Design, Craft and Meaning: The Series Archive
A series on beauty, care, and the art of living well
This 8-part series explores how design, craftsmanship, and daily rituals can help us live with more meaning—and more beauty. Not as luxury, but as necessity.
📍 Prelude: A Journey Through Form, Function, and the Human Spirit
Inspired by a moment at Salone del Mobile in Milan, this opening essay sets the tone: craftsmanship is not just about what’s made—it’s about how we honor it in use.
1️⃣ The Importance of Beauty
Beauty is not optional—it’s foundational. A meditation on how beauty interrupts utility, demands presence, and quietly elevates the human experience.
2️⃣ The Imprint of Care
Care lives in objects. It’s a fingerprint left by the maker—embedded in every detail. This post explores why intention gives objects soul.
3️⃣ Made by Human Hands
Handmade objects remind us of the human story. In a world of mass production, we need the presence, imperfection, and relationship that craft brings.
4️⃣ Designing for Feeling, Not Just Function
Design today prioritizes efficiency—but forgets emotion. This essay calls us back to spaces that feel like home, not just perform.
5️⃣ The Ritual of Use
The meaning of an object doesn’t end at creation—it grows through daily ritual. This piece explores how use becomes reverence.
6️⃣ Beauty and Belonging
The spaces we inhabit shape our identity, safety, and connection. Real design fosters belonging—not just aesthetics, but invitation.
7️⃣ The Modern Maker’s Dilemma
How do creators stay true to their vision in a world of metrics, algorithms, and scale? This is a letter to every maker trying to hold onto soul.
8️⃣ Toward a More Beautiful Life
A closing manifesto for living with intention, not optimization. Because a beautiful life isn’t about appearances—it’s about alignment.
💭 Reflection & Practice
Each post includes questions and reflection points to help you slow down, notice what matters, and elevate the ordinary. This is a conversation, not just content.
Having had the true pleasure of drinking very fine wine from the identical handmade glasses pictured in your story only 4 days after you posted it made me smile. How lucky we all were that you chose to share their beauty with us. It would seem to me that your thoughtful writing had much to do with your decision to save them no longer!! Ps and thank you for hand-washing them after we left.