With Nick Pattison: Pentagram Boot Camp, Productizing Design, the Birth of Brand Sprints, and What AI Still Can’t Replace

This week, Jacob’s somewhere in rural Singapore (I think?), so David sits down with Nick Pattison, founder of Primary Studio, to trace his path from Pentagram and Milton Glaser’s studio to building a productized design practice around the two-week brand sprint. They get into earning your stripes, going from solo designer to studio owner, hiring your first employee, why design services should be easier to buy, and Nick’s ongoing obsession with making creative work more scalable. Plus, how a $220k project falling apart helped shape Primary’s model, what makes a great client experience, and what human designers might still have over AI. Primary Studio – https://www.primary.studio/ NIck Pattison – https://x.com/thenickpattison David McGillivray is a designer and creative director in upstate New York, designing for early stage tech companies through his own practice . He also co-founded Offhours and runs Corners , an art and design store in the Catskills. Jacob Heftmann is a Los Angeles-based surfer and graphic designer . He is currently the Design Director at Grilli Type . Previously he was on the faculty at Parsons and founded XXIX and Index in New York City. Artwork by Pablo Delcan Music by Mondo Boys Artwork typeface; GT Standard Mono by Grilli Type www.worksbutmakesnoises.com