Old Try
Old Try began as a collection of ten Southern art prints and grew into a nationally distributed design brand with more than 450 SKUs, wholesale relationships with dozens of retailers, and $2M in revenue.
Over twelve years, we built the brand from the ground up—from naming and identity through product design, packaging, ecommerce, wholesale, and collaborations. The work was featured by The New York Times, Garden & Gun, Southern Living, NPR, and others.
Collaborations included Garden & Gun, the Southeastern Conference, Duke’s, Charleston Waterkeeper, Criquet, Butler Pitch & Putt, Laurel Mercantile, and Graduate Hotels.
The company was sold in 2023. The archive remains a record of a business built around a simple idea: that place can be a powerful source of design.
Old Try began as a collection of ten Southern art prints and grew into a nationally distributed design brand with more than 450 SKUs, wholesale relationships with dozens of retailers, and $2M in revenue.
Over twelve years, we built the brand from the ground up—from naming and identity through product design, packaging, ecommerce, wholesale, and collaborations. The work was featured by The New York Times, Garden & Gun, Southern Living, NPR, and others.
Collaborations included Garden & Gun, the Southeastern Conference, Duke’s, Charleston Waterkeeper, Criquet, Butler Pitch & Putt, Laurel Mercantile, and Graduate Hotels.
The company was sold in 2023. The archive remains a record of a business built around a simple idea: that place can be a powerful source of design.
Boston, MA
2011-2023
Inspiration
The identity brought together two references to place: a hammer representing Alabama—the Yellowhammer State—and scissors referencing North Carolina’s textile heritage.
The result was a mark that connected two places central to the story of the company, while giving the brand a distinctly utilitarian character.
The result was a mark that connected two places central to the story of the company, while giving the brand a distinctly utilitarian character.
Execution Notes
Over twelve years, we did a lots of brand design. A sample.
Main Product Line
The core product line comprised more than 250 letterpress prints, produced from an extensive collection of original wood type and hand-carved linoleum blocks.
The system was intentionally simple: bold typography, limited color, and a direct relationship between language and place. The result was a flexible visual language that could move from a single print to a broader product ecosystem.
The system was intentionally simple: bold typography, limited color, and a direct relationship between language and place. The result was a flexible visual language that could move from a single print to a broader product ecosystem.
Product Line Extensions
The print collection became the foundation for a much broader product and collaboration program.
We extended the visual language across custom work, licensed collections, collaborations, and products developed with partners including Garden & Gun, the SEC, Criquet, Graduate Hotels, and Laurel Mercantile.
What began as ten prints ultimately became a full-scale consumer brand.
We extended the visual language across custom work, licensed collections, collaborations, and products developed with partners including Garden & Gun, the SEC, Criquet, Graduate Hotels, and Laurel Mercantile.
What began as ten prints ultimately became a full-scale consumer brand.
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Circle & Square
In 2021, Circle & Square came to Villager as Oxford, Mississippi’s first microbrewery. We developed the brand from the ground up and have remained involved as the brewery has grown.
In 2021, Circle & Square came to Villager as Oxford, Mississippi’s first microbrewery. We developed the brand from the ground up and have remained involved as the brewery has grown.
Oxford, Miss.
2021 - Present
Inspiration
Circle & Square occupies a former train depot in the center of Oxford. The identity draws from the building’s railroad history while connecting it to the city’s particular cultural lineage.
Rounded typography references Eric Gill’s lettering for the London Underground, a subtle connection to Oxford’s English namesake. Railroad-inspired swallowtails become a recurring graphic device, while German beer-hall blackletter introduces a sharper, more traditional counterpoint.
The result is a visual language that sits somewhere between railway signage, European brewing culture, and Oxford’s own history.
The identity was designed as a system rather than a single mark. Typography, ribbons, symbols, and color combine in different configurations across the brewery’s growing range of beers.
The approach gives each can its own character while maintaining a recognizable family across the lineup.
Rounded typography references Eric Gill’s lettering for the London Underground, a subtle connection to Oxford’s English namesake. Railroad-inspired swallowtails become a recurring graphic device, while German beer-hall blackletter introduces a sharper, more traditional counterpoint.
The result is a visual language that sits somewhere between railway signage, European brewing culture, and Oxford’s own history.
The identity was designed as a system rather than a single mark. Typography, ribbons, symbols, and color combine in different configurations across the brewery’s growing range of beers.
The approach gives each can its own character while maintaining a recognizable family across the lineup.
Merchandise
The brand has extended well beyond the taproom, with more than 50 merchandise SKUs spanning apparel, objects, and printed goods.
The demand has been gratifyingly difficult to keep up with.
The demand has been gratifyingly difficult to keep up with.
A mascot
The university has no mascot since retiring their old one in the early aughts. It did, however, have a rule against beer on campus—unless, of course, that beer happened to be in a red cup.
We designed a mascot for the town: Sparky, named for a legendary former Dean of Students. What began as a local character quickly became something much bigger, embraced by the community with enthusiasm.
We designed a mascot for the town: Sparky, named for a legendary former Dean of Students. What began as a local character quickly became something much bigger, embraced by the community with enthusiasm.
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Accidental
A new kind of dental clinic for the moments that don't wait.
Two dentists came to Villager with a simple proposition: what if urgent dental care worked more like urgent care?
No six-month cleanings. No long-term treatment plans. Just a place for the unexpected—broken teeth, sudden pain, and the occasional oh, damn.
