Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Savacool and Steve Secviar.
Mike, Steve, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We met at a local ad agency (a damn fine one at that, Bulldog Drummond). I (Steve) worked under Mike as an intern then production designer. The bulk of our work was for Easton sports – Hockey, Softball and Baseball. their working relationship spawned a friendship. A couple years later as Steve was leaving his Art Director job to work freelance, he was contacted by a client looking for advertising work. Steve picked up the phone and called Mike and that began the 11+ years of creative problem solving, late nights, laughs, blood (xactos are sharp!) sweat and tears that we lovingly both call our professional career.
Our first few years we were Savacool Secviar Brand Communications. In 2011 we changed our name to LESS+MORE. We wanted the studio to reflect our ethos and work ethic. Moreover, we wanted something bigger than the literal sum of its parts.
Has it been a smooth road?
(STEVE) A smooth road? No.
The creative services industry is a vast minefield of subjectivity, estimating and budgeting razor wire. You have to be part mind reader, part seer and all thick-skinned grit. Our biggest struggle has been the business side of things.
We are both trained designers, and by dumb-luck or hard work (I like to think a little of both) we made it over 10 years doing our own thing. I never the business side of things to be how they are – the strategy, thinking, sometimes guessing and hard work that goes into getting a proposal out the door. We quickly ramped up on our business acumen, it’s been a steep but worthwhile climb.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
(STEVE) We work primarily in the branding and design space of the creative services industry.
This runs the gamut from foundational brand planning, strategy, and positioning to the visual identity and extensions of a brand.
We cut our teeth in hospitality and that work allowed us to grow in our early days, today we work in a range of industries from biotech’s to consumer products. Our work ranges from massive talent brands for Fortune 500 companies to beer branding and label designs. I’m most proud of our grit and longevity. We are a small, but very mighty team and some of the things we have managed to do over the years is staggering.
Our philosophy sets us apart from other shops. Embrace the work, Treat People Right Look, and Give a Damn.
Look, if you take one peek on the internet these days beautiful design is everywhere. It is copied, trends followed, mockups can make even the ineptest designer look like he or she has been at it for years. But a strong work ethic coupled with a truly humble and caring mindset is something you cannot fake copy or steal.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
(STEVE) I like to think of San Diego being in a bit of an awakening on the design front. Our proximity to LA and San Francisco makes it easy to overlook. But when you come here, particularly if you have a creative slant to you, you can feel the excitement and the creation happening here. From Makers Quarter in the East Village to all the restaurants (and their great branding) that pop up on what seems like a daily occurrence to the creative focused campuses near the tech and biotech hubs, San Diego is truly threading design into itself.
San Diego is great for freelancers – because of our city being overlooked a bit by the big brands and the work and budgets they wield, studios and agencies here run pretty lean from a core group. Studios have to flex and contract, so a good designer / coder / writer can work with a handful of agencies here and make a great career out of it.
I’m very optimistic about the future of design here in San Diego. We have had the opportunity to work with the Design Forward Alliance – and I believe what this group is doing to fundamentally change the way we and our city not only think about design but how we apply design to all aspects of our life is going to put San Diego on the world design map in a very short time.
Contact Info:
- Address: LESS+MORE
2810 Camino Del Rio South
Suite 101 San Diego CA 92108 - Website: lessandmore.com
- Phone: 6197861040
- Email: studio@lessandmore.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dolessdomore/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dolessdomore
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoLessDoMore
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2175140/
Image Credit:
Studio images: Frank Rogozienski Photography. All other images LESS+MORE.
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