• Friday, 03/24/2023 ** 11:39 How do I sign a contract with the world? To promise and deliver something that nobody knows they want yet?

I want to post a photo every weekday.

Previously, My contract was organized by putting the phrase 'Posting a photo every weekday' in my bio. This wasn't strong enough. I didn't post a photo this Monday! There are no excuses. I've amended this to say 'Posting a photo every weekday or I venmo you $10' and informed all of my Instagram followers of this via the Instagram stories feature. Enough people engaged with the 'story' post for me to be confident that I will be held accountable.

The contract is 'signed back' when someone messages me about it. This practice not only promotes accountability from my end, but also promotes engagement from theirs; now some people might be checking to see whether I post a photo every day. I have no intention of ever stopping, so this seems strictly good from my end - and I can't whiff from now on!

There is probably a lot of room to explore in this space - wondering where else we can look to increase the productivity of people. ** 13:53 High fashion advertising is the most interesting of the lot to me. They're in the business of advertising art and setting trend - season by season, their job is to make specific products and names feel cool. It's not enough for them to highlight a specific garment; they also have to promote the legacy and character of the brand, sending a very specific message about how it feels to own and wear the luxury product. To design and create promotional materials for fashion is almost to work on art. Everything about early Margiela work - the invitations, the photography, the feeling of the stores - is perfectly honed - and though the profit comes from selling clothes and merchandise, the money ultimately comes from selling the image wholistically, becoming a part of someone's life and helping them envision your brand within it.

Jil Sander's work is incredibly overpriced and, since she sold off the label, honestly not as strong as it has been - but their photography is consistently my favorite work from a brand. The Cindy Sherman-esque character acting, the clean lines and shadows and focus on composition, highlighting people - who could be you - wearing these clothes that look and feel like nothing at all - is brilliant. I regret my only purchase from them but do not regret the feeling of the store or of their promotional material. How do they do it? ** 14:34 I don't think it's possible to be good at something if you can't do it well when you aren't feeling it. Photos are getting better and better, but there's definitely a day about once every two weeks on which I'm not feeling photo work at all. We make it happen anyways because consistency is important and passion is reinvigorated when you get into the work.

A consistent schedule for writing isn't there yet. I'll make it happen when I'm in Stockholm. Start with Substack then move over here once I have the infrastructure built up.

What do I want to get better at? How?

• Writing
  • Sunday newsletter
• Photo
  • Post every weekday
  • Shoot most afternoons
• Sketching
  • Saturday sketch out - a building, or a place, or anywhere
• Cooking
  • Chef up a meal every evening
  • Send a photo to others
  • Feed friends frequently and get feedback
• Building products
  • @work
  • 'nights and weekends' - Saturday is for drafting.
  • Focus first on making the (this?) website beautiful.
  • Build the tiny tools you've dreamed of for your system.