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Why Otherkind’s founders built the design studio they wished existed — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Brand & Design

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DP The year has been rough for both of us with a lot of transitions, but we’re feeling excited! Thanks for having us! TBI You’ve both spent years as founder designers working in 0-1 environments – what made you realise it was time to build something together? DP We both have deep roots in design and navigate toward design thinking. Working at early-stage companies gave us the freedom to design from first principles. But we kept noticing the same shift the longer we stayed at the same company: as companies scale, design becomes less about vision and more about tradeoffs for growth and profitability. That transition never quite fit us. So we set out to create something different, a space where we could design with someone, not just for them. TBI Otherkind treats design as “a function of philosophy, not execution.” How does that distinction shape the way you approach a project? DP It means we start by asking why before we ever touch how. While execution is important, any solution built wi

Date Feb 17 2026 Words The Brand Identity 0 min read Why Otherkind’s founders built the design studio they wished existed Business Card Digital Identity Logo Motion (+14) Most design studios promise creativity. Otherkind , the interface and brand studio from Vanessa Bahk and Daniel Park, was built to protect it. After years watching vision give way to growth tradeoffs as companies scaled, the duo launched a practice structured around what they call “the tennis rally model” – collaboration where ideas get shaped through conversation rather than delivered through handoffs. Their partnership mirr

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