The California Design Studio

Get in touch: hello@thoughtmerchants.com.

Our Bias

Scale with a soul. Scaling a business is hard. We solve for people, processes, and products to foster successful, operational, and profitable businesses for years to come.

Design is not magic. Design is a journey. It’s a continuous process made of many, many decisions and improvements. 

Start with your hardest problem. Wherever that may be, and take it from there.

Take care of the person. The work experience is directly related to the consumer’s experience.

Don’t hate what you do.  “Work? It’s just serious play.” - Saul Bass

Meet Steve Berry: founder, maker, peer.

Relationships are at the heart of pretty much every type of success, so let’s get to know each other. 

Studied graphic design. / Stopped fucking up and grew up, hung his work in the hallways at SCAD. / Graduated with a proper print portfolio and a pile of websites he designed and built. / Moved his broke ass home to Philly and looked for work. / Freelanced as a designer and a tech consultant, figured out how to survive. / Learned agile development process, figured this would be a “new, better” way for designing, too. / Moved to NYC, consulted as a UX and product designer and co-founded Code Climate. / Worked with some of the most interesting startups out there as a UX and product consultant, branding designer, corporate planner, agile process coach. / Became a trusted advisor. / Supported these companies when they took off. Helped during every round of investment. Assisted during equity or acquisition transitions. / Made other stuff.

Moved to LA where he runs Thought Merchants from the California Design Studio. Works with a diverse group of amazing people. 

Let’s go surfing.