Once-Future Office

Nikki is a partner and strategic director at Once–Future Office. She sets the stage for successful projects by aligning client objectives with creative potential. Her purpose-driven approach to strategy comes from her appreciation for community engagement, clarity, and inspiring new ideas. A Portland, OR native, Nikki excels at helping large groups—be it staff, community members, donors, or boards—find common ground on their objectives through her laid back but direct style. Nikki loves color, typography, details, and Dungjai’s mom’s cooking. A lifelong learner, she enjoys listening to podcasts (from geopolitical wonkery to Bachelor analysis), knitting, traveling, and watching her two young children grow. She looks forward to a day when she can explore the world with her kids. 

Nikki’s experience spans nearly 20 years across design studios, large agencies, fashion houses, magazines, and architecture firms. She has lectured and taught at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), Rhode Island School of Design, and the California College of the Arts. Nikki holds a BA in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and an MFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design.

Nick joined Once–Future Office in 2017. With a love for big-picture thinking, design systems, and making people smile, he’s designed identities, campaigns, and experiential work across mediums and touchpoints. Current and past projects include signage and wayfinding for the expanded Buffalo AKG Art Museum, a citywide multi-platform voting campaign with NYC Votes, exhibitions at the Center for Architecture and Storefront for Art & Architecture, and a brand identity and website for a community-based program of the NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene. Previously, Nick designed identity systems, art objects, and fashion campaigns at Sagmeister & Walsh and PlayLab, Inc. He studied Graphic Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Outside of the O–FFICE, he’s watching movies, baking, and trying hard.

A Brooklyn native, Gilda joined Once-Future Office in 2021. Coming from a background in architectural conservation and with a masters from Columbia University’s GSAPP, Gilda brings her love for research, design, and the built environment to the projects she manages at Once–Future. She prioritizes client satisfaction and ensures projects of all scopes and scales run smoothly, on schedule, and within budget. Recently managed projects include signage and wayfinding for the expanding campus of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, a multi-channel voter engagement campaign for the city of NY, and signage and wayfinding for Brookfield’s two ground-up mixed-use towers in the Bronx. When she’s not making spreadsheets and firing off emails in O–FFICE, Gilda enjoys spending summers in Fire Island and being an auntie to three nieces and nephews.

Drianne joined Once–Future Office in 2016. She is integral to a wide range of projects of different services and scales. Her work is driven by systematic solutions that delight and clarify information. Drianne has led the design on an exhibition surveying 60 years of public art in NYC at the Museum of the City of New York, an animal-friendly signage and wayfinding system for the Brooklyn Animal Care Center, a brand identity and website for LEVER Architecture, and a 274-page creative business strategy book for Emily Cohen. She draws inspiration from other art forms such as culinary arts, dance choreography, photography, and music production. Drianne studied Communication Design at the University of Connecticut and at Central Saint Martins in London. Her favorite place in the world is within the valley of Yosemite National Park.

Dungjai is a co-founder and Creative Director of Once-Future Office. A big picture systems-thinker who loves connecting design, people, and the built environment, she sees potential in all things and brings unmatched creative vision to the studio. A first-generation Thai-Chinese American and native Californian (LBC!), she leads our teams and projects with warmth and patience while getting shit done. Dungjai is an award winning designer whose work has been recognized by the Art Directors Club, Type Directors Club, Print Regional Design Annual, the Society of Publication Designers, and the Van Alen Institute. With her hands-on approach, she has led multi-channel campaigns for NYC, identity systems for leading practices within the architecture and design industry, exhibitions for renowned cultural institutions, and wayfinding for world-class buildings and museums.

Dungjai was previously the Art Director at Metropolis magazine where she led the art department staff in all aspects of the magazine’s publication and subsidiary brands. She holds a BA in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and an MFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design. Dungjai has taught at Pratt Institute and the School of Visual Arts (SVA). When she’s OOO, she enjoys being a mama bear for her two sassy girls, eating good food with good company, and anything that sparkles.

Helen joined Once–Future Office in 2021. She works on a range of projects including identity, signage, exhibitions, print, and websites. In keeping with her interest in materiality, typography, and experimentation, Helen takes a multidisciplinary approach to each project she works on, creating powerful, concept-driven work. Her favorite parts of the design process are research, exploration, and strategy. Helen has worked on projects such as the NYC Votes Primary and General Election campaigns, signage and environmental graphics for Galaxy Digital’s New York office space, and a strategic brand refresh and citywide campaign for NYC climate and environmental justice. She received her BFA from The Cooper Union and was a recipient of the Rhoda Lubalin Fellowship for Type High: Experiments in Dimensional Design and Typography. Helen loves when letterforms are large, dimensional, and something you can interact with.

Joseph joined Once–Future Office in 2022. With an interest in identity design and typography, Joseph is passionate about finding creative solutions that bring graphic elements into physical spaces. Most recently at Once–Future, Joseph worked on an exhibition at the Center for Architecture featuring Fairy Tale Architecture and a 35th Year Anniversary logo for the New York Immigration Coalition. Previously, he worked on the identity and art direction for Utopia, an exhibition at WantedDesign Manhattan. He studied graphic design and industrial design at Rhode Island School of Design. Having grown up in California, Joseph enjoys road trips, hiking, exploring new places, and photographing all the exciting things he sees along the way.