<p>We were connected with Sha Wang during the fall of 2023. Sha had established her interior design practice, Space 9 for a number of years and quickly gained international recognition for her work. However, Sha felt that the name of the practice was no longer reflective of her work and lacked a strong meaning behind it. Our work with Sha involved the entire process, from discovery to name development, identity design to website design, and finally web development.</p>
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<h3>Name Development</h3>
<p>As we began the name development process, one common thread we had in mind was to create a name that was reflected the unique qualities of Sha&#8217;s work—a fine balance of international design sensibilities with Asian influences. During our name development process, over 30+ name options were generated and then further filtered to the final selection. Our team came across the Chinese character <span class="sc">氛</span> (<em>fēn</em>), which when paired with various characters provided the meaning of ambience, atmosphere—a feeling. This name connected well with Sha&#8217;s description of her work—spacial, visual, material considerations all to create a particular feeling within a space. As all of Sha&#8217;s work is custom and tailored to each client, we proposed the addition of the french word &#8220;Atelier&#8221; to pair with fēn—a combination of a European and Chinese word, an &#8220;atmosphere workshop&#8221;.</p>


<h3>Identity Design</h3>
<p>The design for the brand identity focuses on this idea of &#8216;atmosphere&#8217;, exploring the matter of spatiality and the intangible qualities of the in-between space. To reflect this spatial concept, we created a dynamic wordmark that can be spaced out to span the width of the page while also being used as a standalone mark. The wordmark is set in Louize, a typeface that we felt accurately expressed the blend of contemporary and natural qualities in Sha&#8217;s design. The sharpness in the letterforms of Louize also reflect angular qualities in Chinese characters, making the typeface a well balanced display of western and eastern influences in the brand&#8217;s tone of voice.</p>
<p>As part of the identity, we created a monogram seal that can be used interchangeably with the wordmark. The design of the monogram was inspired by both traditional Chinese ink seals as well as western seals. The frame of the seal is sized proportionally to the size of the letter F and E while a grid was also used to establish the alignment and arrangement of the letters within the frame.</p>


<h3>Website Design</h3>
<p>The established brand identity was then translated to the Atelier Fēn website using a 12 column grid layout. A subtle scroll animation was used for the wordmark on the homepage to visualize the dynamic wordmark treatment. The project page includes five content modules which allows Sha and her team to display each project differently with some variation while finding the module that would best suit the content. Brand colours are subtly and playfully used through the site to provided structure and division of space. On each project page, a brand colour can be selected and used as the background colour that appears before the full bleed image fades in at the top. The Atelier Fēn website was built as a headless website, ensuring fast loading time and improved security.</p>


Services

Location

Credits

Branding

Identity

Website

Atelier Fen

<p>We were a few weeks into the branding process for New York based fashion photographer, Justin Chung’s personal identity when he subsequently shifted our attention to a much larger endeavour he had in mind. Enter Faculty Department. Justin began sharing with us the stories of his studio visits and moments with artists, furniture makers and people he admired. His photos and recollections of his experience led us to feel as though we were present and knew these individuals personally.</p>


<h2>Discovery/Process</h2>
<p>With Volume 1 being the inaugural issue, it was important for us to establish the brand identity and world of Faculty Department. Our studio began to explore the personality and tone of voice for the publication through a series of moodboards and keywords. Through numerous conversations with Justin, there was an unmistakable academic aspect to the book. Having previously been in medical studies before becoming a photographer, Justin continuing referred to each individual as part of his “faculty”—the teachers and mentors he learned from. Faculty Department was meant to be a sort of ode to his professors—a way of applying the same research process and academic due diligence he had learned, now towards the form of a photography book.</p>
<p>With hundreds of photos taken, one of the main tasks for our team was to select, organize and arrange an order for the story to be told effectively. Working alongside Justin, we collaboratively narrowed down our selection to the strongest selects to keep each story tight and focused.</p>
<p>Turning our attention to the materiality of the book, we felt that Munken Lynx was the perfect paper stock for this publication. The uncoated smooth yet tactile surface and natural white shade gave the images a warmth and natural aesthetic.</p>
<p>Justin visited Vancouver to work with us in our studio for a week in order to finalize each story. After the design file was sent to the print shop, Justin and our team decided it was worthwhile to attend the press check in Iceland where Volume 1 would be printed.</p>


<h2>Design</h2>
<p>In selecting the right typeface for Faculty Department, we wanted to find one that looked sincere yet academic in appearance. It was important to us that the look of the typeface would seamlessly reflect the same tone of voice of the writing. We decided to go forward with Tiempos, a contemporary serif designed by Kris Sowersby (Klim Type Foundry). Having references to Times New Romans, this provided a sense of familiarity to the text for most readers. As we approached the design of the book layout, we aimed to create a layout that felt natural and honest in its presentation.</p>
<p>A number of book dimensions were tested for the project. We wanted a book size that was comfortable to hold and easy to flip through. The final size was 7.5″ x 9.5″ with 265 pages. This size was chosen as it felt similar to the size of most textbooks—an added reference to academia.</p>
<p>A 2 column layout was used for this publication. To provide optimum readability, allowing each line of text to be about 12 words.</p>
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<h2>Afterwards</h2>
<p>The journey in making this project was perhaps as enjoyable as seeing the final product. Our team was able to see and experience every step of the process from developing the brand to seeing the print production first hand in Iceland, to even the fulfillment process. Faculty Department Volume 1 was the first long form publication we produced since starting our studio, hence we learned invaluable lessons from the experience and this project holds a special place in our hearts.</p>


Art Direction

Print

Faculty Department Vol. 1

<p class="p1">In the fall of 2025, we had the opportunity to work with Canyon Coffee on the first edition of their printed Morning Rituals zine.</p>
<p class="p1">We were first introduced to Ally and Casey through our work on Faculty Department Vol. 2. Since their establishment of Canyon Coffee in 2016, we’ve been long admirers from afar and would make sure to pick up a bag of their beans every time we were in LA. <span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Hence, it was a nice surprise when they reached out to us with the opportunity to work together.</p>
<p class="p1">Our mutual friend, Justin Chung had been photographing subjects for their Morning Rituals series and the idea came up to create a printed collection of a few select stories.</p>
<p class="p1">Understanding that this was a first exploration with a printed format for the series as well as the tighter timeline, we wanted to be sensitive to production costs while creating a unique and accessible piece that could continue into future volumes.</p>


<h3 class="p1">Design</h3>
<p class="p1">To continue the consistency in their brand identity into the zine, we took design cues from the established visual language of their new website, created by Mouthwash Studios. Type pairings and size relationships were translated from the website to the printed zine so that the visual experience would feel seamless when viewing a story online versus in print.</p>
<p class="p1">Using an 11 column grid, much of our focus was to create a design layout that had anchoring elements for consistency but allowed for much of the photography to be displayed more loosely and freely to create a printed piece that felt like a moodboard or process document.</p>
<p class="p1">The cover of the zine uses an outwards gatefold method, giving added strength to the cover and a unique viewing experience.</p>
<p class="p1">Morning Rituals Volume 1 includes four stories from Canyon’s recent trip to NorCal featuring Zoe Dering (Ceramicist), Andres Giraldo Florez (Chef, Snail Bar), Mariah Nielson (Curator, Artist, Director of JB Blunk Estate &amp; Blunk Space), and Jereme Brian Mendez (Painter).</p>


Canyon Coffee — Morning Rituals Vol. 1

2025

Design

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