I’ve always been drawn to open fields. There’s space in these tufts of grass that I find hard to place. The wind ripping through the landscape as the green and gold hills shudder and sing their soft songs. I tend to pause for this, breathing it in and taking a second. I’m not sure whether it’s the sound, the scene, or maybe seeing nature working in cohesion in a complex yet simple way, but this always has a way of easing my mind, bringing me to the present.

I brought these caps back because, in many ways, they have been the most true to the concept of *perceptions. Camo is meant to hide, to conceal. I’m constantly drawn to the subjectivity reality can hold, the space for interpretation in how we see the world.

We tend to hide a lot from the world. To mask intentions and cover our true selves, hence the print designed to blend into its environment.

Perception refers to seeing. Of finding or placing meaning within the indifference. At the end of the day, it’s just grass, just wind, just rain. There is no inherent meaning in these occurrences. But there in lies our own humanity. We choose to look at the world through a specific lens, conditioned by experience, people, and place. We give the world and its chaos meaning.

Most of what happens in the world is absurd. A collection of contradictions that garner reactions. My view in the ideal is one of stoicism. That the mind is the rock in the sea, standing tall and still as the violent waves crash about it. Stillness in turbulence. Zen-like in the madness.

We get to choose how we want to gather meaning from experience and how we want to see the world. How we react to the external world and the things we give power to. To be intentional with it all.

Grass and fields.

in plain sight*

~

link to the shop: camo caps*

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That act of leaving, if the home you come from is a good one with steady foundations and well established roots, is never easy. It pulls and tears at your heart. It is not that there is anything driving you away from home, but the desire to explore and to live is greater than your comforts.

I do not think it is a requirement to leave, not everyone can. But the call from strange lands is far reaching.

About a year ago, I was back at home. This was after spending my college years in New York City, after going on the adventure of a lifetime on the Pacific Crest Trail, and now, I was back staring at the ceiling of my childhood bedroom.

It was weird. A bit surreal. However, that year I was back home between 2024 & 2025, was some of the most formative times of my life. I learned how to slow down from the mania of deadlines. I became incredibly present as I started walking around my neighborhood every morning, noticing every leaf blowing through the wind where the mundane became full of awe.

But after a while, it was time to leave. I got an opportunity that was directly in line with my goals I couldn’t pass up. Colorado suddenly called my name.

I think the throughline with the parts of my life I am proud of have to do with change. With finding newness and novelty within the discipline and routines.

Life happens outside the walls.

So when I find myself in a completely new city, with new friends, new responsibilities, and learning new skills, I find my mind drifting to thoughts of swaying pines in low hanging fog and soft rains painting cascading peaks.

The answer isn’t to drop everything and head back at the moment of homesickness. It’s something to work through, to sit in. Examine those thoughts, and carry them in this new life.

I like belonging to two places at once. My government issued ID might say I am now a resident in the State of Colorado, but I’ll always belong as an Oregonian. And there’s some comfort in that, some pride too.

It frees me knowing this. It helps me understand myself a bit more, when everything else seems to have been shaken loose.

6/16/26

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This isn’t about cleanliness. If it was…well I wouldn’t be writing this. This is about creating space* - dedicated spaces for living, working, and creating.

Whenever I move into a new spot, I take time* to understand it and wear it in a bit. Each place offers it’s own layout based on the architechture of the room. It’s been cool to see the throughlines with each new apartment. I get to see what works for me, and what was ultimately excessive.

Distraction is the enemy. Presence, focus, flow.

The architect Mies Vandero thought in terms of function, as in the function that each room serves within a home. That it would be improper to get dressed in the kitchen, or to eat in bed. That each space lends for certain activities, or certain frames of mind*

Although Mr. Vandero would certainly roll in his grave if he saw my pantry full of my jeans and t-shirts, I think he’d be pleased with the layout.

I enjoy the idea of stepping into a different mentality with each new seat I take. A cycle starts to form as the machine of routine becomes a more natural extension of the daily rhythms. Before long, the habits carve deep and form into a way of life.

