RIP Brat Summer
An era that began as a pure artistic statement morphed into just another corporatized meme.
GM everyone, welcome back to the grind.
Last night I said goodbye to Summer on my new rooftop eating pizza with friends.
Now I’m wasting no time transitioning into my Fall wardrobe bag: currently wearing one of my favorite (affordable) cashmere sweaters from J. Crew, guzzling down a large Blue Bottle cold brew, and I have not one but two laptops in my bag.
There are 119 days left in 2024. What are you doing to realign and reach your goals? Let me know in the comments.
In Today’s Newsletter
RIP Brat Summer
Incredibly Vibey Sports Edits
Liam Gallagher for Stone Island
Why Are NYC Hotels so Expensive?
RIP Brat Summer
Brat Summer, the most whirlwind cultural phenomena of 2024 is coming to a close, at least according to Charli xcx.
What began as slow drip of new club bangers, a slime green wall in Greenpoint, and a sold out Boiler Room show in February, turned into a feverishly overused meme aesthetic that was co-opted by presidential candidates and brands alike.
The now iconic album cover was a collaborative endeavor between Charli, her creative director, Imogene Strauss, and Special Offer, an NYC based design studio.
The design process, which began 5 months before Charli even began writing the album, took around 5 months and numerous iterations, taking inspiration from 90s rave flyers.
Its simplistic, poignant design may be attributable to how easily it gripped our cultural landscape. The squeezed Arial font, recognizable Pantone 3570-C green, and white space made it easy for brands and creators to easily manipulate… and they did so en masse.
Everyone from the MTA to Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign co-opted the brat aesthetic, showing how easily one designer’s work can take on a life of its own once its brought into the world.
As I walked through Williamsburg this morning, I noticed a flyer for what seemed to be a fan-made, end of Brat Summer party.
I scanned the QR code, only to reveal it was an ad for Pike, a location based social media startup, encouraging people to visit their local cemetery to say goodbye to Brat Summer.
That seems like a fitting, poetic end to Brat Summer— an era that began as a pure artistic statement morphed into just another corporatized meme.
Vibey Sports Edits
Between the Summer Olympics, college football, and the NFL’s start this week, sports are at the forefront at the moment.
And with this is coming tons of innovative, interesting edits for social media.
I particularly enjoyed this ASMR edit from Illinois Football. Its an interesting way to use the medium to make practice highlights interesting.
Next up, this photographic-style framing by Michael Good, Associate Director of Creative Media for Ohio State Football, is a really simple way to elevate slow motion footage, using the rotoscope tool in After Effects.
When I was in college, I worked for Kent State’s sports media team, filming basketball games and editing clips and highlight reels for social.
Its incredible to see how insanely creative, talented people in sports marketing are adopting new editing styles to drive the medium forward, and not do the same cookie-cutter hype music and fast cuts typically associated with sports videos.
There is room in any style of video to add a higher degree of taste and creative direction to make work stand out.
Liam Gallagher & Peggy Gou for Stone Island
I love when Stone Island features celebs for campaigns, and its fitting they’d get Liam as Oasis is about to embark on a long-awaited reunion tour.
The brand has previously featured Jason Statham for their ‘Research Project’
This particular graphic is really compelling, as it features interview questions with the celeb, tastefully laid out on the side.
The campaign continues on their website, where they have a insanely well edited video featuring the campaign stars.
Insanely good content marketing…
Why Are NYC Hotels So Expensive?
The average daily rate for an NYC hotel is up 8% from 2022 and rising, according to CoStar.
This skyrocketing price is due to a few factors—
Short-term rental crackdown: Last year, NYC passed Local Law 18, which effectively banned short term rentals on platforms like AirBnb, by requiring strict registration and compliance with the city. It didn’t help the Mayor’s office failed to keep up with the backlog of applications. As a result, short term rental listings are down 83%
Migrant crisis: Amidst a surge of migrants in the city, struggling hotels struck lucrative deals with the city to house migrants. This arrangement has transitioned 15% of available hotel rooms to aid in housing migrants, and the city is not slowing down, recently signing another $77M contract with hotels in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
Inflation: I don’t need to explain this one.
But now AirBnb is fighting back, releasing an open letter to city officials, asking them to reconsider the law (which was initially backed by the hotel industry)
A mix of political, economic, and social factors are all play here— leading to more apartment couches being filled by visiting friends.
If you work in NYC hospitality, leave a comment or email me with any observations on this trend.
Jake Bell is a content marketing, creative strategist, designer, and writer based in NYC. He specializes in brand building, content strategy, creative direction, business development, and making things cool.
Want to chat? Email me: jake@jb.studio
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The NYT reported that one in five hotels are now being paid by the city to house migrants. I’d love to understand the economic incentives driving these decisions, because it’s certainly not out of the kindness of their hearts.
Thanks for sharing!