#35 getting to know Emmad Mazhari
nothing about working at Substack
Welcome to Objectively #35! We’re back with another “getting to know…”, which can be read as short for “getting to know my ‘following list’”, where they talk about their lives of late. More who they are, less what they do.
In this edition, I chat with Emmad Mazhari, a Houston-based designer at Substack, also an image maker, writer, and tinkerer.
I first came across his personal writing on Substack, which I thought felt like a sibling to his Tweets. A likeness manifested discretely. Vulnerable in the former, tongue-in-cheek on X. What connected them, what were they rooted in?
Even for someone who posts almost on the daily, there was no knowing what he was up to IRL. His many DIY projects, what really goes into planning a house party for him, and his favourite scent. So I’m glad we got to chat.
If there's one recent memorable experience that you can share, what would it be?
I moved back to Houston about a year ago, and this is the biggest place I've ever lived in, with multiple living rooms and study rooms. So I've been struggling with the layout for a while, and because of that, I haven't really had people over.
About two weeks ago, I kind of got over that. It was my birthday, and I thought it was a good opportunity for a housewarming. I spent a lot of time thinking about the layout of the party, which rooms I wanted people to be in, the vibe of each room, and how people will experience them. Like having a room where it feels high energy with people dancing, versus people just talking.
It was really fun to think about how people would use the space. People came over, used it as I intended, but also in unexpected ways. It was nice for people to be in my space and interact with it.
What’s something you did to create a certain atmosphere?
One fun thing that I always like to do is to use a projector instead of a TV, and project a movie onto the ceiling. People always get into it, and I get texts afterward asking about the movie. You know, little things like that, where it’d be like, can I imagine someone seeing that and really liking it?
Which movie did you play this time?
I've really been into Satyajit Ray's movies lately - he’s an old Bengali director. I’ve basically been working through all of his older movies on HBO. I played his most famous trilogy and it was great.
You mentioned to me earlier that you don’t really feel settled in yet. I’m wondering if there’s something that makes you feel at home?
When I'm relaxing, nine times out of ten, I'm on the couch. I think every house has a main couch, and I know I’m going to want to spend a lot of time on it.
What’s your main couch like?
It's over in the living room, not very special by any means, just a comfy, low, big couch. I found it on clearance after searching for a few months. I wanted it to be low and neutral in colour.
I like having a conversation pit in the living room. I think you can get that to some degree by having really low couches closely stacked together, so that’s the sort of vibe I’m going for in the living room.
I remember your writing about scents, and I'm curious, what's a smell that is of note for you recently?
I really love the smell of jasmine. It's probably my favourite smell of all time. It’s the scent I wear almost every day. Whenever I come across a new fragrance or candle, I'm always on the lookout for a jasmine scent.
As a birthday gift, one of my friends actually gave me a jasmine plant. It's sitting right in front of me, and it just started budding two days ago, so I've been thinking about how I haven't smelled natural jasmine in quite some time.
That’s a really sweet gift, just thinking about how you can see it grow with you.
I know you do a bit of everything, write, take photos, design… Can you tell us more about one thing that you’ve created recently?
Lately, I've felt like I've been in a bit of a creative rut. It's been a while since I've written much or taken photos. I used to think about these things quite frequently. However, the last project I worked on and still use regularly is a photo scanner.
I've been going through a family photo archive, which includes pictures I've taken over the years. I became obsessed with finding the perfect scanning system without spending too much money and that could handle a bunch of film formats.
So I designed a setup where I can attach my camera to it, creating a base to place different films. It was a project I'm really proud of, as I made it with pipes and wood. Like, you know, I got a pipe and I just extrude it to wood. And I was like, I think this works and is kind of cool.
Did you have any references while building it, or did you rely solely on intuition?
I did watch a few tutorials to get started, but it wasn't overly complex since it involved basic woodworking skills. I've been getting more into woodworking and making physical things lately.
One of the first major projects I tackled was building this desk right here. I definitely feel like I’m missing basic knowledge—like not knowing the standard sizes of nails—but I've been diving deep into specific aspects. For instance, I've watched about five or six YouTube videos to learn about how to join corners at a 90-degree angle and understand the load-bearing capacity of plywood. It's a learning process, and I'm slowly filling those gaps.
I love it! As long as it's still standing, we’re good.
Maybe moving into something less tangible, I was wondering about your views on social media. You’re pretty active on Twitter… How would you describe your relationship with it?
I have a complicated relationship with being online, it feels like fraud to me all the time. I often feel like I should spend less time on it and post less. Lately, I've tried not to have the apps on my phone, so I use them on an incognito browser. I try to use methods to limit my time, creating enough of a blocker that I have to really want to do it.
I try not to think too much about what I post anymore. Say if I think it’s a funny thought, I’ll just post it and log off and then kind of move on. It feels like a cathartic process or whatever. I don’t know if it’s healthy that Twitter is that for me, but that’s my reality I suppose.
Now in Objectively fashion, if you could be any object, what would you want to be and why?
For some reason, I like the idea of being a lamp post, because you have this vantage point of the street and a neighbourhood almost. It’s kind of beautiful. It's like being above everything but not too far away, enough to recognise people around you.
Before you go, who’s someone that inspires you and if given the chance, what’s one question you’ll ask then?
I really like this painter Salman Toor. He does oil paintings that are different shades of brown, or green. They remind me so much of Pakistan. I grew up there—I moved here when I was young but I go back there pretty often.
I just find this painting so beautiful, so reminiscent of Pakistan. The green overlay really speaks to me, really resonates to me as somehow Pakistani. In the colour, the brushstrokes…
I’ll ask him, “How do you do it… The green, how did that come to you?”
You can find Emmad on Twitter, Instagram, and his website. He also writes infrequently on brb.
Additional reading: his conversation with and on
.Hi to all you new subs from ’s masterclass! Hope you enjoyed this first edition that you’re receiving.
Extending the gesture, if any of you reading this write a newsletter, tell us about it in the comments!