Whether it's chipped furniture, ‘ugly’ food or unconventional beauty, societal mindsets are shifting to a greater acceptance of imperfection. With Eastern spirituality influencing Western lifestyles, can the spirit of Zen help brands connect with a generation that’s done trying to be perfect?

In her 2015 bookBowl + Spoon, food and wellness writer Sara Forte put the joy of one-pot eating centre-stage. And thanks to both foodie culture and design appreciation going mainstream, the crockery that food is eaten on is now becoming almost as important as the food itself.

When Instagram announced its new algorithm that would prioritise popular content in feeds, over 340,000 people signed a petition against it. Now, influencers are forming private ‘pods’ to support each other’s posts in defence against the change. But why is there such concern over online snaps?

If you knew that this was the only chance you’d ever get to read this sentence, would you pay closer attention? Snapchat’s ephemeral messages are a more human way of relating digitally, but they offer more than just a carefree share. Their fleeting nature asks us to stop and pay attention.