I often wonder when habits grow rotten. When is it time to refresh the monotony into a new excitement? There are ones that will be a constant, and others that are simply experiments. The balance between discipline and newness.

No matter the layout, space, or discipline, there must be enjoyment in it. For it is the love of the doing that keeps us moving forward. That keeps us obsessing, in that endless pursuit.

6/7/2026

The compulsion is deeply rooted to reach for my device in those beautiful moments of silence. Trying to detox, but it might be the longest standing toxic relationship I’ve been in. And I know I’m not alone in that. Hours of life lost to mindless entertainment and fake productivity posing as “inspiration”.

The scariest feeling is following one of these bouts of mind rot, where my sense of self starts to become loose. With so much information, it can be hard to decipher what thoughts are actually mine. Who I actually am and what I actually believe. That critically important function to think for myself - I can feel it start to fall off its hinges. Needing to tighten those screws, I huck my phone across the room and snap out of the trance.

A serious break is needed.

In my experience, I think for myself based off my past first hand experiences while also harboring an intense curiousity for life, which means a lot of questioning. Why is this the way of the world? How did this come about? Is there a better way?

That is why I think its critically important to be intentional with the inputs you let into your mind. They will shape how you see and interact with, not only the world, but within your self.

It has been a constant struggle with me, but all addictions, I think its important to recognize and identify the problem. A way I’m going to try to move forward past the compulsions is to create more. I realized how much more input I had than creative output, which is where a creative voice is drowned out. So my mandate to myself is create more than I consume. Seems like the healthier and more constructive avenue. It will be harder, but more rewarding in the long run. And hopefully lead to a more present existence where there is deep excitement and immediacy in the seemingly mundane of each new day.

5/31/2026

“You guys are all familiar with the phrase ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ right? Well does anyone know how it ends?”

He let the silence permeate the room and let us sit with it. He said it again, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” I was a little surprised, I thought that was all there was to the phrase. A phrase people usually associate with versatility and someone who might only dabble on the surface with many different things. More often than not, the known first half of this saying is somewhat of an insult. Either when directed at another or when used to put one’s own abilities down. But this question piqued my interest, and I searched the corners of my mind to try to come up with what could be added to this seemingly finished statement that would round it out even more.

I was at a loss.

After what seemed like an eternity for a group of hyperactive creative kids attending design school, he broke the silence. He goes, “The full saying is ‘A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than one.”

He again let us sit with this for a good amount of time. These were long classes so there wasn’t necessarily a real hurry to get us to the point…

But he went on to explain that when this forgotten section is attached to the phrase, it becomes a complementary statement. That with it, it encourages versatility. A more worldly, open, and free point of view. That the designer with more experience can draw from many unique references across a wide variety of mediums to arrive at a much more original perspective. The more tunnel visioned, especially in such an early stage of life, the less likely you are to see differently. To think differently. To find unique solutions to ordinary problems.

And in a world that is becoming increasingly homogenized, this approach seems more necessary than ever.

Mastery comes with time. It comes from volume and repetition. And I am a big proponent that creativity without constraint is merely chaos. But to remain open within constraints, to create rules and break them, and to have a discipline to the disorder is a contradiction I am constantly drawn to.

A jack of all trades is oftentimes better than one.

5/25/2026

Sometimes I’ll leave my phone behind as I walk at night, watching the endless clouds stream by and dissapate into nothing. Pocket notebook and a pen is all I need. Leaning up against a concrete wall I’ll scribble passing thoughts into the pages and onto my hands, if they’re urgent enough. Grasping at the words and trying to keep them locked in my mind, just as though I were reaching for those clouds that would inevitably escape my grasp and drift through my fingers. Writing helps me keep track of these images that appear in my mind, but letting them go has been just as important. Learning to observe rather than try to preserve. There is something to be gained from each thought, something you can take into the next moment. But not something to hold onto, not something to try and keep locked up. These things need air to breathe, and space grow. Try and cage them, and they will surely wither up and die.

