Viewers Like You

Viewers Like You delivers Creative Direction, Brand Development and Graphic Design to a select number of clients annually. This allows me to stay nimble, interested, challenged and to sustainably grow your business in the very best direction: deep. I know from experience that working this way results in not only in my client’s success, but a mutual sense of satisfaction as well.

I like projects with constraints but I don’t like to be constrained by convention. I believe that design is visual, structural, navigational and emotional. It’s moving, it’s systemic, it’s relational—in many ways, it’s an evolutionary organism. I recognize the dynamic nature of problem spaces and design opportunities, and endeavor to create offerings, as opposed to solutions.

My previous experiences in agencies, branding firms, and in-house creative departments give me the perfect perch from which my studio can serve your full-spectrum of needs. And because I draw from this strong base of experiences, I can successfully partner with amazing talents when we need to extend our reach.

I/m deeply committed to my client’s needs and only partner with those projects that buoys my spirit, enlivens my mind and challenges my practices. As you can see from Viewers’ diverse portfolio, this is a formula that manifests compelling solutions. Our clients are smitten with this standard too.

If you’re interested in learning more about working with me, → this is the way there. 

And now…it’s Show & Tell time!

Get to know a bit about me, Jennifer Elsner:

1. Ha! I hesitate to tell just anyone this story, but you see, I actually manifested this Cole Haan bag. I did this exercise where everyday you “spend” in $500 increments. A “Power of Attraction” thing. I kept up the practice for a little bit and during that time my mother, out of the blue, sent me the bag. She saw it at an outlet store and thought of me. Unprecedented, and oh so cool.

2. I’ve been using Benetint since college. This product does double duty. A sheer stain that gives my lips & cheeks a truly natural-looking blush. (But my Laura Mercier lip color stays on hand for when I want a bit more umph!)

3. If I dig deep enough, I can always find at least one Lego figure in my bag. Thus the life of a parent to an 9 year old boy. This Star Wars Storm Trooper was sadly decapitated.

4. I was one of 16 folks who spent a week in Marfa, Texas designing (and building) a public playground. This patch is my badge of honor…a reminder of a most wonderful experience.

5. A pencil, from Ace Hotel NYC, with an eraser that actually works? Quite the rarity.

6. I never go anywhere without my sleek and sturdy Baggus. Shaped just like the typical plastic bags you get at the market, the two bags inside amazingly unfold to hold all our weekly shop contents.

7. I fellfellfell hard for the Abbot Kinney area of Los Angeles. Axe (sadly, now closed) and Gjelina were the top two places that had me oohing and ahhing.

And my partner in life, business and crime, David Shields:

NOTE: David is currently on hiatus from the studio. I enlist him when detailed oriented work on logos, typefaces and icons is required.

1. This Jack Spade messenger bag was constructed so well, it still works after 10 years.

2. The wooden top from Japan was a gift from Martineau & Bird’s Uchiko Supper Club Event. A pretty good (and tasty) night.

3. I’ve literally always wanted a pair of sunglasses like this, and finally Oliver Peoples made them. They are a replica of Gregory Peck’s frames from the 1953 Roman Holiday.

4. Surprised to find this in here. Must’ve been left from last winter.

5. It’s a Syrian tradition to use your first paycheck to buy gifts for those who you feel have helped you along in your education. I learned of this practice when a student of mine gave me the book Of Walking in Ice. I was really touched and honored by his thoughtful gesture, and now I have Herzog (the writer) and de Does (the type designer) in my library.

6. Rubbings of the manufacturer’s stamp on the side of a wood type block. This is research material found at Columbia College’s Wood Type Collection.

7. My inner McGuyver? It is amazing how much punch this little thing packs. Jennifer got me this Leatherman once upon a time…and again, after the first one was taken by the TSA.

::

Just one more thing to share:

I’m often asked about our studio’s name.

You’re curious too, right?

Though we filed our taxes together as a newly married couple, David & I submitted our business returns separately. This proved so annoying to our lazy accountant, he demanded we merge our businesses to spare him future headaches.