years of

Here's a wild, true story about Nemo (25 years in biz this year, BTW).

The reason there is a Nemo Design is because prior to this #brandmarketinglyfe, back in the hay days lived a clutch of young, hungry strivers who were essentially the creative cretins for Morrow Snowboards of Salem, Oregon. They wore all the vibe-making hats: designer/photographer/creative director/team manager, and maybe a beret once in a while.

Out on the streets, the misfits from the Morrow art department realized they were basically not suited for employment in most traditional business environments, and decided to form a design agency. Studying the landscape of design and marketing agencies, they observed the "agency-named-after-and-dedicated-to-the-singular-style-of-the-founders" trend, and decided to take a different path.

They chose to name their design firm Nemo: a simple, semi-familiar, yet slightly quirky word that was easy to pronounce and fun to doodle. Nemo means No One in Latin, which fit the idea that they didn't want to be confused with a law firm, or an advertising agency. They wanted to stand for a way of working that was not limited to one style, but dedicated to collaboration and evolving with the times.