ALWAYS WITH HONOR
Always With Honor is a US-based design collective founded by Tyler Lang and Elsa Chaves. Their work has appeared in Monocle, GOOD, Wired and Esquire magazines. Infographics, icons and maps are their bag. What’s not to love?
Above: An illustration for Monocle magazine
Hey Elsa and Tyler, thanks for chatting with Gym Class Magazine.
Elsa and Tyler: Hi, thanks for having us!
You’ve landed some ace gigs, creating illustrations and infographics for Good, Monocle and Wired Italia magazines. Seriously A-list. That must feel pretty good?
Elsa: It’s been great having the opportunity to work with publications that we have read and admired, and it’s also a nice bonus to be able to reference such great companies when we show our moms what it is that we do for a living.
Tyler: Although I still feel like they don’t know if we create designs for the magazine, design the magazine or just choose the magazine’s colors and typefaces.
How do you know each other? How did Always With Honor come about and what’s the thinking behind the name?
Elsa: We actually met and started dating in college at RCAD and have been inseparable since – so we recently decided to take a shot at working together professionally.
Tyler: The thinking behind the name: let’s be epic, but in a fun way.
Above: An infographic for Wired Italia magazine
You’ve worked with clients from both Europe and the States. Where are you based and how is it working with international clients?
Elsa: We were initially based in Brooklyn, NY – but have recently made the jump across the country and are now settled in Portland, OR.
Tyler: Apart from always having to send things six hours earlier than here in the States, working internationally is great. We have to pay a bit more attention to what we’re designing, making sure the work translates universally. For instance, a green rectangle doesn’t always say money.
You’ve created some seriously cool infographics for GOOD magazine. I was around for a Q&A with a couple of the guys from GOOD at Colophon (an independent magazine symposium) in Luxembourg earlier this year. They seem like pretty nice guys.
Tyler: Nail on the head, I can’t say enough good things about those people. I had the pleasure of working for GOOD a bit back, from the owner to the water delivery guy, class people.
Above: An infographic for GOOD magazine
Talk me through the process of creating an infographic for GOOD. How collaborative is the process and how long does it take?
Elsa: GOOD gave us a lot of freedom and input into the transparencies we created, they even used some of our ideas for the content, so they became very personal and fun to work with. We usually sketched/conceptualized together, then took shots individually at the layout, and combined the chosen direction into something we both had a hand in. In some cases one of us will lead the project – Hall of Mascots (Tyler), White House Garden (myself) – but we always try to support each other and lend a hand with the production wherever possible.
Tyler: Yeah, the whole process was very fast and fluid. We were given a week for each transparency, concept to completion.
You’ve already worked with some pretty cool clients. Are there any other magazines you haven’t yet created for but would like to?
Elsa: I would love to work with ReadyMade.
Tyler: Zoo books, let’s talk.
Thanks again for your time, you guys are first class. Peace out.
Tyler and Elsa: Our pleasure, thanks!
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