100 weeks of being different
100 weeks of Differentiated Design. Hard to believe.
Before we get into it, I just want to shout out Matt Ragland, who believed strongly in me and was very helpful in getting me set up and getting the newsletter off the ground.
Grateful for every message over the years and sorry if I haven't responded to you directly. Thank you.
A lot has changed in the last hundred weeks. 100 weeks ago, I was working for a startup buying & renovating short-term rentals around the country without anyone in the company knowing much about the markets we were investing in. Things were chaotic, and the investment thesis coming from the top was changing every week.
My favorite project we completed was this one in Chesapeake Beach VA. Half of our work was already done with this immaculate cliffside natural setting.
Then the company bought another house in Paso Robles, CA. We installed a gorgeous pool, and I had grand plans for all kinds of outdoor design, and then a squatter moved in mid-renovation.
That's about when the investor money ran out, the company closed down, and I had to get real about my next move. I remember it all fondly!
So much has changed since then with social media, my own business, and the opportunities coming our way. What a journey.
looking back: in defense of different
For this issue, I would like to take a look at Differentiated Design #1 and see where it all began.
The title was "In Defense of Different." It started with the question:
What is the point of designing something and making it look a certain way?
Most of the time, what gets chosen is "to look like a nice living room" or "to look like a modern development."
Ultimately, the aim is fitting in, blending into your surroundings, making something nice, and getting the approval of your peers.
If you are a developer, it's to de-risk and make a profit on a project.
My argument then, and still today, was/is essentially: don't be in the commodities business.
It's funny, the first issue is written very much like a manifesto, and it's still my design philosophy today.
I stated that you should be different for the following two reasons:
1) because you'll be happier with the outcome — you only get so many opportunities to make your mark in the world, like when you build or renovate a home
2) because the market will respond to something special.
People are hungry for something good. We don't need more commodity products. The world is flat enough.
the white space in between
David Perrell, one of my favorite writers and thinkers, posted this on twitter/X a few days ago.
The responses were varied; many people agreed that this is soulless, while others pointed out that good, thoughtful design is much more expensive to build.
What I kept noticing was that there is such a conceptual binary. It's like there is a general consensus that all design can be reduced to two outcomes:
1) plain white boxes or
2) extremely colorful, decorated, high personality interiors.
But there is a grand canyon of white space in between those two outcomes!
I've always advocated for finding small ways to be different and playing with the white space that exists in between those two.
It's funny, I actually addressed that head-on in DD #1, using this diagram:
If you take a white box apartment and coordinate fixtures and paint so things aren't entirely plain and soulless, then maybe add a couple of window treatments or an interesting fireplace — this can make a place feel so much better without significant cost. Little things like doorknobs, a few good light fixtures, and some intentional tile make such a massive impact.
It certainly requires a little more time and thus cost, but relative to a whole project budget, I believe it could be minimal, even on the institutional scale.
It does not fit neatly on a spreadsheet, though.
But here's the thing: this principle extends far beyond apartments. The white space concept is about finding the unexplored middle ground in any field — the space between what's safe and what's extreme, between what everyone else is doing and what feels impossible.
If you are launching a new product, the above diagram is likely what you want to shoot for. Pushing boundaries, but not so hard that you push away the market.
Your job is to find the white space — the space between your taste and what people want. Picking the right idea that's slightly different than others is going to be more important than ever.
There is a great podcast about Michele Ferrero, founder of Ferrero Rocher, who would test ideas in laboratories, sometimes for years. He didn't want to introduce commodity chocolate products — he wanted to make new, approachable things that consumers could afford, would delight over, and he was willing to experiment for a long time to find them. Products he created over his lifetime include: Nutella, Mon Chéri, Kinder Chocolate, Ferrero Rocher, Tic Tacs and Kinder Eggs.
I just visited the Plant Daddies in Orange County who are killing it. It's my dream type of business. A high contender for Hans's retirement plan. They cultivate huge, beautiful plants and trees, creating sculptural pieces that they install in people's homes and then service after installation. Think a bonsai style installation but 12 feet tall.
They could've been a simple commodity landscaping company, but instead they found a niche — they're unique because they specialize in very large life-size plant sculpture creations. Seems like a much more fulfilling business than traditional landscaping, and it's also worth telling a story about.
They found their white space.
ideas & the execution gap
Execution is getting easier, and great ideas matter more. This is where the world is heading with AI. And it is coming for knowledge work white collar jobs.
Your ability right now to conceive an app, website, or launch an online business has been drastically reduced by the number of tools available in the market. (Greg Isenberg is a great person to read if you are interested in the nuts and bolts of this)
As the execution gap narrows and marketing departments compress, what differentiates us? How good an idea is, and how good your taste is.
I want to use this milestone to encourage you to build that exciting world or space you've been dreaming of.
The job of a designer or artist is to create the world that they want to live in, or to put another way: give others a glimpse of beauty so they can see how great it is and become disciples.
There's an incredible opportunity with social media and what's shifting in technology to build a wonderful and unique career.
Security is an illusion. When I look out into the world, I see story after story that drives home our own mortality — tomorrow is not promised. Things are volatile today. You have this divine gift of creativity, and you should use it.
Not being different for the sake of being different, but being different because it's only there that you really have the opportunity to make the best thing.
Here's to another 100 weeks of opportunity and building a more beautiful world.
Let's not waste it.
that's a wrap!
I hope you enjoyed reading this, whether this is your first or 100th time. I sincerely appreciate you. Please let me know if there's anything you'd like me to write about.
-HANS
See you next week.