Not a generational wealth fund.
For those who don't know, family offices are private companies that manage investments and capital for extremely wealthy families.
So, we are not a literal family office, but we are named so intentionally.
401 Broadway Suite 910
New York, NY 10013
Updates
Intimate updates about the firm are written by Diego on an irregular schedule. The most recent was written on June 30, 2024.
Team
The firm was founded by Diego Segura. Born in Texas, he dropped out of high school to work as a designer in the local startup scene. At 18, he moved to New York City to become the youngest ever Associate Designer at Collins, the brand identity design firm named agency of the year time and time again. After three years at the firm, he became a Senior Designer at a commodities-focused startup called Waybridge, before starting his first venture-backed company called Nation. The company's cap table was occupied by Placeholder, M13, Slow, Circle, and Tribe Ventures. The venture eventually failed, paving the way for a long and introspective trip abroad, a freelance practice, and the birth of Family Office.
Eliz Akgün is a founding partner of the firm, a long-time collaborator, and now an independent designer. She studied communication and media theory and published research while at the University of Michigan. After graduating, she worked at FCB in Chicago before moving to New York to work as a designer spanning brand and product at Nation. After the company disbanded, she and Diego continued to work together, and quickly became full-time collaborators.
Juan Pantoja is a Senior Designer. Though he's an excellent traditional graphic designer, he is perhaps most-admired as a painter, and his work in all mediums reflects that level of craft, color, and creativity. He has previously designed at and for Varyer, Blank Studio, Kinfolk Magazine, Compass, and Hodinkee, among others.
Laia Torrent Frugis is an Associate Designer who is comfortable with any medium, software, or challenge. Her work spans static, motion, 3D, and illustration. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in communications design.
Acknowledgments
Our past interns include: Bryce Carson who went on to work at Ogilvy, Porto Rocha, and now Koto Studio, Liv Beruti, our summer 2024 intern who is still in school at the Parsons School of Design, and her fellow classmate Dev Makker who went on to intern at Apple.
Freelance collaborators have been key in so many of our projects. They include one of our favorite designers on planet earth, Emily Nabnian, an Associate Creative Director at Gap, Brady Rish, a strategist and designer at Rand Corporation, Kekeli Sumah, and designers James Tupling and Matija Gabrilo.
Occasionally, we work alongside other firms and independent designers to service clients together. Among these so far have been Slow Rodeo, Cobbco, and Studio Freight.
I (Diego) would not be a designer if it wasn't for the good graces of Brian Collins of the eponymous firm, COLLINS. I was hired there as an 18-year-old high school dropout with zero design pedigree, an okay portfolio, and a dream. Both Brian and his co-founder, Leland Maschmeyer, have opened their minds to me for years in ways I will never be able to repay.
Many have said I am self-taught at design. This could not be further from the truth. Leo Porto, founder of 2023 Design Agency of the Year, Porto Rocha, was a Design Director at COLLINS when I first started, and he was the first person on the team to trust me with a project, and he taught me an immense amount in the time I spent working with him. Tom Wilder, Megan Bowker, Jump Jirakaweekul, and George and Dash Lavender were all key players in making me into a designer and strategist worth anything.
Courtney Shares, Rik Ito, and the late Vicki Lewis taught me corporate finance and the business side of running a high-powered agency, taking time out of their days to tutor me on rate cards, master services agreements, and agency finance.
After leaving COLLINS, I was hired by Kinney Lala who showed me how to work in-house and developed my voice as not only a young designer, but a leader. Not only did she empower me as a Senior Designer early in my career, but she has also vouched for me among clients, investors, and is now a partner, client, and friend.
As of this writing, we have been operating for a long time without ever having a public presence. That means we've grown to our current team of four by word of mouth alone. Among those who have sang our praises are the serial entrepreneur and founder of Nadia Partners, Aidan Kehoe, our client, friend, and now-collaborator Stephen Yaseen, venture investors Shoumik Dabir, Marthe Naudts, and Frazer Anderson. For every single intro you've sent and client you've recommended us to, thank you. I will never take those emails for granted.
Above all, we thank the clients. You know who you are. Great work doesn't get done without you. And the impact of our work doesn't happen unless you go and execute it. The respect and trust each you've afforded us cannot be measured. Thank you.
Diego by the windows.
Eliz at the table. “I Heart Laptop” sticker pictured.
Desks in the evening. Anglepoise Type 80 Desk Lamp.
Trang, Conner, Natalie, and Laia. Design review with our clients and friends at Ditto. Poster from Scheltens-Abbenes.
First day at the new office, in September 2024, before the rest of our desk chairs arrived.
The table. Lamp from Gantri, Issue 03 of Epoch Review, and a Herb Lubalin retrospective with the old L'eggs logo from 1969. (See our redesign of it here.)
Laia. Screen photoshopped for confidentiality.
Diego’s desk.