There’s been this fear of mine of reverting back into past states of mind. I’d like to see my life as a constant trajectory forward, so naturally if I were to revert into old habits or thought patterns, that would be a form of regression. But as I’ve realized, this is not real. To just let thoughts arrive, stay for a while, then let go, will make way for new thoughts and ways of being to do the same. There is no forward or backwards, there is only now.

a way of life.

5/18/26

But the summit is never the thing we actually are searching for. The finish, that may push us forward when times are toughest, that may have been the reason to start in the first place, but it is never about the finish. Because every time we are called upon another adventure, another challenge, another chance to suffer to feel something more, it is simply for the love of it.

To do something for the sake of it.

The purest form of pursuit, the most artful. An ambition with style. To do something that will fundamentally alter how you experience the world after, there must be courage. A willingness to fail. An acceptance and openness to the world that brings no preconceptions or judgements with it. This is my ideal at least. Because in a world telling you how to be or forcing you into a box of thinking, empathy is the first step to seeing a different side to the story. To understand that we may not have everything figured out. To truly hear another person and what they’ve seen in the world.

This is all to say that to be in pursuit of something so big that it will force you to grow in the process of doing it, finding what naturally draws out your curiosity will save you a lot of searching. Finding your own way of doing things, versus the dogmatic ways of those stuck in their ways. This is how we grow as a species, how we discover the biggest breakthroughs and make the biggest leaps in innovations. Or even more simply, how we can build our own world and find a life of autonomy and a taste of freedom.

Release from the end goal. The reward for good work is more work, or more of whatever it is you are doing. The moment the pot of gold shows up in your mind, the glory, the ego, it will only hinder the end result. Center yourself in the doing of the thing. Become enveloped in the paintstrokes, put yourself in a trance on the road as each foot hits the concrete. We create, we explore, we seek in life not for what we will get after, but for the action itself. The feelings that arise inside us while in pursuit. In the purest form, there is no end. There is only this act of doing. Complete presence. And in this, there is great meaning. Nothing else needs to be there, except for this moment. And in there lies contentment - life for the sake of living.

And that is enough.

5/11/26

Meaning is then created. Like the author Camus writes about in his books, life has no inherent meaning. We then get to place and find meaning, purpose, and belonging amongst all the chaos and absurdity of life. This sentiment at first is nihilsitic and somewhat depressing, but upon further inspection there is a bright optimism shining through.

If life has no meaning beyond what we interpret it as, then we get to create the meaning for ourselves. In a world that can feel overly polished, programmed, and fake, this philosophy gives each individual an immense power. In this search for personal truth, we can escape the force feeding and for once, think for ourselves. Cultures for ages have had certain rites of passage that piggyback off this same point of becoming your own person, and we need these now more than ever in a world trying to tell you who to be and what you are.

I like to look on the fringes of soceity where true personal freedom is taking place. In the hearts of the wanderers, the adventurers, and the drifters. The ones on a mission, living only and completely in the now trying to squeeze all that sweet experience out of life. These people are on a spiritual journey of sorts, finding the connection to the greater world out there that, in a lot of ways, feels like a more honest existence.

The point in all this is to say we are in control of our minds and our actions. Whether it is through rites of passage or daily rituals to center oneself, the mind is one of the few variables in this life we can steady, listen to, and find peace with. That is at the core of what I am creating with *perceptions and will feed into everything we do.

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”

-Albert Camus

5/2/26

There is nothing in life but the doing. Goals are achieved in the daily work, relationships are formed by showing up in small ways, and relaxing even is done through the intention of taking time to look around and breathe.

The balance between great acts of intensity and simple forms of escape pulls at me quite a bit. I’m intense in my work, I give everything to it. So much so that my personal life sometimes tends to shrink. And there’s the wild side of me that just wants to sit on a bluff, feet dangling into the void while I’m raptured by the immensity of the sky. These parts of my life differ from each other quite a bit in terms of what they offer.

