Lemon Grotesk was cut by our friends at @edition.studio , a foundry and fellow creative studio based out of Brooklyn. We knew the typeface needed to be versatile enough to work across the various tones we had established in our brand guidelines, subdued enough to feel presentable across client presentations without overshadowing the work, but characterful enough to feel ownable and aligned with the ethos of the studio.
For the foundations of the typeface we turned to the Swiss grotesk tradition, looking at the work of typographic greats such as Josef Müller-Brockmann and the origins of the modern studio tradition. Built on the humanist bones of Akzidenz Grotesk, the typeface Vignelli originally used when he designed the graphic identity for the MTA system, and refined by the geometric clarity of Futura, Lemon Grotesk traces the lineage of modern design through the Bauhaus principle that form, stripped to its essentials, is itself a new language.
From there the decisions got more specific. We looked to NYC’s grid system to inspire the kerning. Rather than building something monospaced, groups of letters were assigned specific spacing relative to each other. We pulled from the early experiments behind Futura to inform the ascenders, descenders, and overall proportions of the characters, rounding the typeface and adjusting how it sits on the page.
As final tweaks we manipulated certain characters to bring a more personal touch into the typeface. The L was lifted directly from the advertisement that gave the studio its name. The W, Q, G, and K were altered to push the Lemon sensibility further into the font. Old-style numbers, also drawn from an early version of Futura, were brought in to complete the set.
The result is a typeface built for daily use across a wide range of contexts. It is, in every sense, ours, built from the same places, references, and instincts that inform everything we make.
When it came time to build our own identity, we faced an unusual problem. Most of what we do involves translating a brand’s essence into something tangible. When the product is our thinking itself, that is harder to show.
We started with what creativity actually means to us and worked outward from there. At its most honest, creativity is a childlike thing. It reaches for color before it reaches for theory. It makes something because it wants to see what it looks like. That instinct, direct, a little anarchic, unafraid of the obvious, became the foundation of the identity.
From there, we pulled in two reference points that shaped how we think about making things.
Donald Judd, whose insistence that an object need only be itself, without illusion or metaphor, has always felt less like a design philosophy and more like a way of working. Total precision and commitment to the thing itself is the whole job. That rigor informed the studio’s practice as much as the identity itself.
Our City operates on a grid. So did Vignelli, whose subway system imposed order on something chaotic and made it not just legible but beautiful. That graphic intelligence runs through everything we make, including our typeface and layout system.
The identity sits where those three things intersect. Primary colors, simple forms, and a system anchored in the grid. The result looks a little like children’s blocks, which is exactly what we aimed for. Canary Red, Oxford Blue, Racing Green, Old Gold. The red came from a Cam’ron lyric, which feels about right for a studio that is an amalgamation of everything we love. Rectangles that stack and shift. Marks that change depending on what the work needs.
That flexibility was essential from the start. Lemon operates across enough different registers that a fixed identity would work against us. So we built a tone system. Ethos, Essentialist, Crafted, Heritage, and Romantic. Different combinations of color, type, and layout that let the studio adjust its voice depending on the work. Paired with our Essentialist Romantic messaging framework, it allows us to show up differently across whatever the work demands, while still feeling unmistakably like us.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Lemon. A year ago it would have been impossible to imagine all of the work that would come through the studio, all of the people we would get to meet and collaborate with, and the places that building this studio has taken us. There are too many people to thank by name, but a huge thank you to our clients for putting their brands in our hands and trusting us, our partners and collaborators who helped bring the work to life, and our friends who have shown up and supported us along the way.
We’ve been cautious about saying too much about ourselves this year while we figured out who we are and what we’re setting out to do. Our first anniversary felt like the right moment to share a bit more.
Lemon was founded on the belief that brands with a genuine, deeply held sense of identity, expressed consistently across every touchpoint, are the ones that endure. Our creative platform, the Romance of Essentialism, is the framework through which we pursue that. It is about distilling a brand to the essence it can live by and reflect in every detail, finding the fundamental truth of what a company is and building outward from there. In a moment when brands are expected to stretch further and move faster than ever before, with more competition and shrinking resources, that kind of clarity is what the best brands are built on.
Year two is already underway. We hope to work with many more of you, reach out if you want to collaborate, and stay tuned for more to come.
Room Tone Radio is a new series from Lemon looking at the sounds filling the spaces of our studio, our friends, and the people we admire across our industry.
A room tone is the ambient sound recorded in a space when no dialogue is present, capturing the unique acoustic footprint of a place. We’re interested in the sounds underneath the work. It’s not intended to be the precious songs saved for a special occasion but what’s actually playing, day in and day out.
