Curious
The antidote to doomscrolling.
Curious is our substack exploring ideas, insights, and prompts across culture, creativity, and change. Each piece is written to help brand leaders cut through the noise, think long-term, and move from reacting to shaping.
Work in Progress with Marieke Neleman
“I would love to see the world changing to people being able see other perspectives than their own. I really think we would have less problems in the world if we accept that multiple perspectives on one thing can exist and even be true at the same time.”
Taking Bigger Risks
A new year, a new quarter of the century, and a punchy little provocation: take bigger risks.
Why Trust, Humanity & Differentiation are the Real AI Strategy
Three years of fanatical note-taking at Web Summit confirmed one thing: The noise around AI has peaked. It’s moved from “will it steal my job?” to “why is it still hallucinating?”
Hope Actually
We’re often told “hope isn’t a strategy,” but what if it could be? In this internal memo, we explore how curiosity and imagination can transform hope from a fluffy ideal into a practical force for change. Because maybe the most strategic thing we can do for the future—is believe it’s still worth building.
What if it just worked?
After years of talk about “diversity,” inclusivity has stalled at optics-only, creative opportunity is priced out of reach, and trust in systems is collapsing. What’s really going on beneath it all? People are done performing progress, they want proof.
Moving FWD breaks down the tensions shaping what’s next, and why brands that design for dignity, equity, and reliability will lead in the future.
Better Futures vs. Future Burnout
Q4 chaos doesn’t have to mean burnout. Let’s explore how brand leaders can reframe year-end pressure into opportunity by setting boundaries, making space for futures thinking, and turning the busiest season into a more intentional start to 2026.
From Revival to Remix to Belonging
This week in Moving FWD: London’s comeback, youth shifting from architects to followers, and the decline of big social all point to one thing: culture never really moved in straight lines — it only looked that way when gatekeepers packaged it neatly.
Available Now! The Mindset for 2026
Available now! The nouvôt futures 2026 Mindset Deck helps brand leaders cut through cultural noise, reframe challenges, and plan with pragmatic optimism. Includes a curated cultural calendar to turn foresight into action.
Coming Soon: nouvôt futures 2026 mindset
Feeling overwhelmed by the present but still expected to plan ahead? The nouvôt futures 2026 Mindset Deck helps leaders cut through the noise with clarity, optimism, and actionable signals for the year ahead. Coming soon!
From Burnout to Trust to Tension
From creator burnout to the erosion of trust, the cultural signals are clear: the old extractive models are breaking down. Here are three shifts shaping how brands can build real, lasting value in 2025.
Stranger than Friction
Friction is neither the silver bullet nor the enemy, just as an easy, frictionless future might not be the utopia we can make it sound like. Intentionality. It’s what we crave.
Beyond the Bait
The question for brand leaders is pretty simple: will you be an early adopter and lead the shift away from addiction-based engagement, or a laggard clinging to a failing model until it completely collapses?
What About Trust?
What comes to mind when you hear about declining levels of institutional trust? Is it numbness? Overwhelm? Paralysis? A general sense of “well obviously, but what exactly can I do about it?”
Grace Stratton on Building Inclusive Change
“Do something small everyday that is aligned with how you want the world to be.”
A Guide to Being Solution-Oriented
Be less shit and more solution-oriented and we can start to right some wrongs. Think big by starting small. And it’s never too late to start.
The problems aren’t for posting, they’re the work to be done.
The World We Were Born Into No Longer Exists
What aspects of our present world do you want to no longer exist in the decades to come? What alternative can you build towards? What needs to be true today to create that future?
The New Rules of Engagement
When existence feels chaotic, creating smaller circles of trust becomes a means for survival. Control through community. Agency through back-channel belonging.
The Future isn't Inevitable, it's Intentional
When 70% of young people report feeling worse after spending time online, that's no longer a niche experience. That's pretty massive design failure.
Creative Upheaval & The New Rules of Relevance in 2025
The Lyst Index Q1 2025 got it right in saying “One word can describe how the industry started 2025: turbulence.”
Soft Power 2.0
It sounds like the opening line of a terrible dad joke, but what do a what do a scholar, a pope and a musician with a piano on his back tell us about Power changing? Or better yet, what does a 90s geopolitical concept have to do developing your brand and content strategy in 2025?
Case in Point
Real work. Real outcomes.
Case studies of how we’ve helped brands and teams move from uncertainty to action.
Get in Touch
Better futures begin with a conversation. Let’s discuss what’s next for you.