Doughnuts, Menswear, Chicken Sandwiches and Dwell

There is a great men’s store in my neighborhood called Standard & Strange. The brands they carry have a unique focus on quality and craftsmanship. I admit I frequent it pretty often, their store just happens to be on the same block as some of my favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner spots in Oakland. 

 I’ll usually stop by after I’ve satisfied my hunger with a killer creme-filled doughnut or a fried chicken sandwich. They are an extremely friendly crew and have a wealth of knowledge on the brands they carry. In a store that houses expensive products for dudes, they aren’t snobby in their pitch at all. They also have a great motto: "Own fewer, better things". 

 This no-nonsense, authentic approach resonated with me, in a way that all things, places, and people that I love do. As you may have noticed, authenticity is a common thread here at Dwell, whether we're talking about chicken sandwiches, product collaborations, or home builds. 

Naturally, it’s that approach - the one that draws us in again and again to the things that we love - that we employed when building the new Dwell. So how do we create a new forward-thinking platform without unlimited resources? 

People

We knew we wanted to do a lot, but we had to do it with a very small team. How can you compete with companies that employ hundreds of engineers? One, you don’t. You focus on your customer and you start with fewer people. Better people. The best you can find. You build around them and start setting the future culture of the company around that core. 

Approach

We created an authentic channel for conversation that provides real value. No snobbiness. No need for an immediate sale. Give valuable information and build trust. 

A Platform that connects

We use beautiful imagery as the canvas to tell a deeper story. Our goal is to provide the design community the tools to build a story around each image, and be authentic about the connection with the brand.

Dwell. Connecting the modern world.