase while typing. Evernote used to be amazing at search but the more I loaded it up, the less functional it became.

  • Customizable

    • Collating various media is important for our work as designers: images for reports + inspiration, video embeds, hyperlinks, product ideas + references, notes, checklists, tables…Notion has them all. Simply click the + to add. Dragging blocks around is intuitive so you can create the structure that suits your needs.

  • Graphically Pleasing

    • With a minimal interface, Notion can be what you want. Add images, banners, colors, etc. Out of the box, it just looks good and if I’m sharing this with clients I want it to be representative of my brand.

Moving Forward + Looking Back

In that quiet period between Christmas and New Year’s I always sneak an hour or two to reflect on the year as it draws to a close. I make note of what’s gone well and what hasn’t gone to plan in both my personal and professional life. I do this using Notion and this year I wanted to share my annual review process and let you in on the changes I’m making in the new year.

Read More

Venturing Out of the Studio

My longing for adventure has been building as the winter here drags on into March. As a salve for cabin fever and to satisfy my wanderlust I’ve been taking micro-excursions venturing out of the studio. This past Sunday, Laura and I headed off-island and eastward toward the Canadian border in search of new scenery and any hint of spring Maine could offer.

Black ledges

We’d traveled to Great Wass Island many years prior - with much younger boys in tow - to hike the 1700-acre preserve just south of Jonesport. Preserved by the Nature Conservancy in 1978, this hike traverses one of the forty-three islands that make up the Great Wass archipelago. And, it felt every bit as wild and unexplored as I’d remembered.

Nearly six miles of trail passes through coastal peat bogs, sedges, stands of jack pine and black spruce and the wooded first leg opens to the Atlantic and a series of broad granite ledges. A churning, frothy sea bordered the next two legs as the broken trail headed east roughly following the shore for several miles, weaving in and out of hidden coves strewn with perfect pearled cobbles of pink and gray granite. The trail moving from protected inlet to open ocean in short spans. A few of the cleaved granite spires rumbling as air trapped in pockets below clapped out on the rising tide.

Little Cape Point Trail

Footbridges over the bog

Cape Cove

As impressive as the natural scenery was, it was impossible to ignore the volume of human trash strewn amongst the flotsam at the shore washed in on storm surges. Trap lines and travelers, fathoms of rope, plastic bottles, hydraulic fluid, gloves and impossible lengths of black pipe, troubling artifacts in such a remote, seemingly-pristine place.

Leaving the studio is as much a part of my creative practice as drawing and building models; an intentional act. And yet, it’s not a choice easily made when deadlines loom or the pressure of publishing weighs heavily. I never regret it though. And, making it a point to document the trip is permission to become something I’m not: an artist, a photographer, an editor and a documentarian. It’s difficult to describe exactly why that is but somehow it makes me appreciate it all the more.

Black ledges

Little Cape Point

A special thanks to Finn Beales, whose book, The Photography Storytelling Workshop, is never far from reach. It’s a new acquisition in my library, I’m starting to wonder if it’ll ever see the shelf.

Sketching in Isolation - Work From Home Skill Building

Feeling the pressure to make the most of your time in isolation to learn new skills + be productive? If you haven’t quite lived up to your own lofty expectations of what you should be accomplishing, you're not alone. Spend 30 minutes with me in my sketchbook and learn what's been working for me as I design an invented architectural folly.

Time spent in my sketchbook is focused and without distraction. It’s space to think and be creative without the strict boundaries of budgets and schedules. It’s reminded me that not everything I design needs to be rooted in reality, that daydreaming and suspending the laws of physics have value too and can nourish my architecture practice in meaningful ways. Inventing imaginary architecture can be a source of control in a time when agency is in short supply. For me, it’s been an enriching, liberating win in this time of quarantine. I hope spending a few minutes with me in my (digital) sketchbook designing a Quarantine Chapel - whatever that is - will inspire you to get lost in your own sketchbook for an hour or two. And, if you build a few skills along the way, all the better!

DOWNLOAD the 30X40 PROCREATE PACK

Assets Used in this Sketch (most are custom + included in the 30X40 Procreate Pack):

Quarantine Chapel Sketch - 04.17.2020

Quarantine Chapel Sketch - 04.17.2020

kiXstand

kiXstand

Architecture, Design + Photography (podcast interview with Trent Bell)

A conversation between two architecture school graduates with similar approaches to work + life who followed two very different paths. This video is an excerpt from my conversation with Trent Bell an award-winning architectural photographer (Trent Bell Photography) as we chat in my studio. You'll also join us behind the scenes as he photographs one of my residential projects. For the full interview be sure to check out Trent’s Architecture, Design & Photography podcast, (video here) a project he’s launched in cooperation with Maine Home + Design magazine. See all the photos we captured that day here.