One is purposeful, a path I chose and I path I love. It is the part of me that is deeply involved with our societal structures and born from ambitions that were influenced upon me from many outside sources. On the other side of things is the ancient part of me, the spiritual, the one that yearns to be connected to the force greater and equal to all who are awake. This part of me was built, or better yet, discovered quite recently. A part I had to be awake to. A part I needed to awaken* myself, yet was always there, patiently waiting for me to listen. This is the part of me that needs freedoms, the part of me that wants to live in the country. To have space, to own land. To live peacefully with a family and left to my practices in quiet solitude. Think of Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La, a space of purity, of play, and of creative freedom.

This pull however is the cost of learning. I needed to be in New York City for a time of my life to gain foundational skills and develop proper taste. I needed to hike a trail for 2 months to escape that extreme to be on another type of extremity and to feel something deeper. I now need to hold and excel in a job to teach me more than I ever could when left to my own devices.

This doesn’t mean I never loved those sections of my life. They simply served their purpose for me and had their time.

The point to all of this is to say one must fall in love with the doing of things. Because at the end of the day, how you spend your time cumulatively creates what your life is, was, and will become. I come back to the need for presence. If now is all we have, then now is all we get. You must be here for it, you must wake up to the now! For if you fall asleep for too long, you’ll miss the life you were working so hard for. But such is life!

“The most intelligent men, like the strongest, find their happiness where others would find only disaster: in the labyrinth, in being hard with themselves and with others, in effort; their delight is in self-mastery; in them asceticism becomes second nature, a necessity, an instinct.

They regard a difficult task as a privilege; it is to them a recreation to play with burdens that would crush all others.” -Nietzsche

04/12/26

The age of information. A digital age. Terms that get used all too often by media outlets and newscasters looking to summarize the modern landscape. It can be a challenging thing to reflect on the current state of our culture at large. I tend to lean towards an optimistic view, in that I am in my current position in life somewhat due to the access I had to information on the internet. Although it does require navigating the swamp to find what will actually be beneficial.

Distraction is at the heart of it for me, though. Awareness, in my view, requires focus on what is right in front of you in each moment. Even if it’s the simple and relaxing times with friends, or stopping to notice the trees swaying in the wind while on a walk, I want to be fully there for these things. And when the brain craves updates and notifications, it puts a filter on how we are experiencing life. For me, it shows up as a haze. As if I’m not fully there and my brain feels devoid of the emotion or connection I’m supposed to feel through those serotonin releases. Distraction, in other words, depletes my soul.

It seems strange that in an age of convenience, when these innovations were made originally with the intent to make our lives better or easier, that one must develop a strict personal code or unplug entirely to live with these forces in our lives. The latter seems almost impractical for most of us who work in industries that operate on cultural changes and current societal trends. I’m finding for myself that the answer is to reject what is being fed and propagated through algorithms. To reject the chasing of relevance and micro trends that will change the next day.

The answer is to dig deep. To find out the truth* for oneself. It won’t be easy, although no one ever said it would. To strip back all the superfluities and noise to find who you actually are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going. To be here now. To meditate on the life we live and what we hold most dear, and to develop the skill of noticing. It is a constant practice* - one that needs guardrails, codes, and philosophies to protect against the forces that try for your attention, control, and conformity. And then to follow through with these ideals, because without action, thought can never be reality.

This is a path to peace. A path of intention, of spirit, of soul. One that I am taking with this brand *perceptions, and one I hope you may join us for.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…as to put rout all that was not life, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.” -Henry David Thoreau

04/05/26

The lore of the American West, specifically the West Coast and the PNW, where I’ve spent the majority of my life, has always held very romantic and rich notions in my mind. This was especially true when I left Oregon to go to school in New York City. Smack dab in the middle of Manhattan was thrilling for the 19 year old version of myself. Yet it was cramped and a tough transition, as it is for anyone who ventures to that great jungle. As the months wore on, the thought of going back home to the West for holidays where I’d get to surf along rocky shorelines, bathe in the dew laden pine forests, and weave my car through the ancient and towering Cascade Mountains grew immense. A deep appreciation formed to have been born and bred by this mysterious place.

