Introducing NOTES (Or: Why I started sharing the things I usually keep to myself)

1/ HOW IT STARTED

For years, I’ve kept a record of the things I was noticing.
Patterns. Behaviors. Strategic pivots.
Sometimes a quote.
Sometimes a tension.
Often just a headline with a few sentences underneath.

Where did it all live?
The Notes app.

That little yellow icon became a digital sketchbook for everything I was observing in the world of brand, culture, commerce, and design.

2/ WHAT I REALIZED

Eventually, I looked back and realized something:
These weren’t just random thoughts.
They were reference points. Reminders.
Tiny tools I’d return to when advising clients or shaping strategy.

Many of them were written during or after conversations with founders, brand teams, and creative leaders we work with at XTOPHERHARLAN.

What started as notes… became perspective.
So I decided to share them.

Not as long essays. Not as reports.
Just… notes.

Quick hits. Sharp insights. A throughline in the noise.

3/ WHAT TO EXPECT HERE

NOTES is a journal of what I’m seeing, sensing, and thinking through—at the intersection of brand, creativity, and strategy.

Expect:
Short reads.
Smart takeaways.
Founder-led perspective.
Luxury-focused insights, drawn from fashion, interiors, hospitality, and beyond.

Some posts will feel like observations.
Others, like direction.
Many are meant to spark conversation—or act as a thought starter for the work ahead.

All of it is shaped by the work we do with some of the world’s most creative and ambitious brands.

4/ WHY NOW?

Because the world is changing quickly.
Brands are evolving. Expectations are shifting.
And the space between inspiration and execution has never mattered more.

This is where I share what I’m learning in that space—week to week, thought to thought.
It’s meant to be a quiet companion to the louder stuff out there.

Welcome to NOTES.