Oh, how things have changed. The advertising clichés provided by Mad Men can’t be further from the 21st century truth: that creatives now, more than ever, are interested in furthering community and social goals.

Hyperakt is one of those standard-bearers.



“Meaningful design for the common good,” the Brooklyn-based studio’s motto goes; and with a clientele primarily made up of non-profit brands and organizations, this isn’t something founders Deroy Peraza and Julia Vakser take lightly.

United Nations, North Star Fund, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People—these are just some of the big, for-good names that populate Hyperakt’s book. To Peraza and Vakser, design “might not always be capable of leading to change, but it is invaluable in making the case for it.”

It’s a reminder of the tenets of design and the applied arts to begin with: as Don Draper shouted to a copywriter in one Mad Men episode, “You’re not an artist. You solve problems!” But for Hyperakt, these problems are real.

Hear them explain just how they believe design can force the change the world needs.

TAXI Hi guys, thanks for taking a ride with TAXI. Hyperakt’s mission is to provide “meaningful design for the common good”. Tell us a little more on this philosophy.

Hyperakt "Meaningful Design for the Common Good" describes our design values. We strive to approach design through a balance of intellect, creativity and altruism.

We dedicate our time to challenging work that we can be proud of. As designers we have a responsibility to ensure that design is used as a positive force. We hope to add a little vector of good into the world with every project, and we aim to inform and inspire people with our work. That's important to us.

TAXI You do a lot of work for non-profit brands, like the North Star Fund and the United Nations, to name a few. How far do you think design can push for social change and “fight social injustice”?

Hyperakt Our clients' many endeavors include improving access to quality education and clean drinking water, creating intelligently designed products people love, giving local communities a voice, promoting sustainable development, defending civil rights, democratizing access to information, and empowering people to share their opinions about important issues.

These are all endeavors that enrich and improve lives. We help our clients express their missions through design.

Design is one of several necessary tools that help push social messages forward. Design might not always be capable of leading to change but it is invaluable in making the case for it. A good idea plus great design is an irresistible combination.

TAXI When do you think this socially and environmentally responsible facet of design started becoming prominent, and where do you think it’s headed?

Hyperakt New online tools have played a tremendous role over the last decade in increasing interest in social and environmental responsibility.

There are so many organizations doing great things—whether it’s at a local community scale or at a global scale—that previously had severe limitations in reaching their audience.

These days, there are websites, Google searches, Facebook, Twitter, Idealist, YouTube, Flickr…the list goes on and on. All these tools provide the potential for even the smallest organization to be heard around the world.

Our generation has been empowered to see the world differently and to believe that we all have the tools at our disposal to do a whole lot of good.

As social networking matures and trickles down, it will become easier for individuals to connect to the causes they feel passionate about and to contribute their skills. That’s how we’ve seen our role in the design community evolve.

TAXI Tell us a little about what inspires you, from influential personalities in the design world to just the simple things.

Hyperakt The list is long and constantly being added to.

Traveling is the best way to widen your field of vision. Every bit of new cultural expression is inspiring: landscapes, cityscapes, urban art, classical and modern architecture, and food.

In terms of personalities that influence us, they aren’t just in the design world. People like:

The Beatles and Picasso for figuring out how to constantly create truly innovative work while simultaneously reaching a mass audience.

Rem Koolhaas for teaching us that there is infinitely more creativity involved in solving problems than in making things look pretty.

Massimo Vignelli for his rigid modernity and classic design for the masses.

Stanley Kubrik for always reaching for perfection cinematic experience.

Erik Nitsche timeless modernism and excellent conceptual design.

Otl Aicher for making design systems beautiful.

Charles & Ray Eames for all rounded body of industrial, architectural, and furniture work.

Eero Saarinen for the ability to switch styles and mediums seamlessly.

Steve Jobs for leadership and clarity.

Jonathan Ives for making minimal sexy.

Le Corbusier for his modern utopian ideals.

Walter Gropius for bringing good design to the masses.

Mies van der Rohe for the purity, craftsmanship and restraint of his work.

