Economists have interest rates, unemployment figures, inflation reports, and financial markets. The rest of us have far more peculiar theories. We look at nails. Hemlines. The way people dress. Fashion campaigns. The restaurants that suddenly become popular. The objects that seem to appear everywhere all at once.

We live in a time where almost everything is available all the time. Food, clothing, music, shows, inspiration, luxury, opinions, bodies, experiences. Never before have we had so much access — and yet desire has rarely felt this exhausted.

We believe we desire freely. That what we like comes from within us, like a kind of personal intuition—almost natural. We choose a city, an aesthetic, a way of life, and assume that choice belongs to us. But desire doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It is learned.

A few days ago, a robbery at the Louvre reminded us that value does not always lie in what something costs. Someone stole jewels, but what truly disappeared was the narrative that made them unique. We obsess over the shine, forgetting that nothing holds value on its own. Gold without a story is just metal. And luxury—like art or identity—only exists when it is sustained by narrative.

Ugly on purpose, sad on the feed, and spiritually glittery: welcome to the new aesthetic order.

Let’s face it. A new wave of aesthetic standards has taken over, and it’s not here to please your mom, your design professor, or even your inner minimalist.

Most brands that come to Capitol Circle don’t need a new logo.
They need clarity, coherence, and direction.

Yes, good design helps. But if what’s underneath is messy, disconnected, or half-baked, a rebrand will only give you prettier confusion.

Sometimes ideas arrive in the quietest moments—on a random Tuesday when I’m calm enough to notice them. They don’t wait until I’m sitting at my desk, though that is where I prefer to be. My office is my refuge, a place where I can lay out the words like small offerings. But more often than I’d like to admit, I end up writing on my phone, collecting sentences before they slip away.

When three talented women—Elisa, Sara, and Carolina—came together to create UnBasic Lab®, they envisioned more than just an image consulting studio. They dreamed of a space where women could embrace transformation, confidence, and self-expression. As the creative behind their brand’s visual identity, my role was to bring this vision to life through design.