Ventilated Simplicity

We’re living in a world of complexity.

Everything we do we need to weigh on it. Is it worth?

But more important: Is is right?

Is it the turn I want to take at the crossroads in my life?

This are the questions I ask myself all the time while I’m taking a sip from my fresh brewed Coffee.

And there it is, simplicity.

A balance of Acidity and Earthy flavors, notes of sweet chocolate and fresh flowers.

As my mind catapults into euphoria I can see that life doesn’t has to be over thought.

Sometimes a little simplicity is all we need to see certain circumstances more clearly.

everything new.

Here we are, new day, new year, new dawn.

We’re gonna do so much better.

We’re gonna emerge as human beings.

We’re gonna take good care of our selves and others.

Because it’s page Ø. Again. Blank. Empty space to be filled by our doing.

Or aren’t we?

Just asking.

In the still of the Morning

True freedom lies in the stillness of each moment. All we have to do is listen.

The Dancing Field

In the dancing field,

where the snow falls,

the waters melt & the woods sound,

we find comfort in the moving winds.

In the forest, the leaves and the soil,

we touch ground with ourselves.

In our heart we find love.

We find peace.

We find happiness.

Café Hommage: THE COFFEE DRINKING CACTUS

How a Surftrip and some Donavon Frankenreiter inspired a Coffee Brand Logo.

The creative process is influenced by countless conscious or subconscious observations and experiences. This wasn’t any different in terms of the Coffee Drinking Cactus Logo: A travel to Asia and Indonesia, countless Coffee Shop Visits, hours of good Surf music and a bunch of inspirational people was mostly responsible for the origin.

There's usually a lot going on in Daniela Schmied's head. The creative thoughts seem to never stop or take a pause. Drawing with brushes and pencils, she recently expands her mind with a digital toy she can easily carry anywhere she goes.

The Moustache got highly inspired by Donavon Frankenreiter.

The Coffee drinking Cactus became the logo and mascot for Hermano’s Brew and can be found on several Coffee, Stickers and Shirt designs. He lately even made it on a Skateboard for a Collaboration with Approved Line Skateboards.

San Juan de Pacifico

Tall pine trees reaching through the hills.

The air cools down as the smell changes it’s endless capacity of scents.

The sun paints the horizon in it’s brightest reds, blues and yellows.

The moon above is already showing himself, protecting all of nature.

Everything is so clear now.

We are all there is, and that’s all we are.

The Stinking Shoe

This is for all the people who stuck with “it” for years. The times you tried to convince me to get rid of it.

The Car Rides, the hotel rooms, the homes that were filled over the years with the wet, acidity smell.

Brought back from Cali, some six years ago. Because, why not. Right?

Shoe laces worn out, forming a loose, rasta like dreadlock have been replaced.

Desinfection spray, special Ski - & Snowboard Boot driers, nights spent on the balcony… Nothing could erase the scent until abandoned in a foreclosed room.

Many time I tried to replace, but could never find a rightful replacement.

So here we are, one more season on our tongues. From frosty temperatures to slushy conditions. Still wet when I slip my toes into it.

This if for you my old friend. See you next year. Maybe. Almost positive.

Sorry guys.

Blast Anxiety

The Channel of the pipe is glowing in a dull, gloomy light.

The morning Sun.

A couple hours ago she rose so promising over the mighty appearing Panoramic picture of Grindelwald.

Now she’s suddenly disappearing and the contrast is vanishing along with it.

Where does this anxiety coming from? The fear of not being enough, of not being liked by the persons I’m just about to meet. The people that gave me that assignment to shoot some pictures for the Jungfrau Region in exchange for a small sponsorship for my personal Snowboard Project.

But this is not the time for soul searching right now.

A couple of runs to clear my head. To get the knees warmed up. Shoot some frames of black and white film with my Buddy and Filmer Clément Schwab, then we’re heading to the spot and get our settings done.

Mother nature is in our good spirits today as she shows up and rags the haze apart.

There it goes, my anxiety vanished into void. I found my soul.

State of Flow

Boots heavily stamp through thick snow, now pressed under our Feet.

A simple Board with a wooden core transitions us into a new state of mind.

Thinking disappears as we almost hover over the layers of nature’s gift of happiness.

Turns burst into concentrated energy that blows up waves of powder into the air.

The cold on my face is warming me up.

I release all tension as we glide, captivated in a state of Flow.

