Creating books filled with car designs and superheros when I was 6 . Trying to copy sports team logos when I was 10. The smell of the inks at print shops where my parents worked. Helping my mom do color separations the old school way - Rubylith, Xacto, Light table. Making negatives in our home darkroom.
I truly fell in love with design in Barcelona. I lived there for a year and a half during college. The city has a respect for design unlike any city I’ve visited. It’s pervasive and it impacts your experience of the city.
Parsons School of Design
Winchester School of Art
Rubber Stamp Salesman
Waiter
My plan was to try to make a living in any creative field. I started freelancing while I was at school and had tons of valuable experience working on creative for advertisement campaigns through an internship. I tried working at a few studios for extended periods of time, but didn’t make it past 3 months anywhere. I couldn’t manage to stick to prescribed schedules.
Freelancing led to starting a studio with a good friend from school (who is much better at schedules than I am). Hyperakt’s origins are quite humble. Both my partner Julia and I come from working class immigrant families. We started Hyperakt with no money, no contacts and few clients. It’s been one hard learned lesson at times and a lot of sweat and tears to get to where we are now, 15 years later.
Hyperakt is a social impact design firm. We help change makers tell compelling stories through strategy, design and technology.
Bouncing around
They are more important than school. I would be nowhere if it wasn’t for my internships. We’re always on the lookout for great interns at Hyperakt
Great aesthetic sensibility, meticulous craft, loads of personality, and ambition to pursue self-initiated ideas.
First and foremost you must be a nice human being. We look for people with strong values who care more about people than things and more about social impact than social status. You
We’re actively working on developing a mentoring practice in the studio to inspire
So many. Here are a few…
The Refugee Project - An atlas of forced human migration
On the Grid - Neighborhood guides by local creatives
Lunch Talks - Intimate talks featuring the world’s top creative talents
Champs Ring - The history of sports visualized in circular brackets
Neighborwoods - Your ‘hood, etched in wood
We are
2 Principals/Creative Directors
6 Creatives
2 Developers
2 Strategists
1 Project Manager
1 Community Manager
1 Neighborwoods (one of our products) Manager
2 Interns
We love them because they are a diverse group of lovely, passionate individuals who find meaning in creating beautiful and thoughtful work that celebrates equity and justice.
We’ve been working on about 700 collaborations through On the Grid. We have over 700 creative companies and individuals curating their favorite neighborhood spots in over 100 cities around the world.