Isthmus + Urbanism | A Perspective and Prospectus of the Built Environment in Madison

You know what? 2018 was a fun year. I traveled quite a bit, kept in touch with old friends while making new ones, and ate Ethiopian food for the first time. I also completed the necessary prerequisites to become certifiably capable of designing things, designed something independently that was good enough for a shoutout on […]

Spinning the Top Of Mind

Right hand at shoulder height, palm open. Close fingers and motion to the right. Bring both hands toward sternum as if holding a ball, right hand held higher than left. Rotate hands around the imaginary ball. Move open palms shoulder width apart, still parallel to each other. Flatten open palms toward audience. Each gesture would […]

Good Times Never Seemed So Good: How Two Colonial Cities Tick in the Information Age

Saturday was always a very productive day in the Kemp-Baird household growing up. Both of my parents are ministers–senior ministers at different churches, no less–and have been since my childhood, so both would spend the traditional day of rest and recovery from the week prior in thought and preparation for the next morning’s service. The […]

For the Fanatic With Finesse

Get your scorebook here! My name’s Drew, and I’m a designer. That’s probably obvious. But what’s even better than getting to call yourself a designer is getting to think like one. When you think like a designer, you see philosophy and rationale in everything around you that creative minds and hands have shaped. When something […]

Denmark, Finland, Wisconsin, & Haircuts

I got a haircut the other day. I went to Ritual Barbers on Pinckney Street just off Capitol Square, marking my first barbershop experience involving both a motorcycle and a full-service coffee shop and bar in the same space. I really think both of these elements could be seamlessly incorporated with any business function, especially […]

Thus Spoke (the Shipyards of) Jacksonville

We all have dejà vu moments when we see or experience something that we swear had already happened or induced an identical psychological feeling. When they occur out of thin air during our regular activities, they are very difficult to describe. I usually just say, “Wow, dejà vu,” similarly to Neo in The Matrix. Whatever […]