Public is a small studio with a lot of enthusiasm, established and evolving skills, enduring client relationships, and extensive partnerships that further our capabilities.

Capitalize on opportunity.
Embrace parameters.
Appreciate people.
Provoke thoughts.
Challenge assumptions.
Think Forward.
Entertain and communicate.
Keep it fun.

Philosophy

Our engagement begins with an immersion phase—we get to know the team, gain understanding and form perspective on the organization, establish parameters and pathways for the project, and surface brand story—culminating in a tenets and guidelines document that will serve as a touchstone for the project and team.
This phase will include some combination of conversations, meetings, ideation charrettes, interviews, surveys, desk research, and site visits.
Iteration and collaboration define our concept and design development phases. We start with divergent thinking, creating choices, exploring a breadth of opportunities and possibilities. Continuing with successive rounds of review and feedback, we hone in, making decisions, converging on a final direction.
We love working with our creative collaborators [writers, artists, interpreters], and we consult early and often with production partners [fabricators, printers, programmers] in order to anticipate and leverage materials and processes.
From final design through varied forms of implementation and dissemination, we are focused on quality, enhancing integrity of design solution through early and ongoing coordination. This is a final phase that informs our thinking from the start—timeline, budget, processes, materials, vendors and partners.
We are invested in our design product beyond our initial engagement. We can provide asset delivery and orientation, ongoing services, or both.

Process

Alexanderia Real Estate
The Ameswell Hotel
Angel Island Conservancy
Arch
Arts/SV
Bluestem Brasserie
Butler Armsden Architects
Children’s Council
Chronicle Books
David Baker Architects
Design Line Construction
de Young Museum
East Bay Regional Parks Foundation
EDG
Facet, Ltd.
Field Paoili
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Floodgate
Four Seasons Resorts
Garcia Tamjidi
Hanna Boys Center
Hearst Foundation

Clients

HKIT Architects
Institute for the Future
LP+E
LPAS
Madison Capital
Marriott International
Meals on Wheels San Francisco
Nordstrom
Perkins+Will
Pfau Long Architects
Post Montgomery Center
Prado Group
Radium Presents
Redwood Empire Food Bank
Ritz Carlton Resorts
Rizzoli Books
SF Ballet
SF Conservatory of Flowers
SFMOMA
SF Opera
SF Parks Alliance
SF Performances
St Regis Resorts

Sonoma State University
SKS
SPUR
Stanford Health Care
Strata Habitat Foundation
Sundance Mountain Resort
Sundance Nature Alliance
The Sibbett Group
Trailblazers
Underglass
Vanilla Moon
Wikimedia Foundation
WRNS

Capabilities

IN STUDIO

Advertising
Branding + Guidelines
Campaign Support Materials
Content Development
Copywriting
Exhibition Graphics
Environmental Graphics
Event Support Materials
Identity
Illustration
Interpretive Design
Logos
Marketing Materials
Merchandise
Naming
Packaging
Presentation Templates
Print Collateral
Retail
Signage
Social Media
UI / UX
Website Design

WITH OUR PARTNERS

Content Development
Copywriting
Exhibition Fabrication & Installation
Illustration
Interpretation
Lighting
Motion Graphics
Photography
Signage Fabrication & Installation
Video Production
Website Development

Todd leads creative direction at Public with an affinity for human solutions. After a short career playing and touring with a band in Canada, he received a BS in graphic design from San Jose State University and founded Public in 1998. With over thirty years of experience, Todd continues to believe in both clear communication and bringing joy, feeding the soul to create, and maintaining Public at an intimate scale in service to the character and spirit of every project.
Tessa establishes project strategy through listening and learning from clients and partners, and engaging deeply in shared purpose. She received a BS in graphic design from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and worked a year at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art before joining Todd at Public in 1998. Tessa believes systems and parameters liberate creativity, cross pollination between design disciplines enriches design results, and getting in over your head to stay humble and push growth.
Nancy taps intuition and emotion through her design and illustration—her work is effortlessly engaging. She received a BS in Psychology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, studied graphic design at the California College of Arts while concurrently working at Public, and started full-time in 2000. Nancy is nuanced and thoughtful.
Lindsay is both versatile and prolific in her work, eschewing style for exploration, embracing new skills, mediums, and programs to pursue her ideas. She received a BFA in graphic design from Brigham Young University and started at Public in 2001. Lindsay never shies from trying, and exercises heart over ego.