Cold Weather Rituals
Cold Weather Rituals
from HATO
Written by
Maisie Skidmore
Cold Weather Rituals
from HATO
Written by
Maisie Skidmore
The world we live in is governed by cycles. The Earth turns, turning, around the sun – spilling light and warmth, and then selfishly scooping them back up again. Ideas are hatched, executed and then reflected upon, artists of all kinds stepping back to review their work. All around us blooms, ripens and rots, laying the foundations for what’s to come. Everything, in short, has its season. The shift from late summer to autumn is an especially sweet one. With it arrives an opportunity to rest and restore – to ease into the rituals that feed us, in more ways than one. As the days grow shorter and the temperatures cool, the Hato team have been sharing some of our go-to cold weather rituals – things done, read, watched, worn, listened to and admired at home. The routines we return to with a happy regularity, year on year.
They differ wildly, of course. Some of us are only too happy to retreat, cancelling plans to hole up indoors with a series we already know every word of. Some light a seasonal scented candle, reorganise an already well-organised collection, or batch cook a beloved recipe, filling the freezer for the darker days to come.
But along with the idiosyncrasies, we discovered a world of common ground that we are all eager to return to by the time October rolls around. We read books. We listen to records. We layer up and hunker down. We argue about how soon is too soon to put up the tree; how high is too high for the thermostat; how many re-watches Seinfeld can withstand. (The answer: always more.)
Home is a happy sanctuary for the more severe seasons – and when we reemerge in the spring, it’s with new ideas, new references, new eyes. The rituals, though, remain. Ready for the next roll-out.
Cold Weather Rituals
Hey I am a graphic designer, working mostly on the digital projects at HATO, for the past two years. Its a really small team so I enjoy getting to work across all stages of the creative process ranging from concept development through to design and production. Similarly there’s a fun variety of clients and projects that we get to work on, so I get to learn about topics that focus on things like science, food, architecture and loads more!
I’m currently living in Hackney with friends. Renting in London is a bit of a curse but the location is amazing and having a garden is definitely the best bit.
Working at HATO was my first ‘real’ design job so the learning curve was really steep and quite daunting at times! But I think what I enjoy most is how websites can be treated like living things where they constantly adapt so appreciating that they are never fixed. I think I’ve also learnt a lot about the importance of accessibility and considering who is the website for, understanding their mindset and what do they do on it. Finally also trying to take inspiration from real life experiences or physical objects is helpful, its quite easy to get fixated on specific effects or technical details when focusing too much on referencing other websites.
I live with 3 friends I met studying, Ciaran, Vita and Ollie. They’re the best.
‘Taking inspiration from real life experiences or physical objects is helpful, it’s quite easy to get fixated on specific effects or technical details when focusing too much on referencing.’
‘I’m currently living in Hackney with friends. Renting in London is a bit of a curse but the location is amazing and having a garden is definitely the best bit.’
We have this teeny tiny kitchen which operates a 1 in 1 out policy so we have a nice routine where one person cooks for all 4 of us each evening which is such a nice way for us all to catchup as a house. Vita cooked this courgette pasta the other day that I have found myself dreaming about quite a bit since. We’ve grown a few courgettes over summer in our garden so that has recently been our staple food.
I took notes! So you slow cook the courgettes on a low heat with some garlic and season slightly with salt/pepper for about an hour or so. After that you mash them up very slightly and get your pasta ready. Then add some grated parmesan, a bit of chopped up mint, some lemon zest and then combine! Its super easy and a fresh one.
To be honest each month is hit after hit. September is still warm but a bit fresher than summer and its my birthday, then October for the colours and by November you’re in the leadup for christmas so the whole thing flies by!
Mind Walks by Karl Nawrot is a personal favourite, Flight of Fancy by Bruno Munari is one I’m always on the lookout for but I’m resigned to never seeing in real life. I absolutely love the idea and concept behind Raphael’s new zine for Zine Series. I learnt loads from Good Services by Lou Downe. And then I loved recently discovering more about the work of artist Pacita Abad.
I absolutely love the idea and concept behind Raphael’s new zine for Zine Series. I also loved recently discovering more about the work of artist Pacita Abad.
I get to learn about topics that focus on things like science, food, architecture and loads more…
Our kitchen brings out the worst in us and the garden sees us at our best.
There’s something about Goodfellas that just has to be watched around Winter time. We watched Taxi Tehran last year which had absolutely nothing to do with Christmas or winter but I’ll probably do it again.
For my 18th birthday my Nan gave me a little photo album of photographs she had taken throughout me growing up. It was funny seeing all these photos of some of my earliest memories. It has a lot of sentimental value.
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