Using olive oil has never been so squ-easy. That’s how Andrew Benin, founder of Graza, would like us to feel. As Kelsey McClellan reports for the Wall Street Journal, Benin knew the last thing the world needed was another snobby olive oil and the key goal was finding ‘the sweet spot between flavor and affordability’. This product does feel different...
Maybe the recent explosion in astrology is thanks to a more secular society; or a post-Covid sense of generalised uncertainty that’s left us grasping for answers. Perhaps it’s the rise of Instagram/TikTok influencers; or maybe it’s just because its foundations lie in astronomical reality that’s been harnessed by civilisations stretching back tens of thousands of years. Whatever it is, where...
International creative studio network Base Design is behind the branding for Divine Farmer, a California-based wellness company with an identity centred on New Age-style iconography and a heavy reliance on storytelling. Divine Farmer was founded by Polina Bowler, an acupuncturist and herbalist and owner of LA-based holistic wellness centre East Meets West who came up with the idea for the...
The skincare industry is a varied visual landscape. At one end of the spectrum, brands like Glossier and Soft Services (reviewed July 2022) have found balance in softness and understated minimalism. At the other Dr.Jart+ (reviewed Jan. 2018) and Malin+Goetz bring pharmacy-chic with functional, type-led packaging. And then we have our classic, heritage brands – like Kiehl’s and Elizabeth Arden – which...
Five years ago, the discerning and culinary-minded were content with their everyday Waitrose Essential Extra Virgin Olive Oil. But now – as with wine – there is increasing awareness that the taste of oil is individual, depending on olive variety, soil type, climate, cultivation method, and a host of other factors. From The River Café’s hotly anticipated annual pressing to...
More plants, less plastic. A noble mission. Over the last decade, revelation has followed revelation with regards to the environmental impact of what seemed like the most innocuous of objects. Now it’s the turn of the humble flower pot. Yep, that. Stacked and sitting empty in the shed, or at the bottom of the garden. It turns out that these...
Self-care is nothing new, but our understanding and appreciation of it as a society has grown enormously in the last half century, and especially recently when it became a trending topic during the isolation periods of coronavirus in 2020 and 2021 (70 million hashtags on Instagram, and counting). In the dawn of this enlightened thinking, products in this space have...
There’s a drink for all occassions. Could be with friends, out at a bar, in a restaurant, perhaps alone. There are also drinks that you might expect to take you away from the everyday, perhaps to a quieter more tranquil place, where torrent of ice water meets the churn of the sea. Still Waters, a New Zealand distilled gin and...
Agricultural practices are constantly changing to provide greater crop yields. In an effort to achieve this goal, modern farming has created a host of ecological side effects. Most notably, overconsumption of water and a reliance on chemical fertilisers, GMOs and pesticides. Plenty is an indoor vertical farm providing green produce to the masses through sustainable practices, using less space and...
New products, new markets and new consumer groups generate new aesthetics – or, at least, you would hope so. Too often, style migrates from one category to another, or the identity of a sub-culture (visually speaking), is exploited in a commercial context. This is where ‘authenticity’ emerges, to support genuine origin credentials, or to mask the appropriation with narrative context....
In 1984, the death of the wrestler Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta – commonly known as El Santo – sent shockwaves through Mexico. Over the course of five decades and 15,000 matches, the legendary fighter had captivated audiences, helping to fuel the growth of Lucha Libre around the world. Through his appearances in film, comic books and cartoons, he established himself as...
The spray paint packaging on shelves in Ukraine is usually sad, and often amusing: ‘sad because someone made it… amusing because someone put it into production,’ Kyiv’s Madcats Agency admits. There’s a riot of colour, a sea of tasteless typography and a catalogue of dreadful names (Auto Email, Body 999 and Rector are among the competition). Mitka is different. The...