It is with deep sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend, Peter Lax.

Peter was one of the kindest, most inspiring and fun people I’ve ever worked with. He was more than just a client — he was a true friend and a mentor to me. For nearly ten years, we worked on many creative projects, but nothing compared to the work we did around his beloved boat, Fladen.

Fladen was Peter’s floating world — full of soul, stories, and style. I had the chance to visit and stay on board before I moved to Greece, and we designed so many things together for it. Every little corner had a story. One of my favorite memories is when Peter found an old technical drawing of Fladen buried deep in an online archive. From a small handwritten drawing, he created a custom font and used it as the hand-drawn logo for the boat. That was Peter: always exploring, always paying attention to the beauty in the details.

We even dreamed of turning Fladen's world into a coffee table book — with illustrations, maps of its journeys, and the stories behind every object onboard. That dream stayed with us for years but life didn’t give us the chance to do that life time project.

Another project we were proud of was Torpedverkstan, a restaurant he founded with great passion. I had the privilege of working closely with him on its design — from big concepts down to the smallest details. We spent countless hours sketching, brainstorming, and dreaming together.

The last project we worked on together was for something called The Lightship Club. It was full of potential, full of energy. Sadly, we never got to see it happen.

Peter, I will miss you deeply. Thank you for every conversation, every lesson, every laugh. Your influence on my life and career is something I will carry with me always. You will never be forgotten, brother.

Salih - Athens - 30 April 2025

Back in 2015, we had the honor of redesigning Eagle Coffee, one of the first brands to introduce coffee to the US!

What makes this project so fascinating is its deep historical roots. Coffee was first introduced to the world from Constantinople, known today as Istanbul. Interestingly, the client's family, who are Greek Ottomans, were the pioneers in importing coffee from Istanbul to the US.

Above is the original historic packaging of Eagle Coffee, currently on display at the Baltimore Industrial History Museum.

As the design lead and founder of Garage, Salih Kucukaga's roots in Istanbul made this project particularly significant. It was a remarkable opportunity for us to participate in the redesign of such a historic product.

If you take a close look at the original package, you'll notice the old silhouettes of Constantinople.

Check out the full project on Behance.

Back in 2018, we were working on a brand update project for our client, Huel. They were quite happy and proud of the brand logotype that we designed for Huel and the recognition it had gained. However, they voiced they needed a simpler brand symbol for specific applications.

Taking that on board, we iterated on a new exploration. We framed the 'H' letter in Huel's logotype within a circle. The result was a strong, compact symbol that distilled Huel's identity into a single graphic mark.

The team loved it, and we felt it added a new dimension to the Huel brand!

Despite its potential, the client decided to stick with their logotype for the time being. Our proposed symbol was put on the back burner, saved perhaps for a future time when it might be resurrected and incorporated into Huel's brand identity.

The story serves as a reminder of the fluid and often unpredictable nature of design work. Even though this exploration didn't make the final cut, it is a piece of our creative journey with the Huel brand.

Who knows? Maybe one day, we'll see this strong visual element become part of Huel's identity.

Stay tuned for more stories from our design journey!

This week, we've worked on this fun project for one of our favorite clients through a subscription at TheDesignPlans.com

The project involves creating some fun designs for the 130th anniversary of this historic lightvessel boat, a landmark in Stockholm.

Back in 2017, we designed the original boat and tower illustration for Fladen. Now, we've tried a more direct, frontal angle with added wreath and light reflections.

We've also toyed around with some ideas for flags and the FL logo monogram, which Salih had previously put up for feedback on Twitter.

Lastly, if you'd like to check out the designs we created for this client back in 2017 for their 125th anniversary, here's the link.

These designs were featured by Behance in two categories - branding and illustration.

Excited! Our new product's site TheDesignPlans.com is featured in Sparkle App's fresh 5.0 version that just released!

Our site isn't fully complete yet, but we've used some new cool Sparkle features and it's awesome to get featured!

