About

We believe in cultivating beauty—brands, typography, logos, compositions, words—that delight our clients and their audiences.

But many worthy studios offer gorgeous design. Overstory delves beyond the surface and takes care of brands at a deeper level. We cultivate beauty rooted in meaning.

Overstory was established in 2022 by industry veterans, designers, and strategists Julie Savasky, Wendy Smith, and Jann Baskett. Between three partners, both coasts, and many points in between, the list below represents a combined sampling of clients we’ve had the great fortune of working with over many years.

Select Clients

ARTS
Austin Film Society
Ballroom Marfa
Blanton Museum
Fusebox Festival
Houston Ballet
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
The Contemporary Austin
The Menil Collection
Women & Their Work

LITERARY
Dallas Literary Festival
Kirkus Reviews
Southwest Review
Texas Book Festival
University of Texas Press
Wildsam

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Clayton Korte
Droese Raney
Regan Baker Design

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
AMC
Food Network
GigaOm
HBO
Ozymandias
SXSW
The Texas Tribune

HOSPITALITY & CONSUMER
Allbirds
Cookie Rich
Emma + Ollie
Fonda San Miguel
Green Pastures
Howler Brothers
Leona Botanical Café & Bar
Reel ‘Em Inn Rockport
Thai Fresh
The Salt Lick
Uchi
Whole Foods
Zoé Tong

NON-PROFIT
Downtown Austin Alliance
Emancipet
Knight Center for Journalism
Livestrong
Texas Department of Agriculture

EDUCATION
College Forward
Compass Learning
Folio Collaborative
KIPP
Marquette University
North Carolina State University
St. Stephen’s Episcopal School
The Hockaday School
The Lamplighter School
University of Manitoba
University of Southern California
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Versity
Virginia Commonwealth University

Julie Savasky

PRINCIPAL, CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Julie is an Austin-based graphic designer and industry veteran with extensive expertise in brand identity design, editorial design, web design, and environmental graphics. After 22 years at international design consultancy Pentagram, Julie founded her own design studio 508 Creative to help clients build brands by distilling their unique point of view into inspired visual storytelling. Clients include Fusebox Festival, Dallas Literary Festival, Field Guide Festival, Droese Raney, Howler Brothers, Hunt Realty Investments, L.L. Bean, Lands’ End, Marquette University, The Contemporary Austin, Thai Fresh, The Salt Lick, Uchi, University of Southern California and University of Texas Press.

Julie’s work has garnered various awards from Graphis, Communication Arts, Society of Publication Designers, and Texas Institute of Letters among others. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southwestern University.

Wendy Smith

PRINCIPAL, BRAND AND DESIGN STRATEGY

Wendy is a design-trained strategist who works with founders and leaders to help businesses solve brand challenges. By listening intently to uncover the issues, Wendy provides an insights-based, design-driven approach that leads to breakthrough ideas.

Professional experiences include four years as a public high school English teacher, and over ten years at: San Francisco brand consultancies Elixir and VBP Orange; Brooklyn-based Red Antler; Foxtrot and Helms Workshop in Austin. She founded her own strategy and design consultancy in 2015. Clients include Allbirds, Clayton Korte, Cookie Rich, Regan Baker Design, and The Texas Tribune. Wendy has a degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin and studied graphic design at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Jann Baskett

ADVISOR, BRAND STRATEGY

For the past five years, Jann has been Chief Brand Officer at South by Southwest. She was recruited to join SXSW after she led its re-brand at her agency, Foxtrot. There, her clients ranged from national (Google, Red Bull, Food Network, HBO, AMC) to hometown companies making national impacts (SXSW, Austin Film Society, Texas Tribune, Texas Monthly, Safe Alliance, Dulce Vida Tequila).

Previously, she was co-owner/director of brand strategy at Milkshake, SVP of marketing at Girl Games, and marketing director at Texas Monthly. Prior, she lived in New York and held creative services positions at Conde Nast’s Details and Mademoiselle; and prior, at The New York Times Magazine Group for several of their lifestyle titles. Her freelance clients included MTV, VH-1, SPIN, Gourmet, Self, Entertainment Weekly, and Vogue.

OVERSTORY
A STRATEGY AND DESIGN CONSULTANCY | AUSTIN, TEXAS

Beauty rooted in meaning.

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