I get it. When startup founders come up with an idea, they think/breathe/sleep nothing but putting a minimal viable product out into the world. Design can be expensive. What’s more, there’s always time to make improvements, right?
Maybe, maybe not. Beautiful design helps a young company stand out, to earn the visibility so desperately needed. Memorable design also has a way of establishing a brand, giving it the aura of having always been around, belonging on the scene. Let’s be real: few businesses are so novel or flawlessly executed at the outset that they can survive without giving design its due.
Good news, founders. Open For Humans is a full-service design house, based in the Los Angeles art district, that’s focused on collaborating with startups.
They aim to make brands unforgettable through environmentally sound designs, creating everything from signs to packaging, card holders to artwork, and any merchandise you plan to offer.
With backgrounds overlapping the arts and business, owners Melanie Ryan and Todd Sussman can do it all – from constructing the ideal retail spaces to furnishing a startup office with objects that will inspire staff and clients.
Need a comprehensive overhaul of your branding? Artwork that will draw huge crowds to your next public event? Open For Humans designs pretty much anything you can think of – even yurts!
It goes without saying that branding is about so much more than choosing a name. All you Steve Jobs idolizers out there know that every detail matters, right? Of course. Guerilla marketing materials, interior design, digital typography, lobby arrangements, pop-up installations… The design needs (read: opportunities) for a business are endless. The team behind Open For Humans has an impressive toolkit that allows them to work on a wide variety of projects.
Not every artist can apply artistic vision to commercial ventures. Likewise (I’ll be polite here), more than a few founders struggle mightily to translate their visions into something attractive enough in the real world to do right by themselves. Open For Humans can traverse the realms of business and art effortlessly, making them ideal collaborative partners. The fact that they’re not entirely focused on digital works only adds to their appeal, as it means they know how to think creatively across mediums.
It might be ultra-hip to be square these days, but that shouldn’t be taken as a license to tackle design all by yourself. Go to the pros who understand aesthetics and have proven themselves capable in “redefining the human sensory experience in hotels, restaurants, workplaces, and public spaces with their Californian design sensibilities.” Check out openforhumans.com before sabotaging your efforts with boring designs.
