Mattson Creative is a small design firm, by design. Our size is a competitive advantage. I can respond quickly to, and collaborate closely with clients. Being intentionally small also allows me to selective with clients, agile when it comes to change, and hands-on with design. As a small design studio, we’ve worked directly with some of the biggest brands in the world – Apple, Billabong, CBS, Coke, Dreamworks, Mattel, Hasbro, and Nickelodeon, to name a few. Small is the new big.
The only downside of running a boutique studio is that you really don’t need that much space to do it. I’ve always wanted to work in a big, ultra-creative office – an inspiring environment, teeming with interesting people, doing inspiring work. But I’ve never wanted to manage the number of employees that would necessitate a studio of that size. My passion is design, not management. I wanted the energy, community and culture of a large creative agency…I just didn’t want the agency.
So I set out to create the type of office that I wanted to work in, and I invited my friends and colleagues to join me. It turns out that they were looking for the same thing I was: a unique environment and a creative community. I decided to expand our existing space in Old Town Irvine into a collaborative workspace for creative professionals. We filled it quickly and now the space is home to artists, designers, photographers, producers and developers. And I get to go to work everyday with my friends. We call it SND CYN Studios – which is derived from our address on Sand Canyon Avenue.
All summer we’ve been working on the building– a 125 year-old former lima bean factory – reimagining and redesigning the interior into a one-of-a-kind creative workspace – and we’re almost finished. Stay tuned to my blog for more pictures as we finalize the studio. It’s exciting to see it coming together.
