On the Side with Design Duo MAKEBARDO
This series profiles our DA Friends and the side projects they’re working on to develop new skills, test ideas, help people and communities or just do, for the love of it.
This week we heard from Bren and Luis, a Design Duo at MAKEBARDO, on their interesting side project, P.I.N. — Places In Neighborhoods. P.I.N. is a project created for curious traveller minds to explore new places with a eye for detail.
Join the community. Be a DA Friend today!
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re up to during the work week.
We’re Bren and Luis, the creative duo behind MAKEBARDO. We focus on Graphic Design + Art + everything in between. For us, it’s not only about creating new things but about exploring new ways.
On the side, we heard you’ve been working on a personal project called P.I.N. — Places In Neighborhoods. Can you tell us more about it?
P.I.N. is an initiative born from the simple joy of travelling and discovering the artistry hidden within different cities. This project aims to document, highlight, and share the very best of design and culture in some of the world’s coolest corners. Acting as a thoughtfully curated guide, P.I.N. supports creative travellers—or anyone curious about exploring a new destination with a mindful, designer’s eye—by showcasing a highly selective collection of the finest interior designs, striking architecture, significant sculptures, must-visit design stores, inspiring art galleries, and renowned art museums, along with many other cultural treasures.
Talk to us about the catalysts behind these guides, what stirred you to get them going?
The truth is, every time we travel to a new destination, we dedicate time to researching the essential art and design we shouldn’t miss. While excellent guides exist for architecture and culture, we always felt the need for a resource curated specifically through the lens of a graphic designer—someone drawn not only to iconic museums and buildings but also to unexpected finds like stunning cafe interiors, compelling street art, unique sculptures, or independent design shops. Since this curation is something we do for every trip, the primary motivation for creating P.I.N. was to share this effort: to provide fellow designers and creatives with all this curated information in one simple place. By sharing this knowledge for free with our community, we ensure others can immediately access a curated list of places we believe are truly worth visiting.
We launched by covering four Asian hubs—Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore—and are actively expanding to include major design centres in the United States, such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
To ensure seamless exploration, each guide is meticulously organised by neighbourhood. Every location is assigned a number and a specific category (e.g., Design Store, Interior Design, Architecture, Art Museum), allowing you to easily browse by interest or proximity. You can access this organised information online or download the complete guide directly to your Google Maps for effortless navigation while travelling.
Our next step is to develop the P.I.N. app to make the user experience even simpler and more intuitive. We also have several ideas for integrating features that will support the design community while travelling.
Lastly, where can people view and download the P.I.N. guides?
Want to feature on DA, just like MAKEBARDO?
As a DA Friend, you’ve got access to opportunities like this, don’t forget to make the most of your membership.
Submit your project through one of our forms and share what you’ve been working on.
