Bright idea

In Chicago, a city classified by Forbes as the seventh worst city for traffic in the US, is a "crazy cool" neighbourhood that graphic design agency Bright Bright Great calls home. Located 15 minutes from Downtown Chicago, the office is everything you could never have imagined and more. For starters, the young staff of three live and work in the same apartment.

Jocelyn Ibarra, Bright Bright Great's CEO, is the first to admit it's not a huge office with many rooms. "We sort of manage everything between the office, living room, dining area/meeting room and kitchen. We hang out on the balcony when the weather's nice or we go outside and just walk around."

The agency, which specialises in graphic and web design, branding, copywriting and photography, has a united philosophy about design. "We believe it is about making things pretty but functional, because if design doesn't have a goal, then it's not worth it," says Jocelyn.

This same philosophy extends into the firm's office layout too. "Our work requires us to have fun and enjoy what we do, so we wanted a cool place to hang out, not just an area to work in. As we have a lot of books, toys and papers, we opted for long pretty desks with lots of drawers to keep post-its and sharpies in, as well as that massive Elfa shelving unit that's saved our life."

When it comes to furniture, the fun yet functional theory was put into practice again. "Our couch is beautiful, but also functional and comfortable. We use it for thinking, sleeping, talking to clients and reading. The only thing no one is ever allowed to do on the couch is eat," says Jocelyn.

"Colour-wise, we chose hot pink and grey because they go great together, plus they are really fun colours." Outside of those bursts of colour, the rest of the office is pretty sedate with a lot whites. "To up the fun factor", she says, "we decided to accessorise heavily and move things around every season. We do have to keep it moderate though because clients visit us and we can't always have toys lying around. That said, a lot of our clients love that we have expensive couches and Hasbro toys in the same place." The end result is a fusion of gleaming whites, bold accent colours and playful accessories.

When art director Jason Schwartz bought the space in 2008, the building wasn't even ready. That meant he could be involved in all the improvements and design additions that were implemented. "I wanted to keep the walls as large white canvases so that we could decorate with art as we went. The big pink wall is a throwback to Mexican pink, as well as a shrine to the work of Jon Burgerman," says Jason. His largest challenge, however, was the lack of space. "We live and work in a 1,200ft² loft of which 1,000ft² is the area of office space." The remaining 200ft² is used as their bedroom space. "It's quite crazy, but we manage."

The concrete pillars that came with the building were an element that was forceably part of the interior design. "We decided to leave them uncovered and unpainted for a more industrial look. All the art in this area is from Chuck Anderson [an American artist]; most of the prints are the number 001 of the batches he makes, because of the close friendship between the artist and Jason," says Jocelyn. The office space is divided into three zones: office area, living area and kitchen.

"The living area is the place to play and hang out. We watch TV and welcome our guests there. Its openness works to give the room a very relaxed feel. The dining area is for eating during the day and to do business during the evenings. The office is where the design magic happens, where Jason plays music and where I read. Every time clients comes to our office, they say they want to work here," says Jocelyn. She adds that her favourite areas in the office are: "The pretty pink walls, the TV area, the artwork and the giant windows that give us great natural light throughout the year."