Since 2004 Alfalfa Studio has been creating truly inspiring work in sports, arts and culture, hospitality, and entertainment.
Producing award-winning design, Alfalfa Studio flourished from the start. Rather than seeking to grow the studio into a larger agency, Esquer has chosen to keep Alfalfa Studio small and entrepreneurial. It’s a business model that works well to preserve the founding ideal of free artistic expression and to ensure that clients always have direct access to the design team. Centrally located in the historic district of Sugar Hill in Harlem, the birthplace of the 1920s Harlem renaissance movement. Alfalfa Studio is proud to be part of the now thriving mix of cultural traditions and avant garde creativity. We remain faithful to our multicultural heritage and are thrilled to be in one of New York City's most iconic culture hubs.
What keeps the Alfalfa team excited about design is the challenge of solving complex problems for clients through simplicity, surprise, and beauty. Their initial approach is from a white canvas, without the overlay of formulas or rules. Yet that canvas is always stretched by personal artistic experience: journeys through the many worlds of language, education, love, literature, film, fine art, pop culture, music, science, politics, travel, and dreams.
While the studio embraces diverse visual styles, points of view, techniques, cultures, and influences, its philosophy is strictly consistent:
Make the idea clear and simple, the design surprising and beautiful.
Faithful adherence to this philosophy has paid off. In 2007, for example, German publisher Taschen included Esquer in their collection of the world’s 100 most progressive designers working today (Contemporary Graphic Design. Charlotte and Peter Fiell, eds.).Ranging from a local start-up company to a large international corporation, clients at Alfalfa Studio have included Paramount, Brookfield Properties, Booz Allen, Open House New York, Guggenheim Partners, Ford Foundation, Museum of the City of New York, Goethe Institut, Kate Spade New York, The Glass House, Björk, Amphibian Stage, The Houston Rockets, The New York Times Magazine, Nike, AIGA, International Flavors and Fragrances, Target, Scholastic, Museo del Barrio, The City of New York and MTV.
Alfalfa Studio’s website displays the range of artistic, conceptual, and strategic thinking that we bring to the practice of graphic communications. The projects included here are united by our belief in the emotional power and clear communication of good design, and in the advantages of working without creative restraints.
In 2009, Alfalfa Studio launched Alfalfa New York its own online brand. Alfalfa New York distributes the studio’s original Iconic Poster Series.
Team
RAFAEL ESQUER
Formerly Creative Director at Radical Media, his group’s work in communication design received the National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. In 2007, Taschen named Rafael one of the world’s 100 most influential graphic designers working today. Some of his work is contained in the Library of Congress poster collection, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Denver Art Museum, and the Olympic Museum in Switzerland.
He teaches at the School of Visual Arts, sits on the Advisory Board for the Diversity Archives at AIGA, and serves as Emeritus Board Member for Adobe Partners by Design.
Rafael received his BFA in graphic design from Art Center College of Design.
JOSÉ FRESÁN
Originally from Mexico City, José joined Alfalfa Studio in 2018 where he enjoys working in close collaboration with clients who value the power of innovative design. As a Fulbright Grantee, José earned his master’s degree in Branding + Integrated Communication from the City College of New York. As Art Director at Alfalfa Studio, he’s led a wide variety of projects for clients in many categories including hospitality, sports, arts and culture, education, and technology.
His over 12 years of communication design experience ranges from graphic services for global brands such as Colgate and General Mills to brand development for music festivals.
Prior to joining Alfalfa Studio in 2018, Jose ran his own design studio for five years.
CHUY ORTEGA
Chuy joined Alfalfa Studio in 2015 and has led a myriad of graphic services for clients including Guggenheim Partners, The Museum of the City of New York, Repertorio Español, Booz Allen Hamilton, Brookfield Properties, and The Goethe-Institut among others. Known for his creative conceptual thinking and attention to detail, Chuy is skilled at understanding complex information and visualizing it into accessible graphic design.
Born and raised in Harlem, Chuy is inspired by the grit and energy of the city which he brings to his design work. Raised in a bilingual household, Chuy is fluent in English and Spanish.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication Design from New York City College of Technology, CUNY.