So when I graduated college, I roped in my high school friend Nathan, who was also going to school out East, to hike the Pacific Crest Trail with me as a way to combat the perilous responsibilities and conformities that went along with our impending adulthood. It was a truly great escape. A rite of passage grand enough to mark a defining era of my youth. While on the trail, I had much time to consider where my life has taken me to get to this moment, and where I wanted my life to go. Obviously, my career goals were included in this vision, but maybe more importantly, I wanted this sense of freedom to somehow be a part of my life moving forward. For me and my design work, *perceptions, has become my playground to explore a specific point of view that is a very personal exploration and expression. It is my vessel for thoughts and emotions that have shaped me and had the most impact on my life. That the world is made up of people no smarter than you, that the tools you are seeking are what you got, and that with a little practice you can see the world for what it is: infinite.

~pacific crest trail documentary linked here~

This is my main answer for creative freedom. But for a more spiritual freedom, the outdoors have always called to me, as I believe they do for most who are open to hear its whispers. Although a much different and extreme experience, finding peace and a connection to a greater sense of belonging doesn’t have to uproot your life. It is a good reminder how impactful a hike in the woods, riding your bike with good tunes, or a couple hour drive with the windows rolled down with your friends manically hanging out the car can be. These moments slow down time. They expand our worlds and remind us why we do what we do, say what we say, and inform our critical decisions moving forward, but only if you pay attention and question the existing structures around you. What do I value in this life? What am I prioritizing and what do I actually want to be spending my time on every day? Find what you love and let it kill you, but make sure you enjoy the pain.

With that, I think I’ll go see what’s in these Colorado foothills and let my mind go in the void.

3/28/26

Coffee in the morning has become one of many morning rituals that have stuck with me over the years. It’s not just the jolt of energy that comes with it (although that’s definitely the reason I started), it’s the smell of the beans in the nearly pitch-black kitchen, the warm steam hitting your face as the rain comes down outside, and the way the sun looks through foggy eyes as you take those first couple sips.

More than just the coffee itself, the vessel in which one enjoys the drink has just as much purpose and importance for me. And as much as I love those diner mugs with funny graphics on them, the ones I’ve cherished most in my life have been made by hand and are truly one of one. In a world dominated by mass market consumerism and production, the art of the true craftsman carries a different kind of weight, importance, and reverence.

This in part was why the campaign came out the way it did. I was heavily inspired by the Japanese tea ceremonies where there is an incredible sense of peace and intentionality. It is a ritual, one that requires nothing short of mastery, and in this pursuit, there is room created for hospitality and generosity. This is the highest form of the craftsman, who unlike the artist must have an ability for hard skill and precision.

I enjoy the idea of deep reverence in an everyday pursuit that quite often gets overlooked, such as the morning ritual of pouring coffee. Beauty in the mundane. This release goes hand in hand with my previous “uniforms”. In the video above I am wearing my *work shirt that was designed to be used in the studio for everyday use. To free the mind from the burden of frivolous choice, so one can wear the same thing everyday. If this seems like a stretch I also simply just like the feel of wearing something as ordinary as a T-shirt with intention, and again, a reverence for the work.

A chilling breeze whips through the grassy meadow at bone numbing temps on a uncharacteristically bright afternoon. Central Oregon, a high mountain region nestled in the shadows of the looming Cascade mountain range which stand in line one after the other patiently waiting for their turn to implode. This next chapter of *perceptions with the new brand logo was born here last Summer as I locked myself for a week in as much isolation as anyone these days can find. It was here where I walked beneath ancient trees and brittle pine needles that crunched under each step that I found my own path. I am shifting *perceptions from merely an exploratory project to hopefully something more cohesive, something more honest to who I am and where I come from. A story, a world, a brand.

