September 30, 2022

Welcome to The Oracle, a newsletter from Montreal-based journalist and creative strategist Flavie Halais, currently published irregularly. Sign up here to receive future issues, and get in touch at hello@delfina.studio for questions, tips and comments.

Good morning,

This newsletter has been a long time in the making. If you subscribed on Delfina's website, I apologize for the delay in getting the first issue to your inbox. If you're coming from Flavie Friday, thank you for following me on this journey. Your support means a lot.

I'm aiming to publish this newsletter on a biweekly-ish basis, on Fridays. I'm a one-woman operation and sometimes don't have the bandwidth to do it all, so might skip a few weeks here and there.

You can expect lots of mildly interesting reading recommendations, half-baked thoughts about the current and future state of brands, content and social impact, and somewhat reliable cultural insights (read at your own risk.) Let me know if you like it, don't hesitate to share your feedback, and enjoy the ride.

Welcome to The Oracle.

Richard Turley, a graphic designer and creative director known among other things for redesigning the Formula 1 logo, guest edited It's Nice That for a couple of weeks. Articles included anonymous Q&As with creatives working in ad and branding agencies, and thoughts on originality and the future of graphic design. His advice, I think, applies to anyone trying to navigate the modern workplace without sacrificing too much of their integrity: "Make something decent on your own time. It’s fine to spend your day in meetings with idiot creative directors trying to work out ways of making fizzy beer appeal to women. Half turn up. Nod a lot. Agree with whoever is making the decision. Throw a cool but totally unworkable idea in early, then check out. ... Make sure that bit of you you’re keeping back is going somewhere useful."

People are quitting Spotify. Paper is the new hot commodity. Inside one of the last U.S.-based piano manufacturers. Technology is no longer making our lives easier. Everything you need to know about ESG. Your music tastes shape your personality. Have we reached peak coffee? Corporate competence has become a joke. The rise of the recipe developer. Moshe Safdie's Habitat 67 is at a crossroads. The best airline boarding music. McKinsey makes waves again.

Céline Semaan on the Time Sensitive podcast

Sounds of CDMX

Spectacular tennis courts around the world

It's time for the Canadian switchover