About
We Are National Forest
As a design firm and creative consultancy, we apply ourselves as both innovative thinkers and visual engineers. Our approach to communication is holistic and spans a wide spectrum of disciplines — from art direction, photography, advertising and graphic design to illustration, web design, film, and art. These disciplines comprise the vocabulary from which unique, successful, and memorable experiences and entirely new visual languages are formed.
Recent examples of how we’ve put our approach and beliefs to practice include an outdoor campaign for Target, a rebranding of Roxy worldwide, a global campaign for Puma, a seasonal campaign for Burton Snowboards, and a rebranding of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.
What We Do
At National Forest we are constantly creating. We initiate our own creative endeavors and work with clients to better their brand, products, communication, strategies, and in most cases, their greater contribution to the world. We have conjured up and executed advertising campaigns, brand identities, environmental designs, print projects, product designs and packaging, web designs, and various film and video projects, to name just a few.
At our core, the people of National Forest are dedicated to making the world a better place. We feel compelled to share the fun, beauty, and excitement we have been fortunate enough to experience in hopes of encouraging others to enjoy life, foster love and empathy, and make stronger, more sincere connections.
Design Philosophy | Connection, Creativity, and Sharing.
We believe a desire for deep connection lies at the core of the human experience. On a fundamental level, this longing to connect is the root, and even the purpose, of society, culture, and commerce. It is why conversations happen, societies form, technologies advance, brands exist, and art is created.
Our work is guided by a few key principles. We believe it is important to a) understand our true selves, b) honestly and holistically share that self, and c) work to create an environment that encourages others to do the same.
We believe this is the path to healthy success in life and in business.
Design Philosophy a) True Self
Our true self marks our unique beauty and potential contribution to the greater good. It is the aggregate of who we are without exaggeration or embellishment. It is a reflection of ourselves as emotional beings, creative minds, and physical bodies (blemishes and all). Our true self defines us as unique individuals, making our point of view a singular and valuable contribution to the greater community.
We believe good brands exist to benefit and enhance the lives of others. At the core of these brands lies an inherent experience that is so helpful and exciting that it begs to be shared. This experience often lies deep within the DNA of a brand and can be a combination of its quality, beauty, experience, benefit, or point of view. The depth of this experience and its relevance to society is the true mark of a brand’s actual value. When done right, we believe a message celebrating a brand’s honest contribution, or true self, has the potential to resonate so deeply with a consumer that it guarantees long lasting, sustainable success.
Design Philosophy b) Communication Through Abstraction
Communication is an abstract phenomenon. We speak and write with commonly understood associations to sounds and shapes. When these basic tools do not suffice, we harness our creativity to delve deeper into abstraction and express our ideas through music, art, or dance. The more abstract the tools, and the further we transcend familiar combinations, the more we test the collective understanding of the meaning of those tools, and combinations in which we are using them. As literal meaning fades we are left with only the associations.
Simply stated, skilled creative communication is the ability to use common vernacular to elegantly present a compressed collage of abstract associations that can be easily decompressed in the mind of the viewer as the intended emotion or thought. We believe the mark of skilled creative communication is one’s ability to access and interpret the ephemeral field of global consciousness and re-present the collective mind-soup into rich, meaningful ideas.
Therefore, by leveraging creativity and man’s propensity to interpret the abstract, we can share a rich experience of our true selves.
Design Philosophy c) The proliferation of good.
While it is important for us to discover, reveal, and share our true selves, it is also necessary to encourage people and organizations to do the same. Advocating this depth of communication and connection will empower us to celebrate beauty beyond aesthetic, happiness without vice, and empathy without judgement. In fact, we believe a new society built on honest communication, leading to rich, deep connections, will ultimately be the undoing of solitude, deception, negativity, and fear
–and we think that would be nice!
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NF Studio | The List
We’ve had the opportunity to partner, collaborate, and assist some of our favorite brands. We’ve featured a few of them above.
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NF Studio | Headquarters
National Forest is headquartered in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Our office is bright and open and filled with interesting people, good music, a flourishing wally, and a yellow dog named Nico.