I want the logo and the name to be something of a mystery, one that I can hopefully guide with subtle precision that makes each admirer look within themselves to see the world differently, perhaps with a little more perspective, empathy, and understanding of what we truly are, separate from the illusions we've collectively created.

Thank you for checking out the stuff I am most proud of to date. There is so much more to come and I hope you can join along.

All the best,

ty.

Memories from a season past. It was a cool summer day on the coast, Nathan and I on a ritualistic ramble to the sea in search of waves.

c r e a t i n g s p a c e

This is what it is about. Summer, separation, escape, to feed the spirit, to satisfy the soul. Cleansing what was and being in what is.

made with love, and organic cotton.

It was a few months back, summer fever hot in the air. It had been only a few short weeks since I had returned home from new york, and my friends had startled to trickle back one by one. Immediately, we were pulled to the ocean, the source of our stoke that had been calling to us from 3000 miles away. Loading up our surfboards we were off to Seaside. That did it. We got our fix, and wanted more. Much more.

Heading back to Portland, shootin' the breeze and a few rounds of Ju-Jitzu in the freshly cut grass, we were ready to hit the road again. We loaded up Nathan's Subaru Outback and were off, no planning, no hesitation, just going. Down south we went, hitting I5 until we got to the promised Highway 101.

Through the greenest of trees that tower above pockets of quiet meadows. Quick glances of sheep and cattle pass my window as we cruise down the highway at 70 mph, the hot pavement roaring under my seat. Southern Oregon. Otherworldly. I like the metaphor the Oregon Coast has always given me of the cliffs falling into the sea. Seems like there's something to that... Checking Surfline, I call up to Nathan and Jack from the backseat, "It says Gold Beach Jetty is only five minutes away, should we hit it?", but there is no question. We arrive and see the best pumping surf of our lives. Solid 5 and a half to 6 foot waves, a perfect breaking left. We anxiously wax our boards and head out.

To say this was anything less than magical would be an understatement. Drifting in the glassy ocean current on my board while pelicans flew inches above the waves and seals staring me with their hazy eyes just a few feet away. And then the ride of the summer: the sun was kissing the horizon as a beautiful set rolls in. I turn my board and paddle my shoulders off until I feel the momentum pick me up. Licking the salt off my lips I stand up and become transfixed. Time slowed in that moment making subtle turns as the sunset lit the wall of water to my left. I ran to the beach psyched out of my mind as I shared laughs with my two close friends.

Camp that night

Back down the coastal highway, across the boarder into California. Oh sweet California. Thunderous Redwood trees started to sprout from the ground, filling the air and our heads with buzzing excitement. Past 'frisco, to Santa Clara where we took the town as old friends do. Funny enough, it was our good buddy Erik's 21st that night. What a night.

***

Big Sur awaits. Big Sur. Big Sur. Big Sur...Trailing our thoughts the whole way through. Thinking of the writers, explorers, and natives that sought refuge amongst these rugged yet cleansing hills. And Big Sur we arrived. The air had changed, it was cooler but something else, something a little more intangible to it.

Mineshaft tunnel on a trail leading down to the ocean

Sitting on the edge of a small cliff overlooking the blue waters of the Pacific, I found peace. In a place seemingly untouched and impenetrable to man, teeming with all sorts of life, the soul is cleansed. To me, it was revitalizing the part of myself that had longed for the west the whole time I was back east. A chance to realize all that is important, and all that is sacred to me in my life. Being apart of the natural world in a somewhat constant state is who I am fundamentally as a person, and where I am most myself.

Henry Miller Memorial Library

Nathan & Jack

Big Sur

s u m m e r ' 2 3

The greatest adventures are ones that move the soul, no matter how grand or simple they may be. The act is what matters. Taking the leap to get out of what you know and seeing the world from a different perspective. There's an iconic quote from the film Into The Wild that goes like, "The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences!"... I subscribe to this theory through and through.