Bess founder Christy Mack drove across the United States (and back!) this year with her husband and teenage son. As 2021 comes to a close Christy shares thoughts and photos from her two and a half month journey in the midst of the Covid pandemic and talks about how this research trip will inform the work of Bess moving into 2022.

“I created Bess to facilitate change. To do this work well, I had to get out from behind my laptop screen and see firsthand what is going on in America at this important moment in time.”

the trip’s course + purpose

Christy plotted a route that would take her to different parts of the country, allowing her to visit communities and meet people.

“I wanted to see the differences in how people are living and hear what’s important to them. I also wanted to take in what still ties us together as Americans. ”

Christy’s route took her family from California through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Minnesota until a stop at in Wisconsin. From there, Christy, her husband and son continued on, traveling through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts. On the return trip, they went further north after Minnesota, traveling through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon before returning home to California.

“Traveling let me experience the lives of people who reside in various parts of the country. I saw their towns, communities and routines with my own eyes. It also gave me the chance to have conversations with locals at gas stations, coffee shops, parks, restaurants, and motels to hear what’s on their minds. ”

Christy believes Bess Brand Studio must speak to who we are today and who we are becoming.

“To do meaningful work, I have to be informed by what is actually happening versus my perception of what’s happening in people’s lives.”

Christy believes the clues of what we want or need can be found by exploring our towns, architecture, and cultural centers and talking to people along the way. She conducted her trip research through this lens, aiming to find insights that would allow her to become more equipped to do authentic work.

Read (and see) on.

our towns – a reflection of us

Town grids, businesses, governments, and community centers say a lot about what Americans want to be part of our everyday lives.

“I loved getting a look into America’s main streets and witnessing their beating hearts. Reno, Bosie, Fargo, Chicago, South Bend, Buffalo, New York City, and Burlington, for example, are very different from one another. This re-confirmed the diversity of America and Americans and it cannot be overlooked in the studio’s work. ”

our architecture + interiors

Architecture and interior design is another window into finding out what’s important to Americans today.

Staying in small hotels, familiar motels, Airbnb homes, Vrbo rentals, and with family and friends in addition to walking neighborhoods street by street gave Christy a close up look at our lives.

“I loved taking in our exteriors and interiors, public and private spaces, our front porches. I get clues into our culture by observing design and seeing what we are filling our spaces with.”

our arts + culture

Communication through flags, billboards and lawn signs was ever present. People from coast to coast are sharing their voice in large, exposed forms and fonts on their homes, highways, businesses, and cultural centers.

Public art is also emerging across wide swathes of the United States, providing powerful visible expressions of our thoughts and feelings about both American history and what we’re experiencing at this unique moment in time.

“If you look around, you can quickly see what’s on the minds of Americans.”

our food + drink!

Outdoor dining is everywhere for the foreseeable future.

“Restaurateurs are creative as ever, even during the most challenging of times. I had the best homemade Mexcian tortillas in Reno, fresh fish fry in Wisconsin and the best pizza slice of the trip in Manhattan, of course!”

our landscapes

The landscapes of the United States are vast - and also vastly different.

“We would travel for hundreds and hundreds of miles through unoccupied land and then boom, towns and cities pop up seemingly out of nowhere. It was a reminder to me that some of us live in proximity; some stacked on top of one another (literally); yet others in isolation.”

Christy discovered where Americans live on the spectrum of this vast land tends to define their views on politics, climate change, economics, and spirituality.

“Where we live ultimately defines us, and right now we are many Americas in one.”

what’s next for 2022

With 18 states visited and 6,000 miles traveled, the trip gave Christy an unvarnished view at the culture of the United States during a critical period in our country’s history. It also gave her big insights and a lot of inspiration that will carry her into the New Year.

“2020 and 2021 rapidly changed Americans and what we want and need.”

Christy is clearer than ever that vision and investment is required to make an impact, and she’s set up the studio to help.

“No amount of following the news, consuming content or scrolling through social feeds could ever replace or replicate the experience getting out on the road in 2021. It’s changed how I will approach the studio’s work in 2022 in the best possible ways. My eyes are wide open.”