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.
mike lee
"Don't call me a 'coder'. Thanks."
in ecuador...
and loving it
Mike's been doing this design and development stuff for 6 years. And still loving it.
Sort of by accident, though - formal education and training is from UC Davis, with a Bachelor's in Biology (and a minor in Philosophy). The addiction to web design/development started exactly when it shouldn't have - while studying for a genetics final. He took up photography in college, sold a few prints, and learned how to build a full website to showcase photos to the world (still aced the final exam, to be sure.)
Since then it's been years of academic-style training and appreciation of web standards, minimalist principles, typography, technology, and a few coding languages. And coffee.
A sketch of interests and skills.
- Cosmology (think physics, not tarot cards)
- Rock-climbing - indoors or out
- HDR photography
- Backpacking
- Long walks off short piers
- Tech gadgets
- Thoughtful convos
- Thoughtful people
paul au
"Yeah, this is about to happen!"
Hiking at
the Pinnacles
Paul grew up in Sacramento, then got the heck out for college. "Hi, UC Santa Barbara, I'm Paul".
After some exploration in chemical engineering, for which he felt, 'yeah, not so much', he migrated to UC Davis and landed in biology. Paul's work life has ranged from... all sorts of stuff. 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. In the end, it's made him a people-person.
These days he navigates around Photoshop with ease, dives into HTML like no one's business, and helps to ensure Focus97 projects, and hence the web in general, stays clean and usable. 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.
A sketch of interests and skills.
- NPR and Radiolab podcasts about... everything
- Rock-climbing - indoors or out
- Playing the guitar
- Cooking
- Playing the drums
- John Mayer
- Annoying neighbors (see above "playings")
- Cracking up everyone around him
Anna Medeiros
"I practically invented Social Media."
ever The
fashionista
Anna has spent the last three years working as an Online Marketing Manager, concentrating on Social Media and Search Engine Optimization.
Anna holds several years of experience in marketing, project management and sales, primarily in the software industry. She formerly lived in London, where she both worked for Westminster Abbey's Press Office and attended University of Arts London. A long flight back to Northern California, she landed and launched an online fashion boutique, Muito Fina, and has since worked in the high tech industry.
Anna earned a B.S. in Business Administration, Minor in Psychology from Saint Mary's College of California and a Post Grad Certificate in Fashion Marketing from University of the Arts London – London College of Fashion. She provides consulting to Focus97 projects/clients in the areas below.
A sketch of interest and skills.
- Checking into places via Foursquare and Facebook
- Checking into the latest fashion trends
- Working out
- Working in
- Going to Peets
- Checking-in to Peets
- Becoming the "Mayor" of Peets
The f97 ideals
"Age quod agis"
\ˈä-ge-ˌkwȯd-ˈä-ˌgis\
LATIN: Whatever you do, do well.
Why list our ideals?
Sure, we're a company. We do business. And we earn our bucks. But big deal.
In the current era, many of us resonate with companies or organizations that have transparency. Who are staffed by real, honest-to-goodness humans.
This little company is small, and service-oriented. And since we're staffed by humans, with ideas and hearts and affinities, we want to showcase the kind of people we are. We could tout all our skills and merits... but that's all sales, no? We're not that. If you'd like to see what we do, just look at the portfolio. Here, we'd love for you to know what drives us (with all our hearts and stuff - see above).
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Do your task well.
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 swept. Not all tasks are fun. Surprise surprise, 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.
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Be good to your environment.
"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 e-mail 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?].
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Take care of those that aren't so fortunate.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. This we have a say in (and 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 reasons.
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.
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Can't help everyone, but the little things amount to the big things, don't they?
Enough said on this one. It's simple.
What's the deal with this site?
It's awesome, huh?!
[Alright, that's a little self-serving, but we're trying to have fun here...]
The site you're interacting with is redesigned and re-engineered every year by Mike (who may or may not be speaking in the third person at the moment). The designs are always from scratch, and the coding is done by hand.
This year (2011) it has a minimalist face, new typography, plus a host of scripting to make the front-end easier and faster for the user. And indeed - it's been rendered in HTML5 this year, since that's what all the cool kids are doing now.
On the back-end, the development is search engine optimized (SEO, folks) to be very kind to Google. And on the back back-end, the server's been optimized to spit out what you want faster (like pages and images and stuff).
Every year we do this??
You betcha. Fact is, Focus97.com is our piece of real estate on what is largely the most impactful (yes, it's a word) medium currently in existence. So it's incumbent on us to try and create a unique, enjoyable experience that evolves fast and often.
Are photography prints for sale?
You betcha.
The printer at right is an HP Z210o archival-quality, 8-pigment printer that can be used to print up to 24 inches wide by any length desired, on traditional photo-paper, enhanced art paper, or directly on canvas. Yes, canvas. And we own one.
How to purchase
If you are interested in ordering a print, please e-mail via the Contact tab and let us know the image and desired size. Prices range from $200-$400, depending on size and paper type. Generally sizes start large - 12x18 or 16x24 - to show off detail, with the most commonly printed size of 20x30. The images themselves are captured with Canon's pinnacle system - the EOS 1Ds Mk III. It's tremendous detail, even when printed poster size.
Prints will be signed and shipped direct to you.
Getting in touch
