Alum Entrepreneurs Start Own Design Firm in Over-the-Rhine

Less than a year after their graduating from the University of Cincinnati’s

nationally top-ranked

industrial design program housed in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), three young alums began their own design firm in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

The young grads – Alex Aeschbury, originally from Columbus, Ohio; Zach Darmanan-Harris, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and Mike Nauman of Dayton, Ohio – opened

Such + Such

in March 2011, just nine months after they graduated from UC in June 2010.

According to Aeschbury, the three began the entrepreneurial venture because “we wanted to be in charge. Between us, we had worked for 18 different companies while on UC co-ops. And we knew what we didn’t want and that was to have a small part of a task, product, branding or packaging project. We wanted to dictate the direction of an entire company, from capital investments to the finish on screws."

And that’s exactly what the three have received as they specialize in three different areas:

•  Custom milling and fabrication

•  Design consulting

•  An expanding line of products that will soon be carried online and in bricks-and-mortar locales in Cincinnati and Columbus

 The milling and fabrication work brings their firm clients with unusual needs for prototypes and study models. For instance, they recently create a four-foot long spork utensil for a short web video/commercial. They’ve also completed a build out for a boutique soon to open in Over-the-Rhine.

In terms of their own product line, Such + Such produces home goods informed by a self-reliant minimalism, and the line now includes a coffee table, coat rack, clock and wall light – with more to come. The items are currently available on Etsy (the Amazon of handmade items) and will soon be available from Such + Such’s own e-tail site as well as at Grid Furniture in Columbus and

Losantiville Design Collective

at 1311 Main St. in Over-the-Rhine. (Such + Such is located in the Losantiville Gallery.)

Having their own firm is “exciting and scary,” according to Aeschbury who added, “It’s hard in that we have to be our own accountants and business professionals, but we like a good challenge. It’s different every day – higher stress, more responsibility but also a lot more fun.”