Who is Signér+Featherstone?

Signér+Featherstone are Johan Signer and Chuva Featherstone, we are a male and a female respectively, hailing form opposite ends of the world. Malmö, Sweden and Los Angeles, California, USA to be exact. We met on a super dreary spring afternoon at a vegan café through a mutual friend who insisted that we show each other our portfolios and the rest was history…professionally speaking.

What did you do before
Signér+Featherstone?

Johan: I’ve never studied, I have always learned by doing and I continue to believe in that. I worked as an art director at ad agencies until I decided I wanted to work with more personal projects that allowed me more freedom. So I started working as a freelance art director until Chuva and I met and decided to combine forces for the betterment of visuals everywhere.

Chuva: I studied fine arts and business at Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in Massachusetts and then started a company called Res Infinitus where I designed womenswear and did creative consulting with a very dear friend, Emily Williams. Then I moved back to LA and ran a non-profit program, called ResRide, teaching inner-city kids how to design and build skateboards in Los Angeles public schools. The economy in the US was in the toilet at the time, so I closed everything down and moved to Sweden because I was 25 and thought why not do something different before it’s too late to take leaps like that. I worked as a freelance illustrator and as a marketing/pr strategist at Frankly, a product creation agency in Malmö. Johan and I were working together on small projects for some time before we decided to go all in and now here we are.

What are you inspired by?

Johan: Blank sheets of paper. I’m a bit obsessed with grids and patterns…cities from above, patterns in nature; it is sort of my obsessive-compulsive thing. Layers, puzzles, I’ll stop there since I could get really deep about it. I’m also drawn to scent memory….

Chuva: Hmmm…honestly? The opposite of Johan, blank sheets of paper freak me out. Riding my bike outside, walking outdoors…it sounds weird, but growing up in LA those aren’t things we really do. Outdoors means in a car most of the time. Driving to the beach, driving to the mountains, driving to the gym. So that freedom to commute and touch/talk/run into people is something that really gets my mind moving. Also, coffee. All day. Every. Day. Fo real.

What do you enjoy about working together?

Chuva: We are opposites in a beautiful way and when I really think about it, I have never worked so well with someone who is so different from me as Johan, nor have I ever felt so privileged to work alongside someone else. Period. I’d say when it comes to things we have in common we kind of stop after black Nikes with white soles, Rick Owens and clear eyeglass frames…also we have the same winter coat….other than that, we kinda disagree on a lot of things. But seriously they are the most productive and creative disagreements ever. It’s more like we challenge each other’s taste, thoughts, statements. We push each other. That is a rarity. Thank you Johan.

Johan: For many years I have looked for the right creative partner, someone who brings energy, vision and an alternate view on things. With Chuva I found all of that and now it feels like we’re sailing out on a great ocean into infinity. Our different geographic backgrounds bring a lot of diversity and with projects happening in Scandinavia and California and beyond, it generates an amazing vibrancy and cultural variation.

Where is Signér+Featherstone based?

We are currently based out of Malmö Sweden, but we are lovers of travel and are always excited to visit other cities and countries to work more closely with our clients.

What kind of projects do you enjoy working on?

We enjoy projects that allow us a lot of room to sculpt ideas and run with them with free hands. Our client NYA is a great example of this. When we first met the brothers behind NYA, all we knew was that they had a vision to change the American perception of tea for a younger demographic. They explained their idea and the value in their product and we were instantly on board. It is rare to be involved at such an early stage. We were there at the birth of the idea, which is way different than just coming in as an external designer. That experience with NYA has allowed us all to grow together and really be invested on a deeper level. We have become so close that we share all our successes and learning experiences with each other. When one of us wins, we all win, is our mantra.

Can I visit Signér+Featherstone?

Well of course you can! We love visitors, but just give us a ring or shoot us an email first so we can be sure to put on a pot of coffee before you arrive.