Serious Studio on finding joy in their creative process
This millennial-run design and branding company is spreading the joy of good design
The narrow hallway leads us to a frosted glass door with an outline of the human eye plastered on it. We see little movement from the outside, no chatter or flurry of activity, but the faint click-clacking of computer equipment suggests people inside are busy at work.
“We’re called Serious Studio because when we were starting out, no one took us seriously,” quips Lester Cruz, who, in 2012, founded a design and brand solutions company with his then-girlfriend Deane Miguel-Cruz.
They were fresh out of college and had no idea they were plunging headfirst into their big break as the country’s new breed of creatives. “Clients always got thrown off by how young we looked, to the point that we actually made an effort to power dress for meetings.”
Fast forward to 2017, the couple—now married in their mid-20s—runs Serious Studio, a branding and design boutique turning heads here and abroad, with business partner Kookie Santos, who is even younger than the Cruzes. The rest of the team are millennials, too; their humble tworoom office in Ortigas looks as if it’s a space assigned to interns.
For those who need an introduction, Serious Studio is the company behind the identities of good-looking brands such as the bar Yes Please, auction house Casa de Memoria, adult toy shop Ilya, restaurants 12/10 and The Girl and The Bull, lifestyle store Satchmi, and 375°, a loaded fries shop in Hell Square, New York.
“We just churned out work and people really liked it, and they told their friends. It was really just as organic as that. As long you put good work out there and you’re sincere about it, the right people will find you somehow,” Deane says.
Although the pair knew the venture would be a huge risk, it was something they knew they had to try. Being young wasn’t a setback. Rather, it gave them drive: should the business fail, they’d have time for damage control. As Deane puts it, “It was a good time to make mistakes.”
But the business didn’t fail. And Serious Studio would later prove that it was no mistake at all. In fact, they’re transferring to a bigger office to accommodate their growing team. Of course the House of Serious, as they fondly call it, also came across a few speed bumps on the road to establishing their brand.
Years back, they were commissioned by a big company and after weeks of unlimited revisions and pushing pixels, it was finally
time to reap the fruits of their labor. “When they saw what they had to pay for our services, one of them told us, ‘I don’t get why you guys are charging that much. It’s not like what you do requires technical skill,’” Deane says, evidently more amused than annoyed. They learned their lesson and laid out some new ground rules. And they never worked with the same company again.
But there were also moments when feedback proved they were on the right track. “We’ve made clients tear up out of joy. One client was so happy with our work, he wanted to fly us to New York.”
Millennial appeal
But to discover the secret behind Serious Studio’s success, one must first understand that design isn’t just a decorative notion. “The end result of every project is to make people feel,” Lester explains.
There’s also the matter of gaining a client’s trust, on which the success or failure of the project depends. “[I]f a client doesn’t trust you, they’ll micromanage you to death and they’ll want you to completely follow their taste for design. It can be a good thing or a bad thing,” he says.
To clients, it’s clear from the start that hiring Serious Studio means collaboration and not just one person deciding for the entire team— quite unlike older design studios and agencies. This practice is in line with one of Serious Studio’s goals: to build a creative economy and ecosystem of like-minded individuals who value good, genuine, meaningful design. After all, their trademarked mantra is “Make sense and look good.”
“I understand that they have their own lives. Serious Studio isn’t their life and I completely respect that.”
There’s another secret to the studio’s success: the distinct heart and grit of millennials. “In the first place, Deane and Lester starting this fresh from college despite what people said was a very millennial thing to do. It was all about taking that leap,” Kookie muses, explaining that their generation’s need to constructively voice opinions helps a lot in the Serious way of doing things.
That and an impeccable work ethic are what make Serious Studio a well-oiled machine. A typical day in the studio starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. for most of its employees. The reason for the early start is simple: If you begin earlier, then you can leave earlier, which means you can still have a life outside of work.
“I understand that they have their own lives. Serious Studio isn’t their life and I completely respect that,” says Deane, who also mentioned that they are now looking into the possibility of working remotely. “Our being millennials and running a millennial workplace allow us to understand what they need. We adjust to find the common ground in everything.”
The millennial way of thinking has also helped them foster a quirky, laid-back office culture. For Halloween this year, they held a“making” contest, and the winner had their design made into an actual gravestone. One particular Valentine’s Day, the team spruced up some condoms by designing them. And on another random occasion, they announced on social media that they were giving away a rock for free. Now, they’re in the middle of producing Serious Studio merchandise, which is their way of furthering the spread of good design. And what better time to do so than the season to ‘deck the halls’ and ‘be jolly’?
But how does one exactly have a merry millennial Christmas at the House of Serious? For starters, the studio implements an extended holiday shutdown and a mental health break. There’s also Christmastime team building, just because they’re a clingy bunch that’s “always coming up with reasons to hang out.” All those provisions were made to address Serious Studio’s admirable obsession with proper work-life balance that’s not just an on-paper memo.
“It really started out as just the two of us doing what we wanted to do,” Deane concludes. “I would have never imagined this: an office with lots of people in it, me signing checks. That wasn’t exactly our picture of what was going to happen, but I’m thankful that now, it is.”