Hidden Gems: Meet Larry Nguyen & Wendy Tuan of Outfit Branding & Design

Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry Nguyen & Wendy Tuan.

Hi Larry & Wendy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Since each of us could pick up a pencil, Wendy and I have always had an interest in the arts — whether it was doodling, drawing comics, or painting on the walls without permission from the parents, haha! Creativity and visual creation have always just been a big part of our identities.

We actually met as designers in the same fashion footwear company based in Downtown LA and have always had a great working relationship. As it turned out, our mutual interests in art and design (and nineties’ Britpop) led to dating and then getting married and, eventually starting Outfit, our branding and graphic design firm!

We both had been working in the design industry for more than seven years including roles as Design and Creative Director before deciding to pursue our dreams of running our own design studio.

Since 2014, we’ve been building distinct, colorful and bold brand identity for clients big and small including Hallmark Greetings, AB InBev, KitchenAid, and, most recently, The Home Edit.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No, it has not! Every business has its challenges, and design is no exception. We’ve had big years and not-so-big years, and when we had our first child back in 2019 — oh man, that was a tough year balancing the business and child-rearing. The biggest challenge is of course finding business, but because we had been in the industry for quite some time already, and through the wonders of co-working, we were able to build our network very quickly, and, until recently, haven’t really had to do a whole of outbound sales.

Lately, however, we are focusing more on the marketing/sales side to better strengthen that network with plans to grow our studio.

We’ve been impressed with Outfit Branding & Design, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our studio Outfit Branding & Design is a Los Angeles-based, husband-and-wife team with a combined over 28 years of design experience. We specialize primarily in helping companies find their voice and stand out from the crowd through bold, visual storytelling. This includes brand strategy, logo design, visual identity, and implementation across print and web.

With backgrounds in branding, illustration, creative direction, graphic design and fashion, what sets us apart is our approach: a potent mix of contemporary visual appeal and detailed, effective strategy supported by efficient, personalized service.

We’ve been featured on The Dieline, Brand New and Behance, and have been published in books by Gestalten Verlag and Hoaki Books/Promopress. Our philosophy as designers is to continually put our passion and love into every project, and this means sometimes working long hours and going the extra mile—which is not easy. However, we think this drive to continually push ourselves as creatives is what has allowed us to grow and improve. The “be kind” part is important because it exemplifies what we’d ideally like to see in business culture: being collaborative, supportive, yet professional and pleasant to work with.

We are just two creatives with international backgrounds and deep experience on a mission to spread good design to make the world not only more beautiful but more collaborative, understanding, and authentic.

What’s next?
We will be launching a new digital assets store later this year. This month, we just released our very first commercially-available typeface called Buona Display. It’s a quirky, stylish, expressive sans-serif with an unusual “reverse” diagonal axis/stress. That’s just fancy typography-speak for a pretty unconventional yet surprisingly versatile and elegant font family. We will also be part of a curated collection by Type Department based in the UK.

We are also hoping to expand our studio in the next couple of years with a few more in-house collaborators. We like being “small, but mighty” as it allows us to stay passionate and flexible, which makes for more successful, enjoyable projects.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: weareoutfit.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/outfit_branding
• Facebook: fb.com/outfitbranding
• YouWorkForThem: youworkforthem.com/designer/1554/outfit-branding-and-design
• Other: behance.net/outfitbranding

Image Credits:
Photo for Sol Water by Harper Point Photography.