Episode 1 comes from our studio in Chinatown, NYC, recorded by managing partner @jackbriger
Luxury houses are finally making content for the people actually buying their product. American, Asian, and Gulf markets shop differently than European consumers — more interested in product than in identity and the worlds those products inhabit. European houses prioritized fantasy over desire for too long. Designers like Michael Rider at Celine and Phoebe Philo are building shot lists around texture and proximity. Stacks of denim. Macro leather. Merchandising focused content and looks you can lift clean from the page.
Brands long knew BTS outperformed campaign content but treated it as hygiene. Recently that’s changed — Miu Miu shot by Hugo Bouteyere, Matei Octav’s glitchy videos for Marni. As AI matures, the unpolished becomes a deliberate signal of taste.
Post-Covid, in-person activation became the dominant brand tactic. It has since become standard. The next frontier for brand immersion is web. A sleek interchangeable standard took hold and the best brands are pushing back toward the characterful websites of the early internet. JW Anderson re-injected personality into his site with cycling sticker cursors, GmbH’s retro interface follows suit. The website is the one channel a brand controls completely — there is no reason it should look like everyone else’s.
The algorithm rewards moments where multiple voices speak to the same thing at once. So why are some of the most interesting brands moving the other way? The Row banned phones at shows. Bottega hasn’t relaunched Instagram. The silence becomes the brand voice.
The collaboration has collapsed into a formulaic PR mechanism. Blazy brought Chanel and Charvet into conversation without forcing one, neither lowering their register. Anderson does something adjacent with Wedgwood, placing their product alongside his own on his site.
The most interesting thing in brand motion right now isn’t film — it’s type. Photography is expensive and AI-contaminated, and as brands invest more in consumer education to differentiate, type motion becomes essential. Foundries are developing variable fonts that breathe, letterforms that respond to scroll or sound. Studios like Dinamo are producing typefaces built to animate.
anemone exists as the editorial arm of Lemon, a collaboration between @jackbriger and friend of the studio @Amaliaschliemann , under the creative stewardship of @mr_ktuli
Structured around conversation, anemone examines the forces shaping brand and consumer culture in real time. It is a space to test ideas publicly, question assumptions, and document the patterns detected through our work, serving as a laboratory for the studio.
The name was taken from a song that became a recurring reference. A natural fit for a project built on dialogue.
The identity, led by Kartik, draws from the history of print and editorial design. The mark uses mirrored forms to suggest two perspectives in conversation. The typography references typewritten text, and layouts are structured to reflect exchange, using composition to distinguish and balance two voices.
The Movement Lab at WSA marked the first time the Pulse State was translated into a physical manifestation for SYS. Conceived as an entry point into the creative platform, the Lab invited people into the system through experience, allowing its philosophy to be understood through interaction.
Developed in collaboration with spatial design partners PUMP, the space unfolded as a sequence of environments organized around conscious movement. Rather than functioning as a single-use studio, it guided visitors through moments of pause and activity. A quieter lounge area created space for education, observation, and reflection before guests moved into the Movement Lab itself, where the product could be tested through action. The transition between these zones mirrored the body’s natural shift between stillness and exertion.
Materiality played a central role in rethinking what a movement studio could be at its most avant-garde interpretation. Synthetic surfaces and technical finishes reflected the engineered nature of the product, while a gridded wood platform introduced restraint and order, referencing Korean material traditions. An inset water element at the center of the platform slowed the environment and created a moment of reflection within an otherwise charged environment.
The space was one part of a fully integrated program developed alongside agency partners. Over three days, the Lab was programmed with sessions led by standout instructors and movement philosophies from across New York, spanning breathwork, yoga, and higher-intensity training. These sessions demonstrated the range of movement the SYS system supports while bringing creators into the space as participants. The Lab became an incubator for user-generated content, with the environment and classes producing a steady stream of shared moments. In parallel, the space functioned as a working set for SYS-owned content, including a Brand Anthem and a series of product motion and education videos, extending the activation beyond WSA.
@rosati_francesco@devclaro@futongandfriends@agency.eight@sixhoursahead@thepriv.yagency
Lemon designed gift packaging for SYS VIP clients, created as a highly shareable object intended to invite interaction and user-generated content. Returning to the brand’s creative territory, Pulse State, the concept focused on engaging the body through motion.
As the packaging is opened, a lenticular surface creates a shifting visual effect, introducing movement through a simple physical gesture. The experience is tactile and responsive, revealing itself through use rather than presentation.
