aesthetic portrait
photo portrait
Left to Right: Weston Bingham, Allen Hori Photo by Eli Schmidt

About

Studio Size

Small (1-5)

Year founded

2012

Borough

Manhattan

Studio Bio/Philosophy

Honor and elevate. Create relevant form derived from the project’s core. Acknowledge histories and legacies. Communicate meaningful contexts. Craft immaculately. Design with lyricism, wit, intelligence and authority.

Elsewhere

The Team

Open Project has 2 people. Of those, 2 are studio heads and 0 are managerial.

60% of studios are small-sized (1-5 people).

Gender Breakdown

100% male

0% female

Average height

5’10”-6’

Shortest: 5’10”
Tallest: 5’11”

Number of freelancers/year

1-5

Number of interns/year

1-2

Average: 1-2

Studio Disciplines

Breakdown of Work

4%

Motion

19%

Interactive

Number of studio projects

0–25

Pro-bono projects

1–5

Strategy/Execution

14% Strategy

86% Execution

Primary Specialties

  • Art Direction (58)
  • Books (52)
  • Branding & Identity (77)
  • Editorial/Publication Design (51)
  • Environmental Design (38)
  • Exhibition Design (33)
  • Experience Design (33)
  • Information Graphics (41)
  • Interaction Design (36)
  • Mobile Design (30)
  • Packaging (45)
  • Print (75)
  • Typeface Design (25)
  • Web Design (59)

Clients’ Industries

  • Advertising (22)
  • Education (40)
  • Fashion (45)
  • Finance & Investment (26)
  • Music (28)
  • Real Estate (24)
  • Retail (43)
  • Technology (37)
  • The Arts/Cultural Institutions (71)

Open Project’s Clients

Allen Hori, Partner

Demographics

Age 52, Male, from Barryville, NY, USA, now lives in NoMad, New York, NY. Formal education is graduate degree, primary design education is school (Cranbrook Academy of Art).

What’s been the biggest influence on your design career?

Kathy McCoy, Laurie Haycock Makela, Robert Rodeck, Gaye Chan, Robert Nakata, Harmine Louwé, Gerard Hadders. Their specific talents and persistent attitudes of deep and wide curiosity with poetically strange inquiries have been largest influencers.

Years in Design Industry

25 years

Average: 17 years

Industry before design

fine art photography

Previous Design Employment

Teaching Design

  • Yale University — 13 years
  • Cooper Union — 0.5 years
  • Pratt Institute — 0.25 years

Time spent designing

70% actual

80% desired

Weston Bingham, Partner

Demographics

Age 44, Male, from New York, NY, USA, now lives in East Village, New York, New York. Formal education is graduate degree, primary design education is school (California Institute of the Arts).

Years in Design Industry

23 years

Teaching Design

  • Pratt Institute — 4 years
  • School of Visual Arts — 2 years

Board Member on Professional Design Organizations

  • AIGA New York — 2 years
  • AIGA Experience Design Committee (now defunct) — 1 years

Time spent designing

60% actual

70% desired

Location

The Space

The studio is about 500 square feet. It’s owned and they’ve been there for 1 year, 6 months.

Number of times moved

0

Total people in space

2

Amenities

  • Bike storage (26)
  • Cleaning service (44)
  • Coffee maker (53)
  • Dishwasher (24)
  • Elevator (54)
  • Free booze (28)
  • Freezer (43)
  • Library/book collection (67)
  • Photo/video equipment (45)
  • Pin-up board (43)
  • Private bathrooms (34)

Number of conference rooms

1

Client meetings held in studio: Less than half

Number of plants

6-10

Decorations

Books and bookshelves, Our friends' artwork, Photos, Process materials for ongoing projects

Desk Policy

To each their own: some keep their desks tidy, while others like it messier.

Space Satisfaction

It could be better, but it works for now

Working Days

Working week

The work week is 30-39 hours/week, core hours are 9:30-6:00, with the first in at 9:30am and the last out at 6:30pm.

8% of studios work 30-39 hours/week.
The average is 40-49 hours/week.

Work Weekends?

Once a month

Take Summer Fridays?

Most weeks

Busiest Time of day?

Morning

Favorite Typefaces:

Culture

Music

Plays music for 70% of the day at an average volume. Currently obsessed with Trust, Savages, and most played over the last year is New Order, Adele.

Side Projects

As a studio, 20% of our time is dedicated to non-client based work.

42% of studios have side projects.

Biking to work

1

127 bikers across all studios

Pick your poison

Vodka

Overall Noise Level

Average

59% of studios are average

Studio pets

1 dog

32% have pets at the studio

Working groups

39%

Studio

Internal studio meetings

Never

Lunch Habits

Everyone eats together

Eat out for lunch?

A couple times/month

Critiquing Process

81%

On-screen reviews

Studio Outings

Day trips to museums, Dinner, Drinks after work

Studio Rituals

Allen-leaving-early-to-go-upstate Fridays

Hashtags

  • #allaboutfrenchies
  • #butwhatdoesitmean
  • #couldbebetter
  • #gaygoodorgaybad
  • #hihomo
  • #hungoveragain
  • #icantbelieveyouowncrocs
  • #idocolorlast
  • #imissivan
  • #ishouldhavebenninaband
  • #justdothework
  • #looksgoodtome
  • #neverdothemath
  • #nomoreadele
  • #notorbutand
  • #prettytimeline
  • #summerthursdaystoo
  • #thatsbeautifulkerning
  • #whatever
  • #whattypefaceisthat
  • #wherestheblood
  • #wheresthesex
  • #whodoweknowthatcandothat
  • #whosgonnatagthat
  • #youresolame