FoS @ Savannah College of Art and Design

Posted on May 29, 2025May 29, 2025 by FoSJohn

We were incredibly happy to have the opportunity to speak about our work again at Savannah College of Art and Design last month.

It seems every other day designers are being coached that the way to differentiate themselves and prepare for the pressure of AI generated art is to “specialize or die”. We agree to disagree.

At our studio, we believe our worth is more than just a collection of skills. We’re focused on new ideas, interesting perspectives, and experiences that engage and fully embrace the diversity and unpredictability of being a human wandering through our strange and spectacular lives.

Thanks to District and Avery Melhado for a great overview of the talk and the positive feedback

Houston Chronicle: Sugar Land Town Square set for a multiphase makeover

Posted on October 20, 2020October 20, 2020 by FoSJohn

Sharp eyed visitors to our site may have noticed Sugar Land Town Square in the Index of Projects at the footer of each page.

We’ve been collaborating for over a year with place creation company and developer, Rebees, to build a comprehensive rebrand of the multi-use complex. We’re drawing close to a public launch with some of the first components starting to see the light.

You can read more about the project and see a few sneak peek renderings of the reimagined Sugar Land Town Square in this recent article by the Houston Chronicle:

Sugar Land Town Square set for multiphase makeover

Artifacts, aka “(Un)published short essays on a designer’s collected objects”

Posted on October 6, 2019November 22, 2019 by FoSJohn

Last year, I was reached out to by Steven Heller regarding a possible book project to submit to. The idea was to feature a handful of designers and their selection of objects that have served as inspiration for them. Each item would have about 150 or so words written to describe them and what inspiration they provided. The book unfortunately didn’t get published, and I thought it’d be great to share some of the shorts in a series of posts here on our Bulletin.

The idea was to: “assemble the influences and inspirations in PRINTED FLAT forms. Photograph them in a dynamic but not self-conscious way so the tactility is experienced in print. Write short interview based little explanation/memoirs of them. And ultimately let the material speak in a similar way to their Sketchbook series. In fact, these are journals of sorts without the sketches (or some even with the sketches).”

So, to kick this small series off, my first object was: National Park Service (NPS) Brochures, from 1969 and 1970.

Enjoy!

Artifacts: Apollo 17 photographs

Posted on November 15, 2019November 22, 2019 by FoSJohn

This is the fifth post in a small series of previously unpublished short essays to feature a selection of objects that have served as inspiration for designers. Each item would have about 150 or so words written to describe them and what inspiration they provided. The book unfortunately didn’t get published, and I thought it’d be great to share some of the shorts in a series of posts here on our Bulletin.

5.

I’d always heard whispers as a kid that my great uncle worked for the government and travelled the world—yet, we never knew in what capacity. Apparently he must have also worked for NASA because he had these photos. They were given to my grandmother many, many years ago and they were one of the things I stumbled on as a child at her house. Visiting my grandparents always felt like a treasure hunt—if only I could sneak out of their sight to explore all rooms in the house.

The image of Eugene Cernan is burned in my memory. I recall being very young and studying this image and the others, wondering who it was and what this extraordinary, unfamiliar place was. Many of my interests—whether design or art for myself or someone else—center around this scientific, yet childish wonder of the world. There’s a hunger for discovery and mystery together.