Material choices reference classic Korean craft, pairing traditional hanji paper with cleaner, more modern finishes. The result balances heritage and restraint, aligning with the brand’s emphasis on intention, control, and physical awareness.
Studio: @lemon___inc Designer: @workbyworks Managing Partner: @jackbriger Creative Director: @mr_ktuli Managing Director: @dinotozzi Client Director: @sophespoo
Client: @stretchyourstory
3D Animation: @cameron.galley
Photography: @tom__scanlan
Brand Mechanics is Lemon’s series of focused lessons on the fundamentals of building brands and shaping design.
Vibrating colors occur when two highly saturated hues with similar lightness sit side by side. The boundary between them becomes unstable and appears to buzz or flicker. Combinations like bright blue with hot orange or green with magenta naturally create this kind of tension.
The effect is strongest when the hues share a similar value. The eye struggles to resolve the edge, which creates the vibrating boundary. It is an optical response, not a digital glitch.
Vibrating colors draw attention quickly, but they also reduce clarity. They work best when the goal is to create immediacy or energy rather than calm or legibility. Designers use them sparingly around type or detail.
The effect can be controlled by adjusting one variable. Changing the value, softening the saturation, or adding space between the colors will stabilize the edge. Small shifts go a long way.
Used intentionally, vibration becomes a tool instead of a distraction. It can introduce movement or urgency into a layout. When calibrated, it creates a striking visual moment. Left unchecked, it can overwhelm. The key is using just enough of the effect to serve the layout.
Cultural Cartography is Lemon’s quick study of emerging patterns in brand behavior.
Social media is central to brand building. The brands that stand out treat it as a creative medium, not a marketing channel. They understand their audiences: what they react to, how they speak, and what is said about them online. They don’t turn their nose up at internet discourse; they use it with a self-aware sensibility. From Skims’ bush underwear sparking dialogue around body politics to Loewe’s tomato bag reacting to a viral tweet, the best brands operate with social fluency, creating products that exist as object and conversation.
That awareness has shifted how brands show up visually. The grid has become a place for experimentation, with content designed for the platform, not retrofitted to it. Movement, framing, and sequencing now form a visual language that encourages closer looking. What once felt like constraint has become an arena for invention.
As the online world grows denser, attention is turning back toward the physical. Printed matter and tactile experiences act as anchors for identity. Whether it is the return of the Burberry crest or Ash World’s bespoke approach to hospitality, these gestures create a presence screens cannot replicate. In a world of digital surfaces, touch tells the strongest story, and tactility has become proof of care.
Packaging has grown from utility into storytelling, extending a brand’s world beyond the product and turning unboxing into an act of intimacy and memory.
Retro typography and hand-rendered gestures are returning, blending nostalgia with modern clarity. The intent is not sentimentality but endurance, and brands are seeking identities that feel lived-in and lasting rather than seasonal or disposable.
Illustration has reemerged as a way to express that humanity. It offers flexibility and character that photography alone cannot achieve, giving brands a visual language that feels imaginative and alive. From Thom Browne to Sandy Liang, drawn worlds bring emotion and personality back into brand storytelling.
The best brands use each medium to its advantage, creating work that feels present across digital and physical worlds.
When Paige Lorenze approached Lemon about refreshing Dairy Boy, the goal was evolution, not reinvention. The brand had already built a loyal following; our challenge was to help it grow without losing the spirit that made people care in the first place. As its audience matured, the brand needed to mature with them, still inspired by Paige but capable of standing on its own.
We began with strategy. Dairy Boy has always celebrated a kind of everyday beauty: New England ease, and the satisfaction of things made with care. We defined this as Capable Beauty, a belief in doing things well, honestly, and by hand. It became the foundation for everything that followed.
To prepare the brand for scale, we built a cohesive brand architecture centered on DB Collective, giving Paige a framework to create future sub-brands under one unified story. It allows her to expand into home, wedding, kids, and beyond without losing authenticity or charm, while keeping Dairy Boy focused on what it does best.
The identity was designed to feel crafted and characterful. We developed a new logo and typography system with balance and recall, and a matured color palette drawn from New England warmth and worn-in utility, punctuated by a rebellious streak. Illustration guidelines introduced a hand-crafted touch that feels personal and collected, while art direction principles established an immersive brand mythology with recurring characters, textured details, and storytelling in every frame.
Finally, we built clear creative guidelines to help the brand scale while preserving its closeness, from campaign storytelling to product photography, packaging, and digital design. Every element was considered to maintain that sense of care, the feeling that everything has been touched by human hands.
The result is a brand that has grown up alongside its audience, confident, grounded, and enduring.
