Studio Mast’s research-led practice crafts beautiful brand experiences from the ground up

Now in their tenth year as a design studio, Travis Ladue, Jacob Trahan, Amanda Regh, and Cait Smith of Mast are dedicating their time to building carefully considered brand experiences. These days the team only likes to take on the kind of work that comes with a visual identity to develop — projects that they can bring their entire tiny (but mighty) team to and deliver what they do best, wonderfully bespoke branding solutions and expressions.

“After a few years in business,” says creative director Travis, “we found out that if we were to jump into an identity that we didn’t create, the work would be dissonant.” Intentional about every element of their design outputs, the team focuses on heavy research and discovery into each client, getting to know them and “working closely and collaboratively from the very beginning, ensuring transparency within the work and the process”, says Travis. The studio has found that this investment in research and each brand’s individual story has always served it well when it comes to delivering clever visual systems: “Our clients will always know more about their industries, companies, or products than we will, and we need that insight,” explains Travis, “we love to overlap our knowledge”.

As for their inspirations and creative influences, for the team at Mast this can range from fine art to photography to folk art and sports. All things you might be able to find referenced in their large studio library. “We like to keep an extensive archive in the office to look to for inspiration and influence when we step away from our screens,” says Travis. When it comes to big design names, Mast looks to Massimo and Lella Vignelli, Paul Rand and Muriel Cooper, (to name a few), “these pioneers of modernism inspire us a lot internally [...] I tend to say that our ethos is ‘simplicity with personality’, shares Travis.