Us Folk

Shaun founded Us Folk and is the person clients speak to first. He works across graphic design, brand building and spatial design, and his approach is to begin with the end in mind. A good idea comes first, and the logo, the shopfront or the pop-up is built to carry it.

He likes to work with a client rather than for one, so the people who will live with the brand are in the room while it takes shape.

Us Folk is a design studio that handles everything from a single logo to a full 360 degree brand. It covers traditional graphic design, brand building, spatial design, activations and manufacture, so the same studio that draws the identity can see it built and installed.

Concept sits at the centre of every job. The studio starts by agreeing what the finished result should be, then works backwards, which keeps the idea intact from the first sketch to the final fit-out.

The portfolio shows how wide that range is. Brand and design work includes BLOK, Cape Town City FC, Beet Box, Hudsons, Go Go Oysters and Seapoint Seagulls. Design and build projects include Just Like Papa, Sneaker Lab and RAW. RUN Bree St and Enmasse each received a brand and a build, and FFMM received both a brand and a separate build project. Concept work covers a Grolsch activation and a Levi's pop-up, and the studio has also designed for Adidas Area 3 and And People.

The Hudsons work is a good picture of the full reach: posters, menus, signage, beer glasses, coasters, sauce labels, burger boxes, pizza boxes and paper bags, all drawn as one family. The same thinking runs through the hospitality, retail, sport and food projects.

The studio's own motto is simple: back to basics, less is more, keep it simple. Shaun can be reached by phone or email through the contact page, and the studio is always up for a chat about a new project.