ABOUT THE STUDIO
Wide practice.
Sharp focus.
Studio Sampersand is the artist name and working practice of Sam Vlerken: strategist, technologist and maker. One person, many disciplines, no imaginary army of interns.
S & OTHERS
The ampersand is the point.
The S is personal. The ampersand leaves the door open—to collaborators, brands, users, materials and ideas that improve when they meet. Studio Sampersand grew out of earlier names—Spacious Thoughts, The Printed Cathedral and Doctor Graph—as the work moved beyond design into strategy, products, technology and physical making.
Currently open to the right in-house role and considered collaborations.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES
Less doctrine. More useful pressure.
- 01
Useful before impressive.
A beautiful answer to the wrong question is still wrong.
- 02
Make. Test. Improve.
Rapid prototypes keep ideas alive long enough to meet reality—and expose what theory politely ignored.
- 03
Human first. Technology close.
Craft and code strengthen each other. Digital speed is useful; human judgement owns the final call.
- 04
Make it matter.
Form follows function. Decisions follow evidence. Materials, attention and energy deserve to be spent deliberately.
FOCUS LIKE A LASER
Navigate by lighthouse.
Go deep enough to solve the detail without losing the coast. The lighthouse principle starts by defining the destination, uses research and data to locate the route, and keeps testing until the work brings a brand and its people closer.
KODAK YELLOW
Warning.
Safety.
Possibility.
In Tom Sachs Studio’s Colors, yellow carries warning and rescue at once. It is hazard tape, a helicopter and the unmistakable box of film trusted to hold an image. Here, Kodak yellow marks the point where attention is required—and where making begins.
Influences run from Dieter Rams and Steve Powers to Laura Kampf, Adam Savage, Obey and Tom Sachs. They appear as standards to work against, never as borrowed costumes.
A SEPARATE NEEDLE
Tattoo work lives elsewhere.
Visit Sin Sam Tattoo ↗COLLABORATE
Bring the difficult bit.
If you want to collaborate or work together, feel free to reach out and discuss your project.
Start a conversation ↗