aesthetic portrait
photo portrait
Left to Right: YuJune Park, Jake Post, Ethan Sung, Arno Baudin, Geoff Cook, Min Lew, Martin Bravo

About

Studio Size

Medium (6-20)

Year founded

1999

Borough

Manhattan

Studio Bio/Philosophy

Base creates brand solutions using strategy, creativity, and innovation. We specialize in not specializing. Any industry, discipline, or media. With studios in New York, Brussels, Santiago and Geneva, we are an expanding international network that partners with best-in-class collaborators to make the complex simple and the informative entertaining.

The Team

Base has 7 people. Of those, 2 are studio heads and 2 are managerial.

24% of studios are medium-sized (6-20 people).

Gender Breakdown

57% male

43% female

Average height

5’7”-5’9”

Shortest: 5’3”
Tallest: 6’6”

Average age

30-35

Youngest: 27
Oldest: 43

Number of freelancers/year

1-5

Number of interns/year

11+

Average: 1-2

Studio Disciplines

Breakdown of Work

18%

Motion

Number of studio projects

26–50

Pro-bono projects

1–5

Strategy/Execution

35% Strategy

65% Execution

Primary Specialties

  • Art Direction (58)
  • Brand Strategy (42)
  • Branding & Identity (77)
  • Broadcast Graphics (18)
  • Editorial/Publication Design (51)
  • Environmental Design (38)
  • Exhibition Design (33)
  • Experience Design (33)
  • Interaction Design (36)
  • Mobile Design (30)
  • Packaging (45)
  • Print (75)
  • Web Design (59)
  • Web Development (25)

Outside the scope of the studio

  • Illustration (18)
  • Industrial Design (35)
  • Motion (35)
  • Product (18)
  • Sound Design (49)
  • Typeface Design (20)

Clients’ Industries

  • Education (40)
  • Fashion (45)
  • Local & community organizations (41)
  • Products (32)
  • Restaurants & Food (29)
  • Retail (43)
  • Technology (37)
  • The Arts/Cultural Institutions (71)

Biggest Competition

Time

Base’s Clients

  • Chanel
  • Children's Museum of the Arts
  • City of NY
  • Common Bond
  • Fleur du Mal
  • French Embassy in the US
  • Haus der Kunst
  • Kanye West (2)
  • Kiki de Montparnasse
  • Le Pain Quotidien
  • Milk Studios
  • Museum of the Olympics
  • Neuehouse
  • Pantone
  • Wellesley College

Geoffrey Cook, Partner

Demographics

Age 43, Male, from Strafford, PA, US, now lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY. Formal education is undergraduate degree, primary design education is self-taught.

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

Prior to Base, Geoff was at DKNY from 1992-1998 as Director of DKNY International Menswear, a combination of sales, marketing, store openings…It was a huge influence on his career in that:
- He met his current partners through DKNY.
- Of the five partners, he is today the lead on marketing and strategy for Base's clients, both of which tie back to his roots at DKNY
- It gave him an in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry, one of the key sectors in which Base operates.
- He had enormous international exposure (spent more than 50% of his time traveling overseas) which directly influenced the decision for Base to expand with small offices globally as opposed to vertically in one location.

Years in Design Industry

13 years

Average: 17 years

Industry before design

Director of DKNY International Menswear at Donna Karan

Previous Design Employment

  • DKNY

Time spent designing

10% actual

10% desired

Min Lew, Partner

Demographics

Age 34, Female, from Seoul, South Korea, now lives in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, NY. Formal education is graduate degree, primary design education is school (Yale MFA in Graphic Design).

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

Min was at BIG (Ogilvy Brand Integration Group). Her time there influenced her career in that at BIG she was the designer but realized she wanted to have her hands on the business as a whole. Meaning how to run a design business, develop strategies, conduct meetings with clients, and more. She yearned to have a more holistic experience. This led her to Base.

Years in Design Industry

12 years

Previous Design Employment

Board Member on Professional Design Organizations

  • AIGA — 2 years

Time spent designing

50% actual

50% desired

Location

Brussels
Belgium

Geneva
Switzerland

Santiago
Chile

The Space

The studio is about 3200 square feet. It’s rented and they’ve been there for 12 years. They share a space with 3 other companies/individuals.

Approximately 178 square feet/person. The average is 210 square feet/person.
37% of studios share a space.

Number of times moved

1

Total people in space

18

Base: 7, Other: 11

Other businesses in the space

  • Web development

Amenities

  • Cleaning service (44)
  • Coffee maker (53)
  • Elevator (54)
  • Free booze (28)
  • Freezer (43)
  • Library/book collection (67)
  • Private bathrooms (34)

Number of conference rooms

0

Client meetings held in studio: Approximately half

Number of plants

6-10

Type of chair

Ghetto Office Max-style

Decorations

Books and bookshelves, Our work, Photos, Process materials for ongoing projects, "Posterity" poster, A blonde wig, Left over tape

Desk Policy

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

Space Satisfaction

We like it, but plan to make some changes to the space

Working Days

Working week

The work week is 50-59 hours/week, core hours are 9:30-7:00, with the first in at 8:30am and the last out at 8:00pm.

31% of studios work 50-59 hours/week.
The average is 40-49 hours/week.

Paid Vacation

11-15 days

41% of studios in this range

Paid Holidays

9 days

Average: 7

Work Weekends?

Once a month

Take Summer Fridays?

No

Busiest Time of day?

It’s high intensity all day

Favorite Typefaces:

Culture

Music

Plays music for 90% of the day at an average volume. Currently obsessed with Fresh out of the box alternative, and most played over the last year is Bon Iver or Phoenix.

Biking to work

3

127 bikers across all studios

Pick your poison

Beer

Overall Noise Level

Loud

4% of studios are loud

Working groups

35%

Groups

5%

Studio

Encourage freelance work?

Indifferent

Internal studio meetings

A couple times/week

Lunch Habits

Eats in small groups

Favorite delivery/take-out: Smile To Go

Eat out for lunch?

Once a week

Favorite sit-down lunch: Thai Angel

Critiquing Process

70%

On-screen reviews

Studio Outings

Drinks after work

Favorite Place(s): The Room, Soho

Studio Rituals

Beers on Fridays

Hashtags

  • #badass
  • #beerbutgoodbeer
  • #begooddogood
  • #branding
  • #brooklynstateofmind
  • #coffeesnobs
  • #communicate
  • #conceptfirstthendesign
  • #creativityxinnovation
  • #designforpeople
  • #gold
  • #graphicdesign
  • #international
  • #koreansaretakingover
  • #makepeoplesmile
  • #musicjunkies
  • #nogoodtasteorbadtaste
  • #nonspecializing
  • #playwithdesigncodes
  • #popculturexdesign
  • #shredderz
  • #straightforwarddesign
  • #strategic
  • #studythecontextofajob
  • #typographynerds