HOUSE HUGO HOPPMANNHEARTHEADHANDSProfileIndexIG, SUBSTACK, Contact

PRESENT

  • Art Direction
  • Publishing
  • Life

2016–

I founded PRESENT in New York in 2016 as my long-term life project: a support system for Modern Makers. What began as an idea for a print magazine has grown into an ecosystem I design, write, publish, and build myself: the magazine, a weekly newsletter, a podcast, a community, and presentOS, our own app. PRESENT is also the why behind my client work. Everything I have learned about identity, editorial design, and building digital products, I apply here first, on my own brand, at full risk.

PRESENT wordmark
The name carries the whole idea. Present as in the present moment. Present as in being present with yourself and others. Present as in a gift. Present as in presenting your work to the world. The word, with all its meanings, forms the pillars of the project.

The Bliss and Battles of Living and Making Today. PRESENT started from a simple observation: the people I admire most are the ones who make things, and making things is hard. Fear, procrastination, and self-doubt hold most of us back from being truly present and from starting the projects that matter.

The PRESENT symbol is inspired by an ancient woodblock print and combines several layers. The eye: being fully awake and present with yourself and the people around you. The sun: clarity, a new start, a fresh reset. The center: the present moment, where everything evolves from, flanked by arrows for past and future. The arrows also nod to Hakalau, a meditation technique whose name translates to eyes wide open, training both focus and peripheral vision. One mark that works as a logo, a meditation instruction, and a worldview.

So I built the thing I needed myself: an ongoing discourse on how to navigate the world as a Modern Maker, with honest conversations about process, philosophy, and practice.

PRESENT covers
Present Print Magazine: Sold in 20+ countries on 5 continents and nominated for Launch of the Year at Stack Awards in London.

The magazine is where PRESENT became physical. Each issue is a themed, book-like object: concept, interviews, art direction, editorial design, and typography, all from my studio.

Layouts from Issue 3

Issue by issue, PRESENT grew from a self-published debut into a magazine sold in over 25 countries on five continents, and was nominated for Launch of the Year at the Stack Awards in London. Contributors and subjects range from world-renowned designers and photographers to craftspeople you have never heard of, because the magazine treats both with the same seriousness.

PRESENT exists to inspire starting and shipping, through stories of making, discipline, and self-care from the most courageous creators of today and tomorrow.

The slogan of PRESENT distills it into three words: Just get started.

In 2025 I started building presentOS, our own app, designed and developed in-house. It is home to the Consistency Club, our community of 250+ makers who meet, track their progress, and hold each other accountable to do the Thing. Building our own tools instead of renting them is the same principle the whole project runs on: the most personal work travels the furthest.

PRESENT is for all makers and dreamers. For all dreamers who make. For anyone creating something and challenging themselves on purpose. We share ways of overcoming procrastination and self-doubt that hold us back from being truly present and tackle our favorite unrealized projects.

PRESENT apparel
For our first DOJO in motion, we made a film about the Bosnian sculptor Mirza Morić

Alongside the magazine runs the weekly newsletter with the Present Principles: short, honest essays on starting, shipping, and staying consistent, read by thousands of makers. The Principles are becoming a book, Stop Postponing Yourself: Do The Thing, and a podcast feed. This is the part of PRESENT that makes it more than a magazine: a living body of thought, published weekly for years.