What is focus97?
It's a design house in San Francisco, USA.
You wonder where the name derives from...?
That was a genesis -- 1997 was the first year that Mike (who sometimes will speak in third person) began to actively focus on pursuing a passionate life. The year marked a dramatic shift in focus towards academic pursuits, and it was shortly after that he began carrying a camera regularly.
While most of the work running through focus97 is design work - web, print, identity - the creative core for any project derives a lot from photography. Namely, the idea of "less is more" and it's fundamental role in telling stories through snapshots. It's a terrific guide to creating strong imagery. Same goes for designing a page, a spread, a logo, or a webpage.
michael travers lee
It's a lot of fun designing for the interwebs.
Mike grew up in northern California. A lovely place, but after some late-blooming in academics he decided he needed a far away land for college. Enter UC Davis. After a boatload of volunteer activities in research, clinics, and teaching, he grabbed a Bachelor's in Biology and headed to Manhattan. It's true what they say - you have to live in Manhattan at least once in your life. And after that, revisit often for system resets. That place is like no other.
Today finds him in his dream city, San Francisco - a city that stands on its own as well. While Mike runs this creative shindig his science/medical interests stay close at hand. Working and collaborating on various levels with Universities, hospitals, doctors, and non profits means the creative and science sides stay fulfilled. And for good reason - there is no dichotomy between science vs. art. If you like both, do both.
Why is Mike suited for creative work?
Given a biology degree and deeply-rooted medical interests, that's a great question. Thanks for asking.
Thing is, at the core of it all, Mike's a people-person. He loves to connect. You can't (in his opinion) pursue medical interests and have a love of biology if you don't love people and life first. Connecting with people requires understanding how to relate. And this means understand norms and behavior.
What better tenets to bring to the design table? Sure, he's trained in a bevy of sophisticated software applications, a few code languages, and steeps himself in contemporary design principles and trends almost obsessively. But details schmetails! Understanding people and what they tend to do is a huge part of knowing how to tackle the challenge of connecting with them creatively.
paul thomas au
Paul has mad talents in music. Cooking too.
Paul grew up in the Sacramento, and stayed close to home when it came time for college. Enter, Santa Barbara. [ahem..] After some exploration in chemical engineering, where hich he felt, 'not so much'..., Paul migrated to UC Davis and landed in biology.
Paul's work life has ranged from... all sorts of stuff. Which is great, because it fits with his creative, exploratory nature. He's made coffee, crepes, played in a garage rock-band, and has spent a few years in anesthesia research at UCSF.
Why is Paul suited for creative work?
Paul is absolutely hilarious and a joy to be around. Indeed, he's a people-person too.
Sure, he's bright, can navigate around Photoshop with ease, and can pound through HTML like no one's business, but the underlying reason he's terrific at creative work is that he seeks the different in design that'll connect with an end-user.
He also happens to be an awesome cook and a fantastic musician. A constant search for novel dishes and the desire to make music means creative is at his core, and it brings a different style of thinking to the table. Not to mention good eats.
The f97 ideals
"Age quod agis"
\ˈä-ge-ˌkwȯd-ˈä-ˌgis\
LATIN: Whatever you do, do well.
1.// If you've been assigned to sweep the floor, it's your project, and it's good to look proudly on it once it's sweeped. .
Not all tasks are fun. Surprise surpise, I know. A lot of what focus97 does is in fact quite fun, but for stuff that isn't, we still do it well (sifting through code to find one problematic line to ensure a website works in all browsers isn't exactly a highlight). Our name is on our work, and besides loving what we do on the fun end, over and above that we love the feeling of a job well done. This is ideal one.
2.// "Green" is a bit of a trend, particularly in San Francisco, and this is a creative house. So we're not so much interested in following status quo unless there's a good reason.
Being nice to the environment is a good reason, though, so we do our part to reduce paper, opting for emails or carrier pigeons, and we also play our roles in respecting the outdoors and recycling [It just feels wrong to throw something recyclable into the trash... doesn't it?].
3.// We also try to take care of those that aren't so fortunate. And let's be clear - there is 'lucky' and there is 'fortunate'. We're lucky to have been born in the U.S. with freedoms and opportunities - we didn't have a say in that. But we're fortunate to work/thrive in San Francisco (the difference being that we work out b*tts off delivering good work-product to ensure we get to work more).
Focus97 supports Operation Rainbow, which can be learned more about in the Photography section, or by visiting their site. It's a terrific group of humanitarians that devote time, energy, and money to help care for people they don't even know in Central and South America. Why? Simply because they're people who need help. I love those kinds of simple reaons
Focus97 has also supported homeless groups here in San Francisco via photography and art auctions. It's a terrible thing that we can all sleep under a roof while some of our less fortunate neighbors can't. On the street Mike's rule is that if a homeless person asks for change, it's given. Even from the wallet. No judgment. Paul's rule that he and his girlfriend follow after dining at a restaurant is that if a homeless person can take their leftovers, it's given. They generally search for homeless too, which means they basically pay for nice meals expecting to give some away.
Can't help everyone, but the little things amount to the big things, don't they?
