Responses by Jen Yuan, creative developer, View Source.

Background: BRICK is a shared venture between our design and technology studio View Source and our sister content studio PlainSight. As designers, having access to a photoshoot space elevates our work—great content elevates our brand and website projects to the next level. This setup not only lets us produce content in-house but also enables our clients to develop everything under one roof, streamlining the creative process and ensuring cohesion between each touchpoint.

When available, we offer the space to our community for rent. Our website doubles as a promotional showcase for the photoshoot space and a booking platform.

Design core: As our audience is on the creative side, the brand tone is more artistic and editorial than other photo studios. To emphasize this, our photography showcases the space in use. Rather than leading with an empty white room, we highlight the space’s capabilities through finished editorial and product photography taken at BRICK.

The BRICK brand identity and website centers on a custom wordmark. This logotype draws inspiration from the architecture and curves of the studio space. Much like how anyone can adapt and transform this space to their needs—and much like an actual brick—the mark is modular. It can adapt, change, rearrange, stack and build, depending on its application.

Challenges: Like many creative studios, the most challenging projects are often your own. The scale of the project was especially broad: it encompasses establishing the business logistics, developing the brand identity and custom typefaces, designing and building the website, and eventually undergoing a photoshoot with models and props—which you can find on the homepage of our website.

One of our strengths as a full-service studio is our ability to bridge disciplines and think innovatively. This project challenged our team to be creative while considering how our design decisions impact business outcomes. It’s a delicate balance—one that our clients expect us to maintain. We are proud of the final output, and it is the type of project that we aspire to do more and more.

Technology: The website is built with React and Next.js coupled with Sanity as the CMS. It integrates with Google Calendar for real-time availability and uses Stripe for payment processing.

Special technical features: The booking flow is particularly interesting. We've incorporated several parameters based on business requirements, including minimum booking hours and maximum available dates. We’ve also implemented a custom discounting system that enables us to offer discounts based on dollar amounts or percentages, applicable to either the full order or equipment only. The equipment reservation system is tied to real-time inventory tracking, letting our customers place orders alongside their reserved dates.