We named it Accidental and built the identity around the idea that dental emergencies don't have to feel clinical or intimidating.
A new kind of dental clinic for the moments that don't wait.
Two dentists came to Villager with a simple proposition: what if urgent dental care worked more like urgent care?
No six-month cleanings. No long-term treatment plans. Just a place for the unexpected—broken teeth, sudden pain, and the occasional oh, damn.
We named it Accidental and built the identity around the idea that dental emergencies don't have to feel clinical or intimidating.
Chapel Hill, NC
2024 - Present
What’s in a name?
The name does most of the work.
Accidental captures the reason people walk through the door: something happened that wasn't supposed to.
We considered Ouch Mouth. It didn't make the cut.
Instead, OuchMouth became the mascot—a character designed to give the brand a little more humanity and a lot more personality. He's since found his way onto buses throughout Chapel Hill.
The visual identity turns an inherently uncomfortable experience into something approachable.
Simple forms, expressive typography, and a cast of graphic characters create a system that feels more like a contemporary consumer brand than a traditional dental practice.
The result is a dental clinic designed around what actually brings people there: accidents happen.
Accidental captures the reason people walk through the door: something happened that wasn't supposed to.
We considered Ouch Mouth. It didn't make the cut.
Instead, OuchMouth became the mascot—a character designed to give the brand a little more humanity and a lot more personality. He's since found his way onto buses throughout Chapel Hill.
Identity
The visual identity turns an inherently uncomfortable experience into something approachable.
Simple forms, expressive typography, and a cast of graphic characters create a system that feels more like a contemporary consumer brand than a traditional dental practice.
The result is a dental clinic designed around what actually brings people there: accidents happen.
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Whitt’s Barbecue
A fifty-year-old Alabama barbecue institution needed a visual refresh without losing what made it recognizable.
Having grown up eating Whitt’s—and spending a summer working there in college—Villager came to the project with a particular affection for the brand. Fifteen years later, the work still holds up.
A fifty-year-old Alabama barbecue institution needed a visual refresh without losing what made it recognizable.
Having grown up eating Whitt’s—and spending a summer working there in college—Villager came to the project with a particular affection for the brand. Fifteen years later, the work still holds up.
Decatur, Ala.
2007- Present
Services
Bottle labels
Box design
Out of home
Merchandise
Bottle labels
Box design
Out of home
Merchandise
Inspiration
The visual language draws from the tradition of American show printing, with a particular nod to Nashville’s legendary Hatch Show Print.
The bold typography, limited palette, and unapologetically handmade character felt native to Whitt’s—and to the place it comes from.
The bold typography, limited palette, and unapologetically handmade character felt native to Whitt’s—and to the place it comes from.
Execution Notes
To keep the work true to the letterpress tradition, every letter was hand-set and printed with the imperfections intact.
The system extends across sauce labels, boxes, signage, posters, gift cards, and other touchpoints throughout the business.
Fifteen years on, the original work continues to live in the world—and wear it well.
Photography and styling by Abraham Rowe.
Packaging & Collateral
The system extends across sauce labels, boxes, signage, posters, gift cards, and other touchpoints throughout the business.
Fifteen years on, the original work continues to live in the world—and wear it well.
Photography and styling by Abraham Rowe.
☝🏻 Love these people with all my ❤️
Mark Whitt, President
In all the almost 60 years that we’ve been in business, the best thing I ever did was to call Micah! From our now famous Lunch Box design to our gift cards to our poster designs, just to name a few, Micah gave our business a long term shot in the arm. We call him “The Design Genius”. I really think he is also a “BBQ Genius “
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The Alabama Biscuit Company
Jonathan Burch set out to make a better biscuit for his family.
Unable to find one made with healthy, locally grown sprouted grains, he put his landscape business on hold and started making them himself.
Launched in 2013, Alabama Biscuit has grown from a single location in Cahaba Heights into a Birmingham institution with multiple locations.
Jonathan Burch set out to make a better biscuit for his family.
Unable to find one made with healthy, locally grown sprouted grains, he put his landscape business on hold and started making them himself.
Launched in 2013, Alabama Biscuit has grown from a single location in Cahaba Heights into a Birmingham institution with multiple locations.
Birmingham, Ala.
2013 - Present
Inspiration
The identity begins with one of Alabama's most recognizable symbols: the St. Andrew's cross of the state flag.
Rather than reproduce the flag literally, we abstracted its geometry into a distinctive graphic system—one that connects the brand to Alabama while giving the Biscuit Company a visual identity of its own.
The identity carries that geometry across the brand's physical environment, packaging, merchandise, and communications.
The result is direct, recognizable, and deeply tied to place without leaning on the expected visual clichés of Southern food.
Rather than reproduce the flag literally, we abstracted its geometry into a distinctive graphic system—one that connects the brand to Alabama while giving the Biscuit Company a visual identity of its own.
The Brand
The identity carries that geometry across the brand's physical environment, packaging, merchandise, and communications.
The result is direct, recognizable, and deeply tied to place without leaning on the expected visual clichés of Southern food.
Code 1896, §3751; Code 1907, §2058; Code 1923, §2995; Code 1940, T. 55, §5.
Mug Shots
A simple piece of merchandise became an unexpectedly effective brand ambassador.
The Alabama Biscuit mug was designed as an object people would actually want to photograph and share