Studio culture can give the greatest insight to a designer’s ethos. From nicknames and prized possessions, to rituals and guilty habits: at the Atlas studio in sunny Palma de Mallorca, this is how they roll…
— When interns finish their three month programs we have Friday Vermouth lunchtime sessions, spiced with oranges, chips, olives and funny games. When this happens we normally take the afternoons off, for obvious reasons.
— Religion: 11:00 a.m. coffee break.
— Once a week, Astrid feeds baby croissants to all the designers.
— Astrid is known as 'The Dictator', no one really knows where the honourable title comes from but everyone seems to agree that it's rather appropriate. Pablo is known as 'Iceman' (or 'Buddha'). He's the only one that keeps calm and carries on (at least in appearance) even in the biggest of storms. Rafa once defined himself as the Jessica Walsh of the studio (quite appropriately, he is young and he is cute), until he grew a moustache and became known as 'Moustache'.
— There is unanimous consensus in the studio that 'the Atlas jewels in the crown' are Astrid's bookshelves and Pablo's wood type collection.
— Shhhh! The studio smoking policy is revisited periodically (as in, every thirty minutes)
— During the first week of work, all interns have to wear Atlas blue. This includes the underwear, and in case you are doubting, yes, we do check.
— The only plant in the studio is called Tina Tuner.
— One of the biggest studio mysteries is that the church bells from the plaza in front of the studio ring at sixteen minutes past the hour, rather than on the hour. We love the beauty and imperfections of analogue things.
— Pablo and Astrid judge each other's work using a very simple numeric system: "What is it from one to ten?" Tens never happen. The highest score ever achieved is a nine (and it only happened once).
— Playlist (from Astrid's office): silence
— Playlist (from Pablo's office): jazz
— Playlist (from Mercedes's office): ringing phones
— Playlist (from the designers’ room):
Chet Faker, Gold / 1998
River, Ibeyi
Berlin, Modeselektor
Iron sky, Paolo Nutini
The Fall, Rhye
Rojo relativo, Tiziano Ferro (big in the 90s in Spain)
You can´t go home again, Dj Shadow
All under one roof raving, Jamie XX
Money Trees, Kendrick Lamar
Pumped up Kicks, Foster the people
Ain´t got time to waste, Aim
Rasputin, Boney M.
OOO AAA, Cathedrals
Passer by, Mattafix
Loaded, Primal Scream
Jealous of Roses, Bibio
So Far To Go, J DILLA
Limit to Your Love, James Blake
Retrograde, James Blake
Archangel, Burial
Places, Shlohmo
All good, The Roots
Beautiful, Snoop & Pharrell
Two Weeks, FKA Twigs
And quite a bit of Nina Simone, Atl-J, the XX, Bonobo, Four Tet, Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys and The Strokes.