Duration: We opened the studio in March 2015.

Location: San Francisco, CA.

Key creatives: Producer and creative director Candace Myers, and designer and illustrator Michael Jeter. We are legally bound to each other by a weird and hard-to-understand thing called marriage, but our working relationship started as recently as opening POOL together—Candace initially worked in a law practice for arts and entertainment before changing careers to creative production, and Michael was one of the founders of San Francisco–based design studio I Shot Him.

Technique: Our clients usually come to us to help them tell a story in a fun and engaging way. Sometimes they just need people to care more about important information or they may want to find new ways to communicate their personality. These stories can take form in illustrations, animations, videos, websites, identities and photographs.

Influences: Boobs, beards, nudie suits, westerns, California and the Southwest.

Approach: Our work is highly influenced by our relationship with clients. When POOL opened, we decided that we have the most fun working with friends and people we deeply respect, so we reached out to those people first; we have worked on some really fun projects with Facebook and Google, as well as some passion projects with chefs and other creatives. We spend time trying to understand what success means in their eyes. Then, we guide them through the process of growing that concept and creating something that resonates with them and the audience they want to connect with.