I’m still so excited it’s the new year, and I hope this feeling doesn’t ever go away. Even in August.  And one of the great things about the new year is identifying a certain style, a feeling…that je ne sais quoi that you want to uphold is most aspects of life throughout the year.

And in the past couple of days, I managed to identify it.  It all came from a song.  I’ve always been a fan of Phoenix, but composer Roger Neill’s orchestral re-interpretation of their hit, Lizstomania, really sealed the deal.  Equal parts dreamy and cinematic, with crescendos at the right moments and a general joie de vivre that doesn’t let the little things blow up.  I’ve had this on repeat for the last few days, and paired with a visit from an equally calm, cool, classic friend from France, I knew how I wanted to be this year.

And everything I’m digging seems to swirl around this feeling.  From the clean and quiet designs of Palmona Wool; and that general, quiet but still loud aesthetic of pairing a black turtleneck with a loud geometric pattern.

Alex Steinweiss is having a big year with this aesthetic going into full bloom. Except he’s been dead for four years.  Steinweiss is the graphic designer behind iconic album covers through the 1930s-1970s (see below).  He also attended the Parsons School of Design when it was just a baby.  And he’s having a big stamp on how things look this year.  Check out the opening titles for Master of None and Mozart in the Jungle (also below).  They both have his minimalist cum maximalist stamp on things; with a pinch of 1960s nostalgia that was heavy in the films of Anouk Aimée.  I love this theme of mixing the quiet with the loud.  And those fonts!  I can’t wait to see what I make in and of 2016.

Mozart In The Jungle Season 2 Opening Titles (All Episodes) from CHIPS on Vimeo.