Such and Such celebrates three years of design and fabrication, grows with new facility

Such and Such founders Zach Darmanian-Harris and Alex Aeschbury have quite a bit to be proud of. This month, their Over-the-Rhine-based design and fabrication studio celebrates three years in business, six months in its new 10,000-square-foot shop and a partnership with local PR/design firm PB+J that has helped grow the business considerably. Still, the founders have their sites set even higher for the rest of 2014 and into the future.
 
Darmanian-Harries and Aeschbury, both graduates of the University of Cincinnati’s Industrial Design program at DAAP, decided to join forces while both working on their senior thesis using rapid prototyping technology to create custom products.
 
“After we graduated, it took us about a year to figure out how to get the funding we needed to get started,” says Darmanian-Harris. “Meeting Chris Heckman (of Losantiville Design Collective) really helped us get going.”
 
After meeting Heckman, Such and Such moved into Losantiville’s Main Street shop for two and a half years. But as Such and Such’s production needs increased, they began to look for alternatives.
 
“Once we needed to grow, it just wasn’t right for us anymore at Losantiville,” Aeshbury says. “We didn’t want to monopolize their space, but we needed more equipment and employees.”
 
So near the end of 2013, Such and Such moved its fabrication shop to a warehouse space located on the border of OTR and the West End owned by Carl Solway, whose Carl Solway Art Gallery is right next door.
 
“Carl initially came to us with a project for New York artist Peter Halley,” Darmanian-Harris says. “That ended up leading to us getting this huge workspace, which has been great.”
 
Such and Such has spent the last few months getting the new space running, hiring two new employees and further deepening its relationship with PB+J. While Aeschbury spends most of his time at the shop, Darmanian-Harris works primarily out of PB+J’s Main Street office, interfacing with clients and overseeing the business side.
 
“We just work really well together,” Aeschbury says of the relationship with PB+J. “Together, we have the ability to holistically design PR campaigns and/or brand identities, bring them into a physical space and give customers something super competitively priced.”
 
After working on projects for the Contemporary Arts Center, Procter & Gamble, Miami University and more, in 2014 Such and Such will launch its own line of furniture in addition to its client work. 

By Mike Sarason