CUBANICA ///

Cubanica has always been one of my favorite studios. Pablo Medina puts out some really great design work as well as some amazing fonts, like Medina Gothic above.

LITTLE FURY ///

Esther and Tina run a great studio in NYC called Little Fury. The work is, uh…wow.

GD LOFT ///

Gotta say, I’m loving this shirt by GDloft. And shirts aren’t even their thing, they’re a super-cool design studio in Philadelphia headed up by Yale MFA grad Allan Espiritu. GDloft is a collaborative studio that specializes in working with non-profits and limited budgets. Basically, their work is awesome.

LEGWORK STUDIO ///

Legwork Studio is a design studio in Denver that does print, web and motion. Their site is pretty cool, I love seeing simple line art illustrations that are funny and utilized well within the structure of a site.

GOOD FOLK #4: LEAH FAUST / FAUST HAUS ///

L to R: Jess Endaya, some gorgeous script and Leah Faust

Faust Haus for Smart Fitzjerrell

LEAH FAUST
Creative Director / Faust Haus

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
Grown in NJ, matured in NYC, aged to perfection in LA.

WHAT DOES YOUR WORK CONSIST OF?
Designing and Creative Directing classic brands!

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
I began drawing alphabets and letterforms at 7 years old after my mom gave me a book of fonts. My obsession with detail led to a fascination with architectural drafting and interior design. After realizing how much math was involved in architecture, I ruled that out and continued studying fine arts on my own and through Arts High School. At 18, I was offered an internship for a central New Jersey restaurant interior designer and began designing brands local restaurants and lounges in NY, NJ and Philadelphia.

I attended Hartford Art School in Connecticut and was thrust deeper into the world of Graphic Design by my foundations professor, Alex White, whose high expectations brought out my inner go-getter. After 2 years in Hartford, I studied abroad at the Aegean Center for Fine Arts on the island of Paros in Greece and went back to my roots as a fine art painter. Upon returning to the US to finish my BFA, I had a taste of the outside world and skipped off to NYC as soon as I had diploma in hand.

With love and guidance from my partner in crime Brian Romero, I found ways to combine my passions for graphic design, type, architecture, food, fashion, and interior design…the rest is blood sweat and tears.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
Hustling, rising above, never having the same day twice.

WHAT IS THE WORST THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
A brain that never shuts off.

IF YOU WEREN’T BEING A BADASS DESIGNER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING?
Cooking, interior designing.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Decrepit script type signage in Los Angeles, highbrow graffiti in NYC, illuminated manuscripts, Ivar Ave farmers market, vintage shopping, MUSIC.

WHERE DOES CREATIVITY COME FROM?
The need to express what I see to others.

WHO’S WORK DO YOU LOOK UP TO? (Either currently or in the past)
In the past: Francis Bacon, Wayne Thiebaud, Jan Tschichold In the present: Robert Brownjohn, Chip Kidd Always: Bruno Munari, Louise Fili…

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR YOUR INDUSTRY?
Over-saturated, super-bastardized!

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU NEXT?
Creative direction and design on a much larger scale, expansion of the Faust Haus studio with new creative wrangler Laura Narikawa and designers Jessica Endaya and Lyndsey Lesh, who will definitely satisfy.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR FIELD ASPIRING TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
Bust your ass, school of hard knocks style, be humble.

ONE DEFINING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR.
1000 Hours refining one very special script logo.

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
The Misfits, Booker T and the MG’s, Diplo, The Vacation, Singapore, The Cult, Lykke Li, Black Sabbath, Mr. Bungle, Steely Dan, The Black Keys, The Binges, Mark Lanegan, Nirvana. The list goes on and on and on and on

OK Creative

OK Creative is a top-notch one man design studio in Brisbane, Australia. Owner/designer Matthew James has a nice range of good-looking projects in print, web and branding. One project I noticed immediately was this corporate report, shown above, with a beautiful side-sewn binding.

Oh Yeah Studio

Amazing work by Norwegian design studio Oh Yeah.