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 question.
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 noticed something.
These weren’t just random thoughts.

They were reference points. Reminders.
Small tools I’d return to when advising clients or shaping strategy.

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

What started as notes turned into perspective.

So I decided to share them.
Not as long essays. Not as reports.
Just notes.
Quick hits. Sharp observations. Something worth coming back to.

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.

Here’s what you’ll find:

Brief reads.
Clear takeaways.
Founder-first perspective.
Insights from fashion, interiors, hospitality, and other corners of the luxury space.

Some posts will read like observations.
Others will feel more pointed.
Many are here to spark thought or open up the next idea.

All of it comes from the work we do with some of the world’s most creative and ambitious brands.

4 / WHY NOW?

Because the world is shifting fast.
Brands are evolving. Expectations are rising.

And the space between ideation and execution has never been more important.

This is where I’ll be capturing what I’m learning in that space. Week to week. Thought to thought.

It’s a quiet place to think—alongside the louder stuff out there.

Welcome to NOTES.