I get a lot of inquiries as to the name 829 Design. What does that stand for? What does that mean? What's 829? And what do you design?
Back in the late '90s when I decided to spread my wings, step out in faith and launch my own graphic design business, I called the business Garrett+Associates. For quite some time thereafter it just didn't seem to resonate with me very much nor did I feel was very indicative of my career field. It just wasn't "cool" enough. It sounded stuffy and not too "designerly". It sounded more like we were a stodgy legal firm than a hot rising design studio. You know us designer types ... we're the ones who have this uncontrollable need to wear black all the time, we love to kern and can name that font in 20 seconds or less. We like to play in multi-colors and color outside the lines. We specify color in PMS and usually are always on trend with the color of the year. We can be eccentric and irrational when it comes to form following function. Oh, and how we LOVE to design!
As a student of the late, great Philip B. Meggs, author of The History of Graphic Design and perhaps one of the most influential and important historians of graphic design of our time, one of the many lessons I learned was the importance of expressing the zeitgeist of our times by inventing new forms and new ways of expressing ideas. I wanted to take this theory and apply it to my business and with that — a fresh new look and feel — a new brand. So, on one hot summer August day, the 29th to be exact (which just happens to be my birthday), and after much reflection, thought and pensive research in my design library, it dawned on me to just keep things really simple. I wanted something that expressed not only pieces of myself but also a distinct historical design movement that has had profound effects on my career and my design theories: De Stijl & The Bauhaus and the New Typography.
é voilá: 829 Design. It's a combination of my birthdate with a nod to this modernist style of design. The latter being another interesting blog topic for discussion to come.
So, on this August 29th, 2012 we wish 829 Design a Happy Birthday!
