I brought Collin in for the logo and the menu and somehow we ended up rebuilding the whole brand, and that's exactly why it works. He didn't take a brief and disappear. He sat in the dining room for a full service, asked me what the space was supposed to feel like at seven versus midnight, then built everything around my answer. I've hired designers who hand you a file and a goodnight; Collin worked with me on every mark, every line on the menu. Best design partner this restaurant has had, and I mean that.

I've hired designers before and the whole thing was me doing their job, on the call, every week, explaining the brand from zero. With Collin it was the opposite. He actually read the brief I'd given him the last time and came back with work that already had my voice in it. We went back and forth like he'd been in the kitchen with me. That's the first time a designer's felt like part of the team instead of a vendor.

The reason the brand finally lands is the back-and-forth I had with Collin. I was the one with three logo files and no idea which was right; he sat in the room, asked what it was actually for, and drew it back to me as one coherent voice. I've never had a designer make the work faster by asking better questions. If you need someone who treats your brand like it's his own, this is him.