Welcome to Friday Fives, Vol. 291
Every Friday, we highlight five things we have on our radar that we think should be on yours, too.
This week, we’re getting social the old-fashioned way, saying yee-haw to new Beyoncé songs, stressing out over baseball jersey fabrics, feeling safe with typefaces, and re-entering the world of tweenhood.
In other news, you may have noticed we’re looking a bit different this week. The Friday Fives just got a whole new look!
01. Crazy in Love with Country
Beyoncé is back in the saddle again. The chart-topping pop and R&B performer has hit no. 1 and no. 9 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for her two new singles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” respectively. Keep in mind, this is a chart that only seven Black females have entered in its eight-decade existence. But this isn’t the first time Bey has dabbled in the genre. Her country-inspired tune, “Daddy Lessons,” (which also aptly mentions Texas) was performed with country legends The Dixie Chicks at the 2016 CMA Awards. Combine this with Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” becoming a born-again sensation from country singer Luke Combs’ rendition, and it’s safe to say that the country music genre may be beginning to return to its Black roots. The BeyHive will make sure of it.
02. There’s No Crying in Baseball
But sometimes fans and players do it anyway. Major League Baseball players recently got a big makeover — or at least their jerseys did — and sports stans and players alike are not happy about it. From the flimsier fabric to the smaller lettering to getting into logo-patch hysterics, the new jerseys designed by Nike and made by rising-star-manufacturer Fanatics are not faring well for America’s favorite pastime. Some argue, against the complaints of jersey traditionalists, that the new uniforms are more breathable, while a Baltimore Orioles player was quoted as saying, “It is like a knockoff jersey from T.J. Maxx.” (We can see he isn’t a Maxxinista.) With Fanatics working on a deal to create “authentic” NHL jerseys next, we predict it may be another foul.
03. Bringing Back the Old Standard
“Vintage anemoia” is not some smallpox-esque disease of olden times, like how it sounds. It’s a term coined by University of Newcastle researchers in their study of font psychology. The phrase denotes an emotional connection to the design and lifestyle of days gone by. Perhaps that’s why the study found that consumers view brands with vintage logos and packaging as safer product-wise. In the study, the fictional brand logos that displayed art deco or antique qualities were chosen by participants for better assumed product safety over brand logos utilizing the usual font suspects: an Arial, Times New Roman, or Garamond. Fake futuristic brands, like self-driving cars, were even tested with vintage fonts — though, according to the results, that’s one category where we don’t recommend retro.
04. Living a Tweenage Dream
“I’m over coats and the drama of zipping them up.” That’s what the wise 11-year-old Joni had to say about her personal style. “The Cut” is diving into the fashion world of tweens, or “tweencore,” as they call it, beyond what TikTok would have us believe. Apparently, most tweens don’t even use TikTok or care much for Lululemon, although 12-year-old Stella argued that Lululemon is cool until you reach 7th grade. Then, it is SO out. The style world of NYC youths is nothing short of varied — a hodgepodge of luxurious designer beauty items, like $40 Dior lip oil, drugstore makeup finds, the indie-famous Doc Martens, and the mainstream, eternally tween-popular Air Force 1’s. From what we can gather, these teeny-boppers love everything oversized and “vintage” Y2K fashion — and we’re feeling very old.
05. Hinge Borrows a Page from the Phonebook
Looking to connect with others away from a screen and IRL? Check the Phonebook. No, not the “yellow pages” type of phonebook. In celebration of Global Day of Unplugging, Hinge has released a micro Phonebook with pages full of ideas and inspiration for getting out of your antisocial, doomscrolling era. Their social impact program, One More Hour, is focused on Gen Zers and all about “unplugging” and making real-life connections to break out of loneliness. Some of Hinge’s Phonebook social solutions include dyeing clothes with food waste and drawing a “sketch-ie” instead of taking a selfie. We tried a “sketch-ie” ourselves, but it looked nothing like us.
Clients in the News
Oula
Oula, the first modern maternity clinic combining obstetrics and midwifery, was featured in PR Newswire for raising $28 million in their Series B funding!
Being Health
Being Health, a mental health startup, was highlighted in Business Insider for its plans to open a new mental health clinic featuring ketamine therapy and acupuncture.
Havenly
Online interior startup Havenly appeared in TechCrunch for acquiring artisan home setup, Citizenry in hopes to create a design-first ecosystem for the digital consumer.
Gold House
Gold House, a leading cultural ecosystem for championing Asian Pacific creators and companies, is being celebrated by Variety for its 2024 A100 and Gold Gala. Variety will publish their inaugural 8 Asian Pacifics Up Next in Entertainment with help from Gold House.
MassMutual
And a huge shout out to The MassMutual Foundation for joining a select group of funders to support an inspiring short documentary, “The Barbers of Little Rock.” The documentary depicting the struggles of the racial wealth gap was featured in “The New Yorker.”
