THINGS I CAN'T WORK WITHOUT: the senses of our studio

From paper to playlist, the elements that bring out studio to life

Wearstlerworld,

Like bouquets of sharpened pencils, honestly there can be a romance to the office. I love being in the studio – and any place you spend time (especially so much time) should be a place that makes you feel at home, and that is as detailed and intentional as a home. And so, I’ve become quite specific about everything here – down to the pushpins and paperclips. But they all have a purpose: organization, productivity, and simple beauty.

This week: it’s the inanimate heroes of office I want to celebrate – ones that touch the senses: the visual, tactile, olfactory, and auditory ways we make this office really a Wearstler world.

In it, some tips on how we keep creativity up, how we blend the analog and artificial intelligence, and even how the smells and sounds of our studio play into project work.

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SEE ME: KEEP IT VISUAL

If you’ve been reading, you’ll know that as much as we’re an A.I.-first studio, our printers do get a workout. I’m a visual person, and for me, nothing yet has really replaced the ability to spread out inspirational images, sketches, and plans (on the conference tables at the studio, or on the floor at home) and shuffling them around.

It’s the easiest way for all the team to see, and there’s also something about catching things from the side or upside down that sort of helps you see it for what it is.

It’s the way I’ve always done it, and there’s one thing from the supply cupboard that keeps this possible: the 8.5x11 clear plastic sleeve. (Which we buy from the same place we also get our spiral paper clips.)

I have one for each project – and if a project is super complex then folders are subcategorized. (Like at Cal Neva, at Lake Tahoe, as you can see.)

I take them home for after hours work, I travel with them. They work for me, no WiFi needed.

(Sometimes, we’ll also employ and 11x17 tie-closure folder, which can handle bits of fabric, metal, or stone.)

A FINE PRINT: We use a Kyocera ECOSYS P7240CDN printer and Hammermill printer paper in color 28 lb, 100 bright. These don’t let us down.

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HIGH MARKS

Sketching things out or marking things up should be fast and easy. And, over the years, I’ve landed on some super specific pencils, pens, and markers. Here’s what’s on our supply cupboard order:

PENCILS - We use these German Blackwing pencils, which are the perfect softness, come in a number of weights, and a really easy to blend. We still do a lot of sketches throughout a design project - quick elevations, playing around with product ideas or floor plans and layouts, or even adding elements to printed renders.
It helps ideas to remain fast, free-flowing and as spontaneous as possible.

MARKERS - Only a good King Size Sharpie can stand up to the ink of a printout; but for marking up construction sets or shop drawings (and sometimes for sketching), there’s also a mid-weigh choice: the Pentel Sign Pen

And, we always keep these Abask El Casco Scissors on hand – again, just to keep making physical mood boards and packets of print-outs as easily manipulated as possible.

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CLEAR THINKING

There’s a lot of small details that help cut distractions in our process, and maybe you don’t think that includes office supplies – but it really does.

Mood boards are a big deal for us, where – at some stage – images (and sometimes fabrics) will be pinned up on enormous floor-to-ceiling-sized boards. It’s a crucial step, and you don’t want that to be ruined by some hot pink sticky notes.

Bright colored pins and post-its are a total pet peeve of mine – I find them so distracting, if what you’re looking at is at least in part about color (and for me, when is it not?). So, at the studio, those things are always, always their clear versions. (Sometimes white Post-Its make the cut.)

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STAMP OF APPROVAL

Whether it’s a furniture sketch, a hand-rendered elevation, a stack of construction documents, or even color cards, the stamp is our signature. It’s a subtle but ceremonious way for us to mark the moment of creation. It reminds us of the collective effort, it’s a signed that something has been done with thought, and feeling.

And, really, it’s just a very satisfying moment.

You don’t really need anything fancy here – our stamps are made by Simply Stamps, which we order online.

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SOUND ON: SOUNDTRACKS TO OUR WORK

Music is always playing in the studio – warm, slower jazz and classical in the morning, and then it evolves over the course of the day. We pick up the tempo and the energy in the afternoon, always keeping it really genre-broad.

But, it’s more than just background, truly. Music is such an inspiration to me, and in our work – and it’s very intentional that we use music to influence us. Whenever we design a space, whether its a restaurant, or home, or hotel, we always have a playlist in mind. It makes the design have feeling, and feel good, and look better.

It’s part of creating a whole, holistic, fully-sensory image of a space: what do you hear when you’re there? (Or what does it smell like? Or what textures can you feel?)

Here’s one of our studio playlists to keep in your ears today, and let me know what tracks keep you focused and imaginative – we’re always looking for new additions.

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NOSING AROUND: ONE GOOD SMELL

There’s always a scent in the studio. It can be one of those quiet, invisible threads that pulls a space together – something that’s not overpowering, but always present.

Lately, we’ve been using Loewe marihuana room spray – it’s green, earthy, with just the right amount of irreverence. But like the playlists we cycle through, the scent shifts with the mood, the project, and the season.

I just got back from Stockholm for a project I’m deeply excited about, and stayed at Ett Hem, where every detail feels purposeful. But, honestly, it honestly the scent that lingered. Soft, smoky, and almost sacred. I brought it home with me. It reminded me how fragrance can hold memory, and can define an experience without ever raising its voice.

The best ones, like the best design, not only change the air – but also your state of mind.

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BOXED IN: COLLECTING THE TACTILE

When we start to pull materials for a project, they’re assigned a tray – it’s a super important organizational tool in the office, one I’ve been using since really early on.

They’re custom-made from wood, and lined at the bottom in linen, with dimensions to fit perfectly into our drawers. There’s one per project, clearly labelled.

But, they also sort of help to ‘frame’ the materials. As opposed to letting them drift around a table, or having them just thrown into a box, keeping them close together but always in an arrangement makes it easy to see how the materials connect (or don’t) to one another from the instant you pull them out.

Here is one in progress:

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IN A SENSE

Particularly as a hotel designer, I’ve become hyper-aware of how the senses shape space. That sensitivity now infuses everything we do – whether it’s creative direction for a brand collaboration, a residential project, or an immersive design partnership. It’s always about building a world you can feel - where sight, scent, sound, and touch are layered with intention.

How could we claim to create super detailed spaces if we’re not always, in every way, working with intention and our whole bodies and minds?

And, I’d love to know – what are the things that you can’t work without?

XO