VisuaLingual: A True Urban Couple Creating Locally Influenced Designs

Team CAHC Featured Shop of April, 2011.

Interviewed by Lu, Luluslittleshop,
written by Lindsay Braud, Lulufitzgerald 
and edited by Lauren Martin, The Artsy Bibliomaniac.

Maya and Michael find inspiration in the everyday, unexpected items they find while walking through their city.  This creative couple owns and operates VisuaLingual, an all media design and print studio located in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.  Learning to see is vital to creating art; Maya and Michael walk through Over-the-Rhine with wide eyes, absorbing the rich visual wonders of the neighborhood and translating them into colorful, unique designs.

For as long as they have known each other, Maya and Michael have been collaborating on design work that relates to the idea of place. Soon after moving to Cincinnati, they started focusing on the locally inspired products that led the opening of their Etsy shop. “Initially, our focus was on home accessories like prints and coasters, inspired by Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine,” they said.  “The shop has evolved to include more items that relate to place in different ways, and which aren’t limited to the Queen City.”

Maya and Michael design products and ephemera that celebrate urban experiences. When they are not working on seed bombs, tea towels, prints of Cincinnati, ceramics and more, Maya and Michael can be found wandering Cincinnati in search of inspiration. They read a lot about urban planning, the history of cities, and architecture. On their walks, Maya and Michael search for beauty in hidden plain sight:  the cobblestone in old alleyways or faded commercial signs on the sides of historic buildings.

A typical day for the VisuaLingual couple starts with a lot of e-mail, followed by seed bomb production, packing orders, running to the post office, followed by even more e-mail.  “Sometimes we make in-person deliveries to neighborhood stores that stock our work, which is always fun,” they said. 

Maya and Michael aren’t just suburban commuters driving into the city every day to work; their Over-the-Rhine studio is also their home.  The domestic and the design work ebb and flow with one another in a rhythm that has some great advantages, especially for creative work,   They can prepare dinner, do laundry and take TV breaks in between meeting the demands of running a business and creating artwork.  Living and working in the same place means the couple has everything they need on hand should inspiration strike; however, it also deprives them of the ability to leave work at work.  “The disadvantage is that we’re never far from our work, but the immense advantage is that we have all the comforts of home while working. And with our iPhones, we can quickly reply to queries and handle other administrative tasks while we’re running errands for the studio.”

For Maya and Michael living in Cincinnati means being involved, active residents.  Over the past three years they have participated in special events and exhibits at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Contemporary Arts Center, ArtWorks, KraftHaus, Nicholas Gallery, and MICA 12/v.  They are also active members of the Southwest Ohio Street team and one of more than 60 shops represented by the Cincinnati Area Handmade Creations team, two locally based Etsy teams.  Michael also works as the program coordinator for the non-profit ArtWorks, an organization that strives to develop and support both established and future artists while using art to enhance and enrich the Cincinnati community. 

Their work has been featured both locally and nationally in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, House Beautiful, The Cincinnati Enquirer, CINWeekly, BuyCincy, and Cincinnati Magazine, just to name a few. In addition to the VisuaLingual Etsy shop, their work is sold in several Cincinnati-area stores including Park+Vine and MiCA 12/v in Over-the-Rhine, and at the Contemporary Arts Center gift shop downtown.  Their popular seed bombs can be found in stores across the United States. 

Maya was born in Gdynia, Poland and raised in Gdynia and Brooklyn, New York. Michael was born and raised in Indianapolis.  Maya holds an BA in Philosophy and Critical Theory as well as an MFA in 2D Design, and has an impressive professional background that includes teaching, lecturing, writing and curating design exhibits internationally.  Michael received a BFA in Visual Communication and earned his Master’s Degree in Community Planning, with a focus on Urban Design.   They met almost ten years ago in Indianapolis and have been wandering city streets, taking in their unique characteristics ever since.

Check them out at:
shop: http://visualingual.etsy.com
blog: http://visualingual.wordpress.com
connect: www.facebook.com/visualingual