“My goal in life is to make cool shit”: Zan Goodman on her creative studio, Zan Inc.

Founded by Zan Goodman, the New York-based creative agency Zan Inc. has, in some ways, evolved considerably since it launched in 2018 – working with bigger briefs, brands and clientele. However, Zan Inc.’s creative output is still an attentive extension of Zan’s creative philosophy – one that is as considerate and compelling as it’s always been. “I began my career in print editorial, cutting my teeth in the art departments of a few fashion and music magazines,” Zan says. Here she learnt to combine photography, illustration, layout, and, importantly, storytelling alongside developing her foundational design skills. In other words: “All that essential stuff that I still use every day.” 

A couple of years later, Zan became an art director at a creative agency, approaching brands and advertisements through an acutely editorial eye. “I worked on a bunch of really big ad campaigns and really learned how brands work,” she says, “how to present to clients, this whole other piece I hadn’t learned before.” After later becoming design director, a role Zan held for a number of years and which gave her the opportunity to build her own team, she moved then on. “I realised that I wasn’t getting my own hands dirty and designing myself much anymore,” she explains, “so I left and started my own studio in 2018.”

“My practice is defined by all of those passions and experiences,” Zan says. “A design-lead creative studio that approaches our work with an editorial lens.” Zan Inc.’s portfolio has an undeniably relaxed certainty across its overall creative approach – crafting thoughtful aesthetic spaces that feel as effortless as they are meticulous. On her creative philosophy, Zan says: “My goal in life is to make cool shit. I am always asking a series of questions on each project as a sort of gut check too. Is it made with craft and attention to detail? Does it feel timeless (not trendy)?” In hitting, challenging and exploring this earnest criteria, Zan follows a defined methodology that affords creative flexibility – shaping work that’s all the better for it.