About Us
Kate Canales and Gray Garmon are design practitioners and design educators known for their joyful classroom culture and impactful client outcomes.
After many years of consulting with companies, leading workshops, and developing two University design programs, we see the power and pitfall of how people are learning to be creative leaders. We believe in learning through participation. This is why we developed The Summer Studio, a boutique design consultancy with a unique model.
We provide world-class design services while also aligning our work with ways to support the next generation of design leaders with the soft-skills that are necessary for creative leaders. These are skills that are best learned in the context of a design project and we seek to work with clients that understand the value of design as a tool for transforming human experiences.
There is no silver bullet for becoming a great creative leader.
The Boutique Consultancy Model
Professional design educators, working alongside up-and-coming design leaders from the best studios in Austin.
From September to May, our Principal Designers teach design (at one of the best design programs in the nation). But in the summer, we come together to flex our craft muscles and work together on a complex client project.
We invite “fellows” - up-and-coming design leaders from some of the city’s best design organizations to join the team. Design Fellows are bringing serious design skills of their own, but they are also learning the “soft skills” of leading creative teams.
