The Brand Identity

Nicole Mason’s path from wedding photographer to founder of Palette reflects a philosophy she’s carried throughout her career: design should serve a purpose while remaining accessible to the greatest number of people. After running a daylight rental studio in Portland for three years, the pandemic forced Mason to reimagine how she could contribute to the creative community. The result was Palette, a digital space offering thoughtfully designed mockups and workflow tools informed by both her photography practice and the principles of Charles and Ray Eames. Her toolkit for photographers adopts the same form-meets-function approach to shot lists and call sheets, solving common pain points with minimal, polished templates that cater to visual thinkers. In this chat, Mason traces her journey from shooting weddings at 19 to building a product line, shares how her 96-year-old artist grandmother shaped her creative outlook, and explains why she believes good design changes the way we work and live. Read the interview → t-bi.link/nicole-mason

Birmingham-based creative studio Matey’s craft-forward identity for Pizza Grace balances hand-drawn spontaneity with a structured design system, articulating the restaurant’s neighbourhood warmth and culinary intentionality within a city crowded with pizza options. Explore their complete portfolio → t-bi.link/matey

Ashfall Studio moved Aptos beyond typical crypto aesthetics → t-bi.link/aptos

Milky Way creates the kind of motion portfolios actually need – calm, orbital, and completely uncomplicated. Thirteen editable spaces drift naturally across frame, each getting the breathing room good work deserves.⁠ Download now → https://lnkd.in/eDwwSThC

Studio Najbrt creates a flexible system for Avenga’s global tech merger → t-bi.link/avenga

On the cobblestones of Morris Avenue in downtown Birmingham, Pizza Grace occupies a space that feels both discovered and familiar. The restaurant first opened in 2022 and earned James Beard Award recognition the following year as a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant. In 2025, Ryan and Geri-Martha O’Hara, the hospitality duo behind Birmingham’s Big Spoon Creamery, purchased the restaurant with plans to deepen the experience through cosy interiors, seasonal desserts and a wine programme developed with Golden Age Wine. To match this evolution, they brought in Birmingham-based creative studio Matey to craft positioning and a complete visual identity that would distinguish Pizza Grace in a city with no shortage of pizza options. Read the complete case study → t-bi.link/pizzagrace

The work that never made it out of Pentagram, Play, Hugmun and seven other world-class studios. 571 process works, unused concepts, together with candid interviews that explain why.⁠ ⁠ → 571 never-seen-before works⁠ → 10 world-leading studios⁠ → Projects for OpenAI + Channel 4⁠ → Instant EPUB + PDF formats⁠ Download it now → https://lnkd.in/eiQabGZZ

Design studio Atollon is hiring a Senior Graphic Designer in Melbourne, Australia.⁠ Apply and see more jobs → t-bi.link/jobs

In an industry increasingly defined by rapid technological change, OpenAI’s Indgila Samad Ali offers a vital counterpoint: design that moves people not through novelty, but through careful attention to what remains fundamentally human. ⁠ ⁠ In our in-depth interview, Samad Ali reflects on navigating the pace of AI development, the lessons learned across continents and cultures, and why instinct and imperfection will always belong to people.⁠ ⁠ Explore her complete portfolio → t-bi.link/indgila

Daniel Ting Chong’s identity for ONGUZA confronts an unusual brief: create a brand for bikes that probably shouldn’t exist. Hand-cut steel tubes, fillet-brazed in a small Namibian workshop, competing against carbon fibre machines built in factories with robotic precision. Yet the seventh bike off Omaruru’s workshop floor beat the reigning Cape Epic champion. The identity needed to work within the narrow confines of a bike frame’s down tube, forcing every design decision towards utility and boldness. Ting Chong built the brandmark by merging the angular geometry of Omaruru’s welcome sign with the sun from Namibia’s flag. The wordmark treats each letter like a found object – the ‘Z’ is simply the ‘N’ rotated, the ‘O’s counter stretched long. “These small details gave it the awkward rhythm I was after, slightly imperfect but full of character, like fixing your car with whatever parts you can find in the workshop,” he explains. Editorial New pairs with Roboto Mono, one polished and one mechanical, mirroring the tension between craft and competition. The palette pulls from acacia flowers and cream sand, intentionally desaturated and dusty. Explore his complete portfolio → t-bi.link/danieltingchong