In the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, Usul Design is making waves in the world of branding and design. Their mission is as clear as their vision: to transform new or existing businesses into living, sustainable brands through look, voice, and feel. But their dedication goes beyond the ordinary. They aim to resonate and thrive within the health and wellness sphere, aspiring to be a widely respected and loved design agency.
“Our core values are reflected in the very meaning of our name Usul, an Arabic term for foundation, base, cornerstone, as in, the beginning of something fascinating,” comments Don, Usul’s Founder and CEO. “We are unified by our fundamental belief of making meaningful connections, providing quality experiences and lasting relationships. Decisions are motivated by emotions, therefore image is essential, no, rather, fundamental to a brand’s voice, look, and feel.”
While an intimate design agency, Usul.Design specializes in growing companies that wish to perfect their branding, marketing, digital, and social presence – with special expertise in strategy. Having worked with brands like Caravan Café, Noah’s Smoke House, and Athletica, Usual shows off their diversity in varying industries and proves that a great user experience also needs great design.
“Our passion is to develop a lasting identity through a process of ideation, creative design and brand development,” said Don. “Every touchpoint exuding the confidence and polish of a brand customers just have to know.”
Every journey has its hurdles, and for Usul, the biggest obstacle has been establishing connections with clients who truly comprehend the significance of exceptional branding and possess the necessary budgets. The team at Usul believes in the potential of every business, irrespective of its size or financial standing. They strive to assist remarkable yet smaller businesses by accommodating their budgets and providing expert branding services.
What sets Usul apart is their unwavering pride in each branding project they undertake. Every project becomes a learning experience, enabling the team to constantly evolve and enhance their expertise. The passion they inject into every collaboration not only benefits their clients but contributes to their growth as designers and strategists.
In the words of the visionary minds at Usul, their advice to fellow creatives is clear and motivating: they emphasize the value of hard work, but also stress the importance of working smarter. They encourage individuals to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and to constantly educate themselves, not only in their area of expertise but also in crucial business skills. This fusion of creative passion and business acumen, they believe, accelerates the journey towards success.
For Usul Design, the domain isn’t just an address on the web—it’s an integral part of their identity.
“Choosing .design for our web domain was easy. Our business name is Usul Design, so making it usul.design was a given. Also, we love the uniqueness and directness this domain offers. It’s clear communication to our audience and it can be a point differentiation from our competitors.”
As the story of Usul Design unfolds, their success is propelled by a deep-rooted passion for transforming brands and a commitment to seamless communication. Their journey, powered by creativity and a unique online presence through the .design domain, showcases their relentless pursuit of excellence in every project they undertake. Join them in the quest to transform your brand into a living, sustainable entity with Usul Design—where passion meets purpose and design reigns supreme.
If you’re an artist, designer, or enthusiast living in the United States, you’re well aware of the captivating beauty each of our 50 states brings. While the country is teeming with loads of natural beauty, the melting pot of cultures that founded and grew America is reflected in our architecture, paintings, and sculptures.
We’ve created a list of the top 15 designer’s paradises in the US, ranging from where to see the best art, the best man-made structures, and the best spots to go set up your easel and capture the natural beauty that is the United States of America.
The largest art museum in the Western Hemisphere, the Metropolitan Museum of the Art (the Met) has a permanent collection of over 2 million pieces of work inside their , separated into 17 different departments. As you walk through their five-story building, you can explore historic artwork from all over the world, as well as see some featured highlights such as Van Gogh’s self-portrait, Washington Crossing the Delaware, and a collection of Monet’s landscapes.
It’s almost not fair for us to put two art museums from the same city on one list, but we did. Located on 53rd Street in Manhattan, the Metropolitan Museum of Art – or the MoMA to NYC natives – is one of the largest museums of Modern Art in the world. The MoMA is filled with drawings and paintings, as well as sculptures, photography prints, and rotating themed displays by established and up-and-coming designers.
Famous for its large collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, the Art Institute of Chicago has 300,000 pieces of artwork, including iconic paintings like ‘American Gothic’ by Grant Wood, and ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’ by Georges Seurat. This designer’s paradise is also located close to Millennium Park, where you can find the infamous ‘Chicago Bean.’
