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THE JOURNAL CONTINUES
A space for things I’m thinking about, writing about, discovering and occasionally obsessing over. From fashion and culture to ideas that catch my attention along the way, this is where the stories continue beyond the work.
Stay curious. Keep looking. Keep creating.
SOME INSPIRING QUOTES FROM MY FAVORITE BOOKS TO SET THE TONE...
“You won’t understand the importance of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
—A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
“I am writing because I want to remember.”
—On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong
“I was discovering that desire has its own memory.”
—In the Absence of Men - Philippe Besson
Keep reading...
ARTICLE 1: The Importance of Storytelling for Brands — Le Journal by Le Labo Fragrances
In all honesty, my portfolio came into being from remembering one of my passions: journaling. To be more specific, its structure was prompted by the remembrance of Le Journal, a newspaper created by perfumery brand Le Labo.
Last year, I was wandering through the streets of Prague when I stumbled upon the Le Labo store in the Old Town neighbourhood. Surrounded by gorgeous architecture, narrow streets and the particular atmosphere that makes Prague feel almost suspended in time, the store immediately caught my attention. Upon entering, I was welcomed by the unmistakable smell of the fragrances. The space itself felt considered, almost theatrical, but without trying too hard.
By the brownish door, I noticed a stack of newspapers. I had never heard of Le Journal before.
As someone who has always been fascinated by printed matter, magazines, newspapers and graphic design, I obviously had to pick up a copy. I remember sitting down later and reading through it, fascinated not only by its contents, but by its tone, its typography, its structure and, perhaps most importantly, by the fact that it existed at all.
Why would a fragrance brand produce a newspaper? The question stayed with me.
Le Labo describes Le Journal as an original-content broadsheet that combines a nostalgia for newspaper culture with the world of Le Labo. Rather than functioning as a traditional product catalogue, it explores cultural subjects and ideas through an editorial lens. And this, I believe, is where the importance of storytelling for brands becomes particularly interesting.
Le Labo, Prague Store
We live in a time when almost every brand has access to the same communication tools. Instagram. TikTok. Websites. Newsletters. Podcasts. YouTube. Influencers. Paid advertising. AI-generated content.
The channels have multiplied, but the challenge has remained the same:
H ow do you make someone care?
A beautiful product photograph can attract attention. A clever campaign can generate engagement. A discount can encourage a purchase. But none of these things necessarily creates a lasting relationship between a person and a brand.
Storytelling can.
The strongest brands understand that their role is not simply to communicate what they sell, but to create a world around what they sell.
A fragrance is, technically, a product contained inside a bottle. But it can also become a memory, a place, a person, a particular moment of the day, a relationship or an imagined version of yourself.
Fashion works in much the same way. A pair of shoes can be functional, but the story surrounding them can make them desirable. A hotel is a room, a bed and a bathroom, but hospitality brands sell an atmosphere. A coffee shop sells coffee, but its identity can become a place where people want to spend an afternoon.
The product is tangible. The story is what gives it meaning.
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This is what made Le Journal so interesting to me. Le Labo could have used the space inside its stores to communicate new fragrances, ingredients, campaigns or product launches. Instead, it created something that feels closer to a cultural publication. That distinction matters.Why does a fragrance brand need a newspaper?
When a brand creates editorial content that exists beyond its immediate commercial objective, it gives consumers another reason to engage with it. You don't necessarily pick up Le Journal because you are looking to buy perfume. You pick it up because you are curious. And curiosity is an incredibly powerful communication tool.
The newspaper becomes an invitation rather than an advertisement. It asks you to spend time with the brand. That is particularly significant today, when so much brand communication is designed to be consumed within seconds. We scroll, swipe, skip and move on. A physical newspaper works against this behaviour. It asks you to hold something. To turn a page. To stop.There is something almost rebellious about that.
A luxury fragrance brand producing a newspaper in an age dominated by short-form digital content feels deliberately slow. And that slowness becomes part of the experience.
This is what good storytelling does: it creates a world around a brand that people can recognise and connect with. A fragrance becomes more than a bottle, a garment more than a piece of clothing, and a space more than its physical elements. When these different touchpoints work together, they create a consistent universe that gives the audience something to engage with beyond the act of purchasing.
For brands, this means thinking beyond individual posts, campaigns or products and asking a bigger question: what kind of world are we inviting people into? When a brand has a clear point of view, every piece of communication can become part of the same narrative, making the brand not only recognisable, but memorable.
Back to the newspaper
I still have that copy of Le Journal. It is slightly removed from the context in which I originally found it. Prague is no longer the immediate backdrop. The smell of the Le Labo store is no longer around me. The experience has become a memory. But the newspaper remained, and, unexpectedly, it became part of another creative experience. That is why I keep coming back to the importance of storytelling.
We often talk about marketing in terms of reach, impressions, engagement, conversions and clicks. All of these metrics matter. But there are other metrics that are much harder to measure:
Did you leave something behind?
Did someone remember you?
Did they talk about you?
Did they keep something you created?
Did your campaign change the way they saw your brand?
Did it inspire them months later?
In my case, the answer was yes. I picked up a newspaper because I liked its design. Almost a year later, I opened it again and found an idea for my own creative work. That is the kind of impact storytelling can have. Because sometimes the most successful piece of brand communication isn't the one that makes you buy something immediately. Sometimes it is the one that stays with you long enough to become part of your own story.
ARTICLE 2: The Uniqueness of a Scent — From the Garden by Maison Margiela
What makes a fragrance unique is not always how it smells, but what it makes us remember. This is what first caught my attention about From the Garden, part of Maison Margiela’s REPLICA collection. Inspired by the smell of tomato leaves, the fragrance takes something as ordinary as a garden and transforms it into an olfactory memory.
For me, that memory is deeply personal. I grew up spending much of my childhood in a village, surrounded by fields and farming. My mother and grandfather spent much of their lives working with the land, so when I introduced my mother to From the Garden, she thought I was crazy for liking to wear that scent. To her, the smell of tomato leaves represented work, dirt and long days in the fields. Why would anyone want to wear that as a perfume?
For me, however, it represents something completely different. I didn't have to work in the fields from childhood, but my family did, and that world was part of my upbringing. Smelling From the Garden brings back memories of my mother, my grandfather and the generations that came before me. In that sense, wearing the fragrance becomes a small way of
carrying a part of my history with me.
This is what makes scent so powerful.
A fragrance can go beyond its ingredients and become connected to a person, a place or a moment in time. The same scent can mean something completely different to two people because memory is personal.
This is also where Maison Margiela's REPLICA collection demonstrates the power of storytelling. Rather than simply selling fragrances through their notes, the collection builds them around moments and memories, allowing each person to complete the story through their own experiences. From the Garden may smell like tomato leaves to everyone, but what those leaves represent is entirely individual.
For some, it might simply be an unusual fragrance. For me, it is a reminder of where I come from and the people who shaped that story. And perhaps that is the real power of fragrance:
it doesn't just create a scent; it creates a way of remembering.
ADRIAN GOMIS EXPOSITO