For the MAEKAN and DSPTCH family, we’ve watched each other grow with great interest. Both of us share a similar perspective on creating and putting things out into the world. So when we first decided to explore creating product, DSPTCH was a natural first partner. Their flexible in-house manufacturing meant lower minimums and utilitarian design philosophy vibed with our perspective on what we wished to put out into an already crowded world.

The timeline for putting this tote out into the world took longer than anticipated, yet the conversation that supported this project and the underlying premise behind how we collectively run our companies remains unchanged.

We’re excited to both share this thoughtful conversation and the release of our MAEKAN x DSPTCH “Done Slow, Done Right” Tote Bag.

See the images, read the transcript, and shop the bag at MAEKAN.com

After a long hiatus, we’re back with another episode of Building The Brand. Most crucially, this episode is hosted by MAEKAN founders Eugene Kan and Alex Maeland, who talk about the inception of Adam Studios, the creative agency they founded that ties into and supports MAEKAN as a company and independent publication.

See the whole episode and transcript over at MAEKAN.com.

Namu Farm is a quaint two-acre property located an hour and a half outside of San Francisco. In a time when the topic of food and industry generally focuses on scale and size, a visit to the farm is a timely reminder of where our food comes from. The whole operation is overseen by Kristyn Leach, an unexpected representation of the modern-day farmer who aims not only to produce honest, ethical food, but also empowers communities through narratives of food and experience. As a Korean-American adoptee, some of the crops that grace the rows of the farm were not part of her upbringing, but their existence has allowed her to gain a very unique insight into a heritage that was never second nature.

Namu Farm exists as a partnership between both Kristyn and Namu Gaji, a brother-run restaurant group that also includes the more casual dining establishment known as Namu Stonepot. The two have been staunch supporters of revisiting what farming means today and willingly absorbing all the challenges that have come along the way.

A few hours spent shadowing Kristyn with the bright sun beating down overhead yielded some fascinating insights into the complexities of not only how our food makes its way to the table, but also how food and ethnic culture have some positive externalities that help bring light to the stories of the otherwise voiceless.

See the images over at MAEKAN.com.

In a past lifetime, Copenhagen’s Refshaleøen island was far different than today. The massive infrastructure was home to a huge boat building operation. But it has since come to represent the bedrock of some of Copenhagen’s, and Denmark’s, most respected culinary projects.

Started only a few years ago, Empirical Spirits is a self-described flavor company. They’re creating new definitions around flavor and while there are plans down the line, they primarily focus on this concept through the vehicle of spirits. On a recent trip to Copenhagen where I met Lars after lunch at Amass, I stopped by the distillery just a stone’s throw away to understand what happens when culinary acumen and scientific method meet under one roof.

See the images over at MAEKAN.com.

Comfort. It’s something essential to our lives.

The degree of comfort we experience can impact how we view the world around us. Comfort can take shape in a practical sense. Are we dry? Are we able to move freely? Are we confident about how we look?

Comfort can also apply psychologically. Are we comfortable with the challenge ahead and the uncertainty of not knowing what’s next?

Interview & Photos by Eugene Kan

Video by Ralph Sarmo

See the full story here: https://maekan.com/article/maekan-byborre-redefining-comfort-celine-pham/

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 502 Bad Gateway is the best life decision Seth Footring has made in  recent years. By day, Seth works in the photo and eCommerce department  of ASOS in London, by night—and in all other spare waking hours—he  focuses his efforts on being the creator and Editor-in-Chief of a brand  new men’s fashion publication. The first issue of 502 Bad Gateway  was released in January this year and contains long articles about  Tender, Olubiyi Thomas, the Massimo Osti Archive, and Sampaix Studio,  plus graphic elements that are decidedly in the opposite direction of  the average glossy fashion mags. After making the decision to start and  complete a personally driven project, Seth’s choices revolved around  bringing to life the type of publication he wanted to read and  indicating that there is a “right” way to operate in the fashion  industry that isn’t talked about sufficiently. Charis Poon spoke with  Seth in London about the necessity for 502 Bad Gateway’s existence and  the trials he underwent to make it happen.

See the full story here: https://maekan.com/article/502-bad-gateway-an-antidote-to-online-fast-fashion/

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The value of an object is different for everyone. If you’re practical above all else, an object’s function, efficiency, and affordability are probably the most important aspects. If you’re drawn to beautiful things, the way an object looks and fits within an environment are more appealing. If you’re curious how the puzzle pieces of geography, politics, and history fit together, you might find an object’s inspiration, fabrication, and evolution of the most interest. Someone who is a combination of all of the above plus interested in telling the stories of objects to better enable society is Johanna Agerman Ross.

Hosted, Narrated, & Text by Charis Poon

Audio by Elphick Wo

Photos by Chris Tang

See the full story here: https://maekan.com/article/understanding-our-world-through-objects-johanna-agerman-ross/

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 Gone before its time, XXX (known popularly as “Triple X”) was a club not  far from the MAEKAN Office that was a hotspot for underground culture  and music on Hong Kong’s Kowloon side. The venue of choice for acts like  OKOKOK, Yeti Out and Eric Lau,  among many others, it closed in late 2018 amid a background of public  noise complaints, sky high rents and lack of official support from the  city. When street culture meccas like this one go down, it deals a  serious blow to the independent community, especially one eking out an  existence in a decidedly creatively inhospitable city like Hong Kong. 

 Audio by Elphick Wo

See the full story here: https://maekan.com/article/remembering-triple-x-hong-kongs-underground-hot-spot/

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Comfort. It’s something essential to our lives.

The degree of comfort we experience can impact how we view the world around us. Comfort can take shape in a practical sense. Are we dry? Are we able to move freely? Are we confident about how we look?

Comfort can also apply psychologically. Are we comfortable with the challenge ahead and the uncertainty of not knowing what’s next?

In abundance, some would say too much of it creates complacency. Too little of it, and you’re unable to settle into a rhythm, because you’re only focused on reducing the discomfort.

Interview & Photos by Eugene Kan

Video by Ralph Sarmo

See the full story here: https://www.maekan.com/article/maekan-byborre-redefining-comfort-rebecca-kelley

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“Looking back at it, it feels like I’m jumping around a lot, but all  of the different types of work, whether it’s an installation or in the  architecture studio that I have, they’re all in service of the same  goal—which is to take our everyday experience, things that we know, and,  sort of, make them do things or make them act in ways we don’t expect.  And that subtle shift outside of our everyday experience is a kind of  invitation to explore that region outside of our everyday.”

A rack of sixteen Spalding basketballs—except they’re made of pink  selenite crystal with gaping erosions in their forms. A Los Angeles  Lakers bomber jacket with logo stitching across the front—except it’s  unwearable, made of pyrite and ash, the crystals emerging from erosions  on the shoulder and sides. What appears to be the hydrostone likenesses  of Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and Big Bird hanging out together, but  they’re wrapped in cloth and tied with rope, ready for delivery or  perhaps for unwrapping—immediately familiar and uncomfortably unfamiliar  at the same time. Issues of National Geographic, Vogue, Life Magazine, and Sports Illustrated from the year 3018—the year that, apparently, the Cleveland Browns win the Super Bowl.

See the full story here: https://www.maekan.com/article/floating-in-time-daniel-arsham-brings-us-static-mythologies

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