While San Francisco’s Mission District is packed with plenty of restaurants and boutiques, what makes the Mission District a Designer’s paradise is twofold: not only are the historic buildings breathtaking, but the Mission District is considered a virtual outdoor art gallery – full of graffiti murals on building walls and fences. The artwork often has certain themes, such as cultural heritage and socio-political statements.
Another outdoor art gallery is the Heidelberg Project, which is located on Heidelberg Street in Detroit, Michigan. In 1986, Tyree Guyton returned to his home to find the neighborhood run-down and impoverished. Tyree, with the help of his family and neighbors, turned the entire street into a community art location by turning empty lots into ‘art lots,’ painting murals on the houses, and creating “gigantic art sculptures.”
Built between 1906 to 1988, the Washington National Cathedral features Neo-Gothic architectural styles, which can be identified by it’s pointed arches, flying buttresses, and vaulted ceilings inside the church. The Cathedral’s master architect was George Frederick Bodley, founder of Watts & Co, and its landscape was designed by Federick Law Olmsted Jr. Architects are welcome to visit the Cathedral during designated touring hours, or come visit the church during worship hours.
While the Biltmore Estate is an architectural masterpiece, note that the Biltmore Estate also features original art masterpieces, and carefully curated gardens for designers to enjoy. Built in 1895 for the Vanderbilt family, the 8,000-acre estate is a French Renaissance chateau-style mansion with 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces – complete with secret doors and hidden passageways.
Now an office building, the Wanamaker building was the first American department store built by John Wanamaker. Inspired by London’s Royal Exchange and Paris’ Les Halles, Wanamaker also invented the price tag in this building – believing that if everyone was equal before God, then everyone should be equal before price. Built in 1877, the Wanamaker building was the first store to use electrical lighting (introduced in 1878), and the first to use a pneumatic tube system to transport cash and documents (introduced in 1880). Today, you can see Florentine-Renaissance Revival styles throughout building’s architecture, along with the Wanamaker Organ, which was featured in the St. Louis World’s Fair.
Boasting “Over 1,000 years of tradition,” the Taos Pueblo are ancient ruins built by the Taos-speaking Native American tribe living in the area. The Pueblo is made entirely out of adobe (soil, water, and straw), and is still called home to 150 people – making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States. The Pueblo features a north and south area of homes, and is said to be some of the most painted buildings in America.
Voted the #8 Best Hotel in the United States, the Wentworth Mansion is a 21-room hotel featuring Italian crystal chandeliers, hand-carved marble fireplaces, and Tiffany stained glass. Built in 1886, the mansion combines multiple architectural styles throughout its four-story home, including Georgian, Regency, Federal, Classic, Greek, and Gothic Revivals, amongst many others. Any designer can find paradise both touring the mansion as well as it’s surrounding buildings, all which pay homage to historic Charleston.
For many Yellowstone might be a given, considering Yellowstone was the World’s first National Park (for good reason!). Spanning three states (Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho), Yellowstone is over 2.2 million acres and also holds half of the world’s active geysers. Designers can enjoy breathtaking waterfalls, exciting wildlife, hot springs, and mountains all within Yellowstone’s borders to find inspiration for their next design.
Located just 700 miles from the Arctic Circle are the Kenai Fjords – 40 glaciers meet mountains in the Kenai Peninsula to create this incredible landscape, which is also home to black and brown bears, beavers, river otters, and moose, amongst other wildlife. Designers can choose or hike the National Park to experience its beauty, or take one of the many boat tours that explore the fjords.
According to the USDA Forest Service, Multnomah Falls are the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest, and for good reason. Designers can get up-close-and-personal with the waterfall by walking Multnomah Fall’s iconic bridge, and enjoy the natural landscape surrounding the waterfalls. For the best views, designers should visit in mid-spring or in mid-autumn to enjoy the blooming flowers or changing leaves.
Settled on the west side of the Black Hills is Devils Tower National Monument: a standalone geologic figure that reaches 867 feet tall from its base, surrounded by grassy plains. Devils Tower is a sacred place to over 20 Native American tribes, and was made famous by the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977.
Talk about Earth’s natural architectural grandeur – Arches National Park is a not-so-hidden gem located in America’s Southwest. With over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, Designers can easily find inspiration from the arches and other rock formations throughout the 119 square miles of landscape, as well as the red and green desert tones of the arches themselves that exist due to the iron in the sandstone.
