Partner & Partners is Redesigning the Design Studio
by Nikki Solinap
“The whole history of our studio has been trying things that we don’t really know how to do.”
The more I learn about Partner & Partners and how they operate, the more I wonder why all of us aren’t doing things this way. Most design studios are patterned after traditional advertising agencies, following a top-down structure where the bosses reap the rewards of work done by underpaid, overworked employees. P&P is a far cry from Mad Men — they’re a cooperative, an organization where all workers are company co-owners.
They legally became a co-op in 2020, but they’ve always operated with a flat structure. Greg Mihalko, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement and his work with Justseeds and the Interference Archive, founded the studio in 2013, with a mission to contribute to projects and groups that promote social, economic, and environmental justice. Today, in their airy Brooklyn loft, Greg — along with co-owners Lulu Johnson, Devika Sen, and Logan Hefferman — is presenting some of the work they’ve done throughout the years: a brand identity for Housing Justice for All, visuals for Green New Deal: A Public Assembly, and various materials for the Catskills Visitor Center.
All this good design is made possible by good labor practices. The creative class and the working class are often put at odds with each other, but P&P sees design work for what it is: labor. As worker-owners, they share not only their profits, but also decision-making power. Sounds daunting for younger team members, but Lulu shares that transitioning from intern to co-owner gave her a sense of security during the pandemic. “I think I would have been more stressed if I was just a normal employee. You have the stress of the business [being] partially [your] responsibility, but at the same time…we all have more stake in each other.”
Doing business with social justice organizations and other co-ops necessitates compromise between P&P and their clients as well as within their team. They mention bartering their design services for dental care, printing, and even sandwiches. They’ve adopted a four-day workweek to let co-owners take on other jobs, do activism work, or simply spend more time with family. “We’re not making tons of money [compared] to other big agencies,” Greg admits. “But on the flip side, we all own the business and share the success.”
In a workplace where everyone is already a co-owner, one’s career trajectory takes on a different shape. Devika shares that it’s “not necessarily a personal thing, but more of the success of the studio. I don’t think I think about my individual career, ever, anymore.” Greg, Lulu, and Logan nod. It’s a refreshing take, to reject the pressure of becoming a rockstar designer and instead see oneself move forward as a part of a collective. “The whole history of our studio has been trying things that we don’t really know how to do,” Greg tells us. By being one of the few design studios to apply the co-op model to their practice, P&P shows us that a radical approach to design work is not only possible, but also ideal.
This piece was written for the “Art of the Profile” workshop instructed by Adam Harrison Levy during the 2024 D-Crit Summer Intensive Residency at the School of Visual Arts. The next Summer Intensive session will take place June 2–13, 2025. Apply for free by April 15th.