Appreciated Friendships: Clément Schwab

Clément and I first met a few years ago when I was working at a small, local Snowboard Shop. There was an instant connection and quickly we'd spend countless hours in the Mountains or having one - or maybe some more - Beers at our local Bar.

Today, a couple of years older, there are less Beers going down the drain but no less days spent on the Snowboard. An everlasting friendship as one will rarely find.

While most of us got into the struggle of self expression and starting our own thing, Clément worked his way up as our Go To Buddy when it comes to everything Smartphone or Tablet etc. related. Which paid him the expenses to go to unusual places with his Snowboard like Japan, Kosovo, the Himalayas or nevertheless on a Surfboat trip to the Maldives.

Always being fascinated by capturing those moments, it was an obvious step to pick up a camera and invested more time in this passion.

To create one of his first professional Videography projects, we traveled to Grindelwald in the Jungfrau Region to get some cool Shots to create a short commercial for Hermano’s Brew.

Thanks Clément for your never ending source of Motivation.

-This article was published in the Hermano’s Magazine Issue #1. You can read the whole Magazine for free here.

Hermano's Magazine Issue #1

Lean back, have a Coffee and get inspired.

Strange times require creative thinking. While everything is heading towards digitalism, every mail box is getting swamped with better or worse Newsletters and all you get on Social Media is Commercials on stuff you probably won’t need we thought: Why not make something physical that you can actually enjoy holding in your hands.

The Idea of Hermano’s Magazine is to print a, so to say, Newsletter in Magazine format once to twice a year. BUT not only is the Hermano’s Magazine to be read as a Newsletter trying to sell the Brand. It is filled with Stories of People that in some sort of way contribute something to Hermano’s Brew or inspire us to print their Story.

In the first Issue we teamed up with Daniela Schmied, the creator of the Hermano’s Brew Cactus logo to take a look into her creative process. Showed what it takes to handprint Shirts with the Atélier Gross & Klein, talked about the importance and drawbacks of running a Core-Snow- & Skateboard Shop with doodah Bern shop manager Kaspar Kupferschmid and much more.

Printed as a very limited edition of only 50 physical Copies, Issue #1 is already out of order. So we simply converted it as an ebook for everyone to enjoy. You can download it here for free.

The Perception of Silence

The white Mountains, covered in Snow. The still, serene blue Lake. Loneliness melts with comforting void, inner contentment and the connection to the all. No anger, no anxiety. Nothing but the comforting void. The voice of the impalpable, the inner Peace.

We’re melting together as the waves wash over us.

Tumbled and stoned.

Tuned in.

Far away and only here.

Mind wide open.

Our hearts are one.

An Ocean of Love

We're the stars under the sky. Oceans apart from each other, but still under the same moon.

The Eye

I see light.

Everything's opening up.

I feel love around me,

I'm covered in rosa and red.

The skin is soft,

the heart is warm.

This is a call from home.

Dear Los Angeles...

The way your streets mean so much to your inhabitants.

The cold concrete and the blurry sky.

The hot weather and foggy mornings.

Loud music is sounding from the cars.

The people call themselves Angelenos.

Your culture rooted so deep in musical history.

In film making, for you, a form that extends the art.

Subcultures emerge straight from your heart.

So many of them you made famous.

Hollywood, Venice Beach, Compton, Inglewood, Downtown, The Valley, Malibu…

there’s no stop in your diversity.

The waves are crashing on the shore,

the smell of Coffee is coming out of a corner somewhere far off

. Sure you got your problems. But, dear Los Angeles, you are amazing.

Skid Row Crisis

In late Fall 2016, on the way to the Arts District in DTLA, we accidentally ended up in Skid Row. Unaware, it was stunning as I looked left and right and all of a sudden, there were no more shops. No more restaurants. No more cars - as just one block further up the road...

There were pople living in tents on the boardwalk. Beaten windows. Shut closed doors and empty streets. A man walked by, looking at me and my friends. Eying the blinded tourists we were. Walking straight at us he was shouting some un-understandable things. Feared as we were we turned around walking back to our car where we came from.

I was able to get two pictures of the scenario. As I later learned, Skid Row contains one of the largest stable populations (between 5,000 and 8,000) of homeless people in the United States.

That was 2016. Since then, there are more homeless people than ever. The city of Los Angeles is struggling to handle the situation as the numbers grow. Covid doesn't make it any better.

Ikigai - 生き甲斐

IKIGAI

das, wofür es sich lohnt, am Morgen aufzustehen.
what [something that] makes life worth living