Over the years, we've worked on projects big and small across digital, print, and visual identity. Here's what we design: websites, e-commerce, one-page-sites, search optimization, books, magazines, pamphlets, invitations, illustrations, event collateral, annual reports, visual identities, branding systems, maps, exhibition graphics, signage, digital campaigns, newsletters, presentation decks, donor materials, posters.

We often work with cultural and educational organizations, as well as artists, architects, and creative businesses. Current and previous clients include California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Pasadena Conservatory of Music, Marciano Art Foundation, Loyola University New Orleans, Human Impact Partners, Beverly Willis Foundation, L.A. Native Plant Source, Candlewood Arts Festival, DelMonico Books, Exceptional Minds, L.A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, Claret-Cup Architecture, SALT Architecture, Oakwood School, UCLA, The MAK Center, The Order of the Good Death, and artists Mirae kh RHEE, Iris Yirei Hu, and Paula Wilson.

Our headquarters are in Downtown Los Angeles in the Spring Arts Tower, an old bank building from 1914. If you’ve ever been to the Last Bookstore, you already visited the building where our office is located. If you stop by for a visit—we even have a café on our floor.

Yay Brigade reflects the balance of rigor and delight we strive for when designing: we are super serious about creating work that is crafted to fulfill your goals (Brigade!), but we like to have fun and create a twinkle in the eye (Yay!).

Absolutely. We love the ability to get together in person, but we often work on projects remotely, even for clients that are located close by. Some of our clients are in New Mexico, Louisiana, Texas, New York, and even Germany. We find Zoom to be quite an effective way to collaborate, present design ideas, and work through feedback together in real time.

Web design is definitely a focus of ours. But we also love holding things in your hands, so we work on print projects, too. Branding and visual identity round out what we do.

We won't start designing without having a solid understanding of your goals. Every project starts with an in-depth strategy investigation focused on your priorities, target audiences, user needs, content needs, and criteria for success. This will provide the foundation for everything we design and build.

Our web design process includes these phases: Strategy > Sitemap > Wireframes > Visual Mockups > Clickable Prototype > Coding > Testing > Launch > Maintenance. It’s a flexible process and not always this linear (sometimes we code a proof of concept during the strategy phase), but our goal is clear: to move thoughtfully from idea to structure to visual design to a fully working website.

We are serious designers and serious coders. We believe that web development is a crucial part of the design process and not something simply passed on to someone somewhere else. A static clickable mockup is great at visualizing design intention, but it takes many additional design decisions to make a fully responsive website. We especially pride ourselves in creating beautiful typography that looks spectacular and is readable at every screen size.

One of the joys of being graphic designers is being able to learn about so many different subjects. We are eager to dive into your content. That will help us fully understand your project and drive our design investigations. Also: we have strong editorial skills (and sometimes strong opinions) and will critically engage with your writing. We will provide feedback and editing advice if we see content that could be improved.

We believe that giving structure and hierarchy to content is the most important job of a graphic designer. We are happiest when we receive a big heap of content (images, text, videos, loose thoughts, and napkin sketches) that we can shape into a usable, meaningful, cohesive whole.

There are many projects that can benefit from using preexisting templates, but our expertise (and interest) lies in creating highly custom websites, which are lovingly created from scratch.

Absolutely. Our websites are built with easy-to-use Content Management Systems (CMS) that allow you to log in to an admin backend and update the content of your website.

We are well versed in using WordPress as the CMS. The front end is then either created via a custom WordPress template, or we'll use WordPress in a "headless" way and build with Vue/Nuxt. lately we've also loved using Sanity as the CMS. (This website is run via Sanity.)

We take accessibility seriously and create websites that are clear and usable for all visitors. Strong headings, semantic markup, readable content, and well-organized pages make the site better for all: people using different devices, assistive technologies, and search engines.

Yes! A website is a piece of software, and it will age more gracefully when properly maintained. We are available to offer help with security updates, bug fixes, and build-outs after launch. We look forward to becoming reliable long-term partners.

In our experience most websites take 4–6 months to complete. Sometimes things move faster, especially when there is a pressing reason for a quick launch. But good work takes time, especially when multiple people are involved in the decision making and content needs to be gathered and created.

Yes, we created a bunch of identities. A few highlights: Diboll, Exceptional Minds, SubStance, L.A. Native Plants Source, WillowCrest, Claret-Cup.

A classic “it depends” question. Our project fees typically range from $5k–$50k, depending on scope and timeline. Knowing your budget range at the outset helps us shape a realistic scope, manage expectations, and provide options that make sense for you.

Yep, that's what we drink at the studio, and we'll be happy to make you one: brewed without fuss, filter, and gear—straight in the cup. It's the brewing technique of choice for Northeast Germans and cowboys alike.

Not fake! Roman (Yay Brigade's principal) grew up in Rostock, a city in Northeast Germany. He first came to the US as an exchange student and eventually married his high school sweetheart.

Look at our work and you will see that we have created a multitude of different solutions for many different clients. We don't have a house style or predefined solutions—instead we will try to understand your project deeply and create highly custom designs that work, that are spirited, that have a lot of heart.

Let's chat! Drop us a note via email.