NOW

I’ve been wanting to make a “Now” page for a while and I’m posting here to introduce it. A “Now” page is just a collector…a place to post all the things that are inspiring my work + thinking in the studio right “Now”. My Instagram page used to be the place to do that, but fighting with an algorithm took some of the fun out of it for me. I found I wasn’t posting some of the pictures and work that I really wanted to…like the one below for example. I hope you’ll head over there to check it out (and maybe start your own).

Smoked Whitefish, Christmas Eve 2018 [ Photo: Eric Reinholdt, 6DMKII 100MM f2.8L ]

Smoked Whitefish, Christmas Eve 2018 [ Photo: Eric Reinholdt, 6DMKII 100MM f2.8L ]

A Gift in the Making

Sharing a side project of mine and a holiday tradition I have in the studio. Side projects - for me - are a reminder that my entire creative life isn’t wrapped up in a singular project, rather who I become as a designer, as a person, is the result of a long winding path as I travel from one idea to the next. I’ve found it liberating to slip between definitions of what I am professionally. I’m an architect, yes, but I’m also a typographer and a filmmaker, a paper cutter, a UX designer, a writer and a photographer.

And this is why I love side projects so much, they allow me to be any or all of these things. There’s no pressure to perform or even to share the results, the lessons can be all mine. As the creative director, I set the constraints, the budget, and the schedule.

Your side project may be as simple as making a holiday card or it could be as life-changing as my YouTube channel has been for me. That too started as a side project. Side projects add dimension to your creative life and at some point you may discover that your side project has transformed into your main project. This jockeying for attention amongst opportunities means you’re always left with fulfilling, interesting, engaging projects to take on each week.

Materials List *:

30X40 2019 Holiday Gift Box

Cheers my friends…wishing you happy holidays and a prosperous 2019…!

Travel Habits of an Architect

I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately so in this video, I wanted to share some of my architect travel habits for sketching and photography. These tips apply even if you’re not an aspiring architect and will help you wring the most out of any trip you take, near or far. (And, be sure to stick around at 4:46...wait for it...)

GEAR

My travel kit is as lean as it’s ever been, just a sketchbook, a few drawing tools, my camera gear (more details here) and a small laptop. You don’t need an expensive camera or special tools though to do what I do. The DSLR is an intentional choice for me as it forces me to slow down when I'm traveling. It makes me think about lens selection and composition, the subject, the lighting. It’s probably the single best investment I’ve made in the past 10 years (aside from travel).

**MY UPDATED DAILY CARRY CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND HERE.

For lenses on this trip I brought a wide zoom, a medium zoom, a telephoto and a macro. And this was way too many. Lenses are heavy and to lug these things around in a backpack in the tropics is…well, sweaty. Of the four I brought along, I used the 24-70mm and the 100mm most of the time. The zoom is great because the 24mm end on a full frame camera is wide enough to capture landscapes or interiors and the 70mm is perfect for details. Then you have the right around 50mm is great for portraits. So this one lens covers a lot of situations.

You'll learn why I reject guidebooks in general, my process for observing, documenting and then cataloguing my travels and you'll see what I do in the downtime between destinations.

Time Stamps:

  • 0:22 Start Now. Don’t wait until you arrive at your destination to start taking photos or sketching.

  • 0:42 Follow 30by40 on Instagram: http://thirtybyforty.com/instagram

  • 0:49 Travel Essentials.

  • 1:28 My Routine (Shoot then Sketch)

  • 1:55 Subjects. Not everything has to be architectural.

  • 2:53 Details + Materials = Experience. Learn to observe the world this way.

  • 4:46 Wait for it…

  • 4:55 Has this ever happened to you? Relaxing on the beach and out of nowhere…!?