Herzog & DeMeuron and Diller & Scofidio for pushing the architectural envelope on every project.

Michael Beirut for the ease with which he speaks about design.

Swiss Miss for creating community among designers.

And the list goes on…

TAXI When given a brief that’s tough to crack, what’s the first thing you turn to?

Hyperakt We just experienced this last week because we’re working on a project for a big client that’s taking us into some uncharted territory.

We begin every project by brainstorming together and throwing ideas back and forth. Often, that happens informally over lunch or while working on other projects.

We look at dozens of design blogs, books and magazines. FFFFound.com is also a tremendous source of inspiration. The quality of images bookmarked on the site is mindblowing. Videos on YouTube and Vimeo also tend to be quite inspiring.

Once we’ve digested all of our inspiration we dive into the project. Sometimes ideas appear almost immediately and we know we’ve solved it. Other times, it’s four-thirty in the morning and we are drooling on our keyboards from exhaustion when the moment of brilliance arrives.

TAXI Brooklyn, and NYC as a whole, is home to many artists, musicians and designers, like Hyperakt. Just what is it about the borough and city that’s so conducive to creativity?

Hyperakt The presence of a strong creative class is what makes cities interesting. It’s the creative class that resuscitates dying neighbourhoods and transforms them into bustling hubs of energy. Nowhere is that more evident than in NYC.

[To read the rest of this interview, click the 'Next' button at the top of this page.]

It’s a magical place, and you realize it even more when you’re away from it. You miss the variety of people, food, languages, and experiences. Most other places just seem one-dimensional in comparison. NYC just never feels staged or boring. It’s an engine of reinvention and the possibilities are endless. It is quite easy to image yourself at the center of the universe here. It’s an addictive place.

Brooklyn in particular has been through a massive renaissance over the last 15 years. As Manhattan rents skyrocketed, the creative class moved to Brooklyn. As a result, Brooklyn has become the hipster capital of America.

Incredible indie bands, cutting-edge literature, street art, artisanal coffee and foods, expertly crafted cocktails, urban farms, innovative casual cuisine, technology startups, and a great design scene chock full of small creative firms—these are some of the things that make Brooklyn the apple of our eyes.

It’s also an incredibly laid back place. Jeans and a t-shirt are appropriate attire for even the most high-brow situations. Shaving and combing your hair is optional. Nothing wrong with that.

TAXI In addition to being a design firm, Hyperakt runs an online store as well. What were your aims in setting up the store, and how has the experience been?

Hyperakt We’ve experimented with a physical store in the front of our storefront studio space and with online stores, but we haven’t yet fully committed to it as a large part of our business. We haven’t been able to dedicate the time it takes to do it right.

However, we are always looking for ways to create self-initiated work. Our recent World Cup Radial Bracket Poster is an example of a piece we sell through our blog.

We also created a ton of work to support the Obama campaign in 2008, which was commissioned for an exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland and then sold through our site.

Creating and selling our own products is definitely something we want to continue doing more of.

TAXI Your recent World Cup poster Kickstarter project got more than twice its expected goal. Any plans to take more design or art projects down the crowdsource route?

Hyperakt Kickstarter is a wonderful platform for creative people who are trying to fund projects. The World Cup Poster project was a fantastic experience—from the design process, to funding the printing, to growing a community around the project.

The poster was something we designed while obsessively watching the World Cup this summer. We had wanted to try a crowd-funding project for a while, and this was a great opportunity.

Over 230 people from all around the world pledged through Kickstarter, and the dialogue we established with the backers of the project and their enthusiasm was really rewarding. We’ll certainly be taking more projects down the crowdsourcing route. It’s a great way to build community around our work.

TAXI Could you show us a picture of your studio that best represents what it is you do?

Hyperakt Our studio is our creative playground. We have a very relaxed culture where everyone feels at home. We also have some awesome BBQs.



TAXI What is the word you think will continue to reside in and reverberate through the creative industries over the next 10 years?

Hyperakt We have two: Good and Apple.