Q&A: Creatives, Meet Haus Haus Design
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
MEET HAUS HAUS DESIGN—They’re a branding and product design studio based in Los Angeles and Vancouver. They’ve worked with Universal Music Group, Pandora Jewelry, Apple, and Ecotone Music Library, to name a few. If you’re seeking support in brand development, web design, web development, or apparel design for your clothing or jewelry brand, live music venue, musical project, creative online platform, or any other business—big or small—then check out Haus Haus Design.
We spoke with Design Director Sam Kraus and Creative Director Alex Hau who both come from artistic and inventive backgrounds—Kraus was a clothing designer for 10 years, Hau has worked as a music producer for 10+ years, and the two owned a clothing brand together. Four years ago, they put their passions together to build Haus Haus Design.
Haus Haus Design operates holistically, prioritizing open collaboration within their team and with clients. It all starts with the core team fostering community, which extends to the relationships they create with their clients.
“Whether it’s merch design, brand development, or website design, we’re not thinking about these things siloed as individual entities,” Kraus shares. “They’re all part of an ecosystem of creating lasting memories for the audience. That is something we find very important, both personally and professionally. We’re so saturated with exposure to advertising and products and new things all the time in this current day and age, so we want to make sure that the story is right and that we’re helping define moments, rather than just create another piece of noise.”
Haus Haus Design supports merch development, including designing, production consulting, and marketing strategy. They also collaborate on brand development, including brand messaging, logo design, and digital graphics. Web design and web development, such as UI/UX design, custom website design, and content creation are also offered. You can find a list of services and contact details on their website.
Read our full conversation with Kraus and Hau below.
LUNA: What is unique about Haus Haus Design’s approach to branding and product design?
KRAUS: Alex and I have diverse backgrounds and specialized lists of skills. I think all of the projects and types of work we’ve done in the past have really helped form the work we do today and perspectives we have. I spent 10 years as a clothing designer in the San Francisco Bay Area. I owned a screen printing company in my early 20s and I worked with companies to help them build promotional apparel for their businesses. Alex and I started a clothing brand together back in 2013 and Alex is also a Grammy-nominated music producer. So I think coming from these backgrounds, we have a different approach than someone who might come from traditional agency work. And we’ve always been friends; we’ve been friends since high school. We wanted to showcase our creativity and I think Haus Haus is the framework in which we can do that.
HAU: We don’t function much differently than a lot of agencies, but our perspective and background is unique. Like Sam said, most people who are in design agencies have a pretty traditional path to that. They go to design school, graduate, and get jobs. But, I’ve been making music for the last 10 years and I directed music videos, did photo shoots, designed merch for tours, and tour posters. So while I was doing music, I was still being creative as a designer. Before that, I was in a Fortune 500 as a designer, Sam was doing men’s apparel, and we had our clothing company—it’s just a very diverse background. I feel like when we work with our clients, we have a better understanding, more perspectives and views that they might not know we have. I think it’s helpful. We’ve done a lot of work for creative agencies as well, like doing their websites and working with them to build their brands, so I think it’s a unique perspective that we bring.
LUNA: What words would you use to describe the core values of Haus Haus Design?
HAU: I would say thoughtful, thought provoking, and intentional. It’s not doing something just to do it, but to consider the client’s needs, the landscape in which the work we’re doing lives, and how people interact with it. Everything we have an interaction with is designed by something or by someone, you know? Whether your experience is good or bad, it generally depends on how well it’s designed. Being thoughtful, listening to our clients’ goals for their brand or project, making sure we do something we’re proud of and they’re proud of—it can get people to maybe stop for a second and appreciate it, instead of the endless scroll and noise we are bombarded with every day.
KRAUS: The words that come to mind for me are honest, collaborative, and enduring. Honesty plays a big role in the way we interact with our clients and the way we interact internally. We want to help our clients always be the best version of themselves and that comes with, “You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.” It’s an ability to trust your partner in the project—trust the client and trust the agency. I think we’re able to establish that well with our open honesty.
Alex and I started this business four years ago and when you’re starting a business, you wear many hats. To this day, we find ourselves meeting last minute for a client presentation to make sure everything looks good; staying up late the night or week before to make sure the project is making sense to both Alex and I; passing it off to the rest of our team so it’s in alignment and we’re not staying siloed in our own views. And that translates to our work with our clients. We make sure their voice is heard in the process and that they feel like they’re participating in the design work, as opposed to [a process] where the client might come to the agency, the agency goes away for a couple of weeks, develops some ideas, then comes back with a finished product, and says, “Here’s your brand.” Our process is much more collaborative. We want to bring the client in at every step and make sure they’re signing off on the work and excited about the direction that we’re going.
[I mentioned] enduring [because] we started this business about four years ago and not every step of the road is glamorous. It can be a slog sometimes to finish work or to find new clients. There’s a little bit of suffering in success. I think one needs to be able to endure the hard times in order to see the successes to their fullest extent. I think that’s one of our traits.
Alex Hau
Sam Kraus
LUNA: In addition to music fans, our Luna community consists of creatives who are paving bold and passionate careers. This includes photographers, graphic designers, fashion and jewelry brands, and many more innovative brands and projects. Like these creatives, you believe in branding with a purpose. Why else might Haus Haus Design make a meaningful collaborator?
HAU: We’ve just lived so many different lives and worn so many different hats. We understand a lot of the growing pains that businesses go through. Maybe you’re an independent musician, [I have experience] in that myself. [Maybe] you’re starting your own clothing company—not only do we design, but we can give advice like how to source materials. I’ve directed music videos for Universal Music Group and Republic Records. I’ve done photoshoots. I think all that perspective and knowledge has helped us. When a client comes to us in some of these more creative spaces, we’re like, “We’ve done that. We know what that’s like. We know how to help you cross any barriers you may be facing because we’ve done it ourselves or we’ve helped people do it.”
A lot of traditional agencies might not have as much of an expertise or experience in these other creative fields. We have a really diverse background that helps us be more accommodating to a larger group of professionals. So I think that’s what makes us special and makes us good collaborators.
KRAUS: When I started my promotional apparel business in 2009, I was upset by what was available in the market for promotional apparel. I wanted to start building my own, but I didn’t have the resources yet. So I made it a point to emphasize the process and the empathy. Our ability to take on work wasn’t like, “Here’s a logo. Slap it on a t-shirt and send it out the door.” It was more of considering what the brand is and what the position is. We were really trying and understanding the whole business, as opposed to just doing projects, bringing them in the door, then pushing them out. I think that mindset has permeated through everything that I’ve done, both personally and professionally in my life. It’s definitely a mindset we have at Haus Haus.
HAU: Whether you’re a musician, artist, or brand, you’re trying to create your tribe, or your following, and have a community. We want to help build that so it’s long lasting and impactful. We try to align with people who want to make quality things and care about similar things. Like when we’re doing fashion, we try to source everything organically, print t-shirts in a more sustainable way, and not use harsh chemicals—just finding all angles to be more conscious. It helps us align with similar minded people.
LUNA: It definitely comes across. From your portfolio to your socials, you can tell that it’s intentional and rooted in meaning. One example is Haus Haus Radio that you recently launched! Tell me more about this project and what we can look forward to.
HAU: As an agency that helps brands, we also want to build our own brand and our own community. Since I’ve been in the music industry for the last decade, my every day is consumed by music. So we wanted to start something that could help show more sides of what we’re into, what inspires us, and what kind of music speaks to us. It’s playlists, that’s what it’s starting as, where [we can] focus on certain genres that speak to us. We did the first one, “Reggae Sound Clash,” which is like reggae-lovers rock, kind of Jamaican-British-focused reggae music. Eventually, we want to do some live mixes, like NTS Radio. Maybe we’ll even release music through Haus Haus. We have large goals and hopes for it because, again, it all adds to our story and what we stand for. We’re rooted in fashion and design and music, and those are all things we’re truly passionate about. If anything, people get some new music to listen to, or somebody to collaborate with.
LUNA: On the note of music, what are you currently listening to?
HAU: I listen to so much music constantly. Recently, I’ve been listening to Roots Reggae. I listen to a lot of Nigerian disco and funk from the 70s and 80s. William Onyeabor, Steve Monite, stuff like that. For newer artists, I like Dijon, Jordan Ward, a lot of alternative R&B. I really love this French group called The Blaze; they’re a techno group. I also like Rahim Redcar. [My sound is] kind of eclectic, all over the place.
KRAUS: I’m more of a classic rock guy—Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Simon Garfunkel. I’m based in Vancouver Island and there’s an indie folk band here called Ocie Elliott that I’ve been listening to a lot. There’s also a Mongolian artist named Bukhu who has some very interesting kind of meditative, trance music.
LUNA: Always love a good music recommendation.
KRAUS: Keep an eye out for Haus Haus Radio!