Sketchbook - 50pages from Strathmore (trying something new…I quite like it)

White pen - ink isn’t semi-transparent, but flows nicely, not gummy at all

Copic Marker Set (grays) - essential (this is a set of 5 and includes a non-smudging Multiliner pen too)

Blue + Tan + Green + Yellow Copics are from the blending trio sets (they’re cheaper to buy as sets)

Mechanical Pencil (a personal favorite)

White colored pencil (wood-free)

Hallway Light + Room Numbers at The Williamsburg Hotel

Hallway Light + Room Numbers at The Williamsburg Hotel

SIDE NOTE: The Williamsburg Hotel (at 3:16) in Brooklyn, NY was designed by the London Architecture Firm: Michaelis Boyd and completed in 2017. We actually had no plans to stay here, but we arrived in NYC to an early season snowstorm and our connecting flight back to Maine was canceled. Our flight the following day wasn’t due to leave until 10pm, so at my better half’s urging, we traveled from JFK airport to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and spent the next 24 hours exploring the neighborhood and staying in this fantastic hotel. Completely worth the little bit of extra effort to get there from JFK.

Railing Study at The Williamsburg Hotel (clever design, but, man it really whistles in the wind!)

Railing Study at The Williamsburg Hotel (clever design, but, man it really whistles in the wind!)

Modern Practice Series - Ep 2 Eponymous Architecture (cont'd)

After more than two decades of working for other architects, John decided to step out on his own. In part 2 he recounts the move from moonlighting to starting Eponymous Architecture and his early client work. He shares the difficulties he’s faced along the way, how he’s structured his life and practice, where he’s been finding new projects, and even a few unexpected advantages of going solo. This is a window into the early days of starting an architecture firm from nothing.

Topics discussed: 
1:01 Testing the waters
1:59 Making the leap
3:51 The Lean Startup – Software + Hardware
5:37 Challenges of Sole Practice
8:30 Material library (in a small space)
9:47 Becoming a Better Architect
11:49 Your Portfolio (of someone else’s work)
15:21 One Year. Enough time?
17:02 Why Eponymous? 

**Did you miss part 1? Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/yOAIf6WX6mY
 

Modern Practice Series - Ep 1 Eponymous Architecture

In this new series, I’m visiting architects and design professionals asking them to share the choices, challenges, failures, successes and failures that have shaped their careers. Too often we hear from only those architects elevated by the media to superstar status. These so-called 'starchitects' account for a small percentage of design professionals. And, the stories from the bulk of our ranks - a great many talented architects and designers – remain untold. This series gives voice to their stories. 

We uncover early inspirations that led them to choose architecture, experiences in architecture school, internships, what firm typologies to look for, advice for taking the Architectural Registration Exams (ARE), how to find work and clients, working for and with others, networking and struggles building a business.

In the inaugural video of the series we meet John Clappi, a licensed architect living and working in Brooklyn, New York. He has more than 20 years’ experience practicing architecture in both Boston and New York City at a variety of scales from large developments to award winning Record Houses and private residences. He’s worked for two starchitects: Richard Meier of Richard Meier and Partners and Brad Cloepfil at Allied Works, both high-end, boutique design firms. In part 1 he recounts the school years and his early career pivot points as well as his experience working for Meier and Allied Works and time working on large scale developer projects in New York City. 

In part 2, we’ll discover why he set out on his own, how he secured his first commissions and the challenges he’s facing as he builds out a larger vision for his nascent architecture studio: Eponymous Architecture, PLLC.

It’s a rare and candid look into the struggles designers and architects face as we seek to become licensed professionals and to find a life of true, creative fulfillment.

A Thank You + Unboxing the 100K Silver Play Button

Taking a moment as I received a special package from YouTube on the studio's doorstep to reflect on an important milestone. YouTube recognizes creators at a few waypoints, the first being when you cross 100K subscribers, then 1M, and then 10M. Earlier in 2018, I crossed the first of those and this video is my thank you note. Ironically, the week I received the award the channel was passing 186K subscribers.

I'm so humbled by the support and kindness you've shown as I've worked over the past five years to make better things, more interesting content, and exponentially increase the number of people I'm able to reach + connect with.

I never thought I’d get this award, it’s certainly not something I set out to achieve. To think that 100,000 people thought enough about what I had to say to subscribe is just a completely silly notion (especially when I look back at some of the things I’ve made in the past). In the beginning, I focused on sharing knowledge and documenting what I was creating. As time went on, I started to have higher expectations of my work; I became interested in filmmaking, composition, color grading, audio, and storytelling. I think I make a lot better things than I used to, but I'm nowhere near as good as my heroes or as I want to be. And, I know when I look back on this in another year’s time I’ll see what I made today wasn’t that great either.

However, without a body of work to look back on, I’d have no context to see the journey. It's important to remember that we can’t possibly make our best work the first time we publish something, it takes practice, discipline and the knowledge that most of what we make won’t live up to our own high standards. In time we get better. This was the 196th video uploaded to YouTube for me; that's a lot of practice!

I hope this inspires you to take action and to make things. See my path and take comfort in the fact that I just pressed 'publish' - even when I wasn't capable of executing at my own high standards. Pressing publish is the only way to improve. There are no more gatekeepers, if you have access to the internet and a smartphone you too can speak to millions of people if you choose.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for allowing this kind of life to be possible and for being such an important part of my story on YouTube. 
 

(Architecture) Conferences. Why Bother?

I used to thumb my nose at conferences, but this year something changed. I decided the island I've been living on felt a little too isolating; a little too small. And so, I thought brushing up against 26,000 other architects might be a good excuse to get out of my own head and see what everyone else in this profession was up to. I secured a press pass to attend the 2018 AIA (American Institute of Architects) national convention in New York City and I came away surprised by just how much I enjoyed it.

If you're an introvert - like me - it’s easy to avoid large groups of people, but even introverts need to network with others and to hear new ideas. I've learned time and again that whenever I'm able to step outside my comfort zone, great things happen and this experience didn't disappoint. I met viewers of this channel, students, interns, and architects from all around the world of all ages.

A few of the things I came away with:
+New ideas + inspiration
+Larger network of connections + contacts
+Deeper connection + appreciation of NYC
+Behind the scenes info. on buildings & systems
+Cutting-edge information via seminars + thought-leaders
+New product info.
+Some really amazing food
+Chance to meet & collaborate with IRL an amazing friend and mentor from down under.

Stick around to the end for details on how you can help shape the future of this channel and a chance at one of five, one-on-one chats with me, here's the link.

 

(Another) Day in the Life of an Architect vlog

In this installment of the vlog, look through a drawing set for a project under construction and learn how I approach and draw architectural details. I discuss one of the most common struggles of working alone, what happens when a project is delayed, how to create a balanced practice, and I share my thoughts on the innovative business plan presentations I reviewed as a juror for the architecture business plan competition.

Don't miss the view from my mid-day hike (!) and what I learned on the podcast I was listening to.

Learning to See (Like an Architect)

 

As architects, our job is to uncover what’s hidden...in a place, in our clients, in the materials we use. We're taught to make our discoveries visible and tangible. We're taught to give the silent a voice. To do this, we explore, analyze, consider, dissect, unearth and seek to understand the meaning of things which are often hiding in plain view. Finding a muse is one of the best tools I've discovered to teach the depth of research and skill required to become a more thoughtful designer. A muse will teach you how to truly see like an architect.

Learn more about mine here:

Day in the Life - An Architecture Vlog

Follow a typical day in the life of an architect. Part architecture vlog, part behind-the-scenes look at some of the tasks architects work on each day: from designing a set of elevations to managing projects in construction, to writing specifications, to managing an office, and how to deal with the inevitable creative blocks creatives face on a daily basis.

I intentionally structure my day to be divided between making in the morning and managing in the afternoons, with a mid-day transition break for exercise. Learn why this works for me and follow along as I work through some of the most common struggles an architect faces in daily professional practice.

For aspiring architects, architecture students, and those curious about exactly what it is that architects do each day.

No Longer (Just) An Architect

An excerpt from a conversation I had with Maleick, a 22-year old architecture student from Baltimore. He’s preparing to graduate architecture school this spring, making plans, weighing his options and struggling with the anxiety of not knowing what’s next.

Twenty-two years ago, I stood where Maleick stands today, entering the profession with the same concerns, the same worries. And today - twenty-two years later - I’m no longer an architect. Yes, I have the degree and the license and buildings I’ve designed, but the profession I stepped into back then no longer exists. There are no more architects in the singular sense of the word. Today I’m a photographer, a graphic designer, a marketer, a filmmaker, a writer, a negotiator, an editor, a curator, and a creator. Professional practice is anything and everything we design it to be.

Approaching practice with a creator's mindset has allowed me to explore a spectrum of influences and interests and incorporate those into my work as an architect. In much the same way, my architectural training informs and colors my other creative pursuits.

The uncertainty remains though as a part of life. What do you think? Did I get it right?  What advice would you offer a soon-to-be graduate?