Sparkle, for those of you unfamiliar, is an innovative website design app that allows you to create stunning, interactive websites without any coding knowledge. Their latest 5.0 version is a game-changer, offering tons of cool new features to take your website design experience to the next level!

We're beyond pumped to share some exciting news with you all - our latest product, The Design Plans, is now live!

Here at Garage, we've always had a special place in our hearts for our long-term partners who believe in us and our creative process. It's those relationships, formed under a retianer-fee model, that have inspired us to rethink our approach and embrace a design membership plan.

Why membership plans, you ask? We're all about design – creating illustrations, iconic branding, and packaging designs that turn heads. The time we spent preparing proposals, managing contracts, and negotiating revisions was time we felt could be better spent on design. With our new membership model, we're able to dodge these traditional business hurdles and focus on what we truly love doing - design. Plus, it's a win for our clients too, offering a clear, straightforward process where the costs and deliverables are upfront and transparent.

With TheDesignPlans.com, starting your design projects is a breeze. No more back-and-forth emails and calls. Payment is swift and secure, with credit card, Apple Pay, and Link.com options for quick processing. And here's the cherry on top - we're offering a completely free 7-day trial for our potential clients to test our services and the quality of our work.

Now, here's something important to note - we're only taking on a limited number of clients to ensure we can manage the process effectively and deliver top-notch designs. Currently, we have openings for just 2 more new clients.

So, if you're keen on securing your spot in The Design Plans, you better move fast!

Stay tuned as we continue to refine and expand The Design Plans.

We believe this new approach will revolutionize the way we work and the way our clients experience design services.

We're excited about this new chapter at Garage and look forward to welcoming you to The Design Plans.

I’m super happy to be part of my good friend Fabien Barral's legendary Letterpress Calendar project for the fifth time this year. But this design holds a special place in my heart. Fabien's daughter is a horse enthusiast, an awesome rider, and a trainer. She's incredibly talented. I also included my beautiful newborn daughter in this design.  If you've got a keen eye, you'll spot my daughter's name, Yaz, in one of the clouds. This design means a lot because it represents both my daughter and Fabien's daughter.

The Letterpress Calendar project is a yearly treat that showcases custom designs from a select group of designers. Each month gets its own design, and these designers hail from all corners of the globe. It's a project that's chock-full of inspiring quotes, all brought to life with some seriously unique designs. This year, I had the honor of crafting the design for the month of May.

Salih - Garage’s Head of Design

We have some updates to share with you. We're currently preparing for the launch of Garage V3 and will soon be introducing our new landing page and work plans.

Yes, you heard it right – work plans! At Garage, our goal has always been to provide the best service to our clients. In alignment with this, we're switching to subscription plans, paving the way for more efficient and swift collaborations with our clients.

Moreover, as a glimpse of Garage's new version, we're sharing a small preview with a t-shirt design we enjoyed creating.

Stay tuned for the full launch of Garage V3, where we'll reveal all the new features and improvements.

Keep an eye on our blog and social media channels for more details about Garage V3. We'll be sharing more in the coming days.

This year, we attended what has become our classic Barcelona Offf conference for the third time, along with our good friend Fabien Barral, also known as Mr. Cup and formerly known as Graphic Exchange. We had the opportunity to meet some incredible people at our booth in the market. The amazing individuals we encountered at this conference once again reminded us why we are so passionate about what we do.

Although it was quite exhausting to meet hundreds of people for over 12 hours a day at the market, every single moment was truly wonderful.

We're looking forward to catching up with everyone again next year!

We're thrilled to share that two of our designs have been showcased on a brand new coffee blog called Coffee Hex. Our good friend Lauren Winder Hoar, who is a talented and creative writer, has recently launched this exciting new coffee blog. We've had the pleasure of collaborating with her on several projects in the past, and we know that her passion for coffee and writing will make this blog a huge success. Thanks Lauren, for featuring our work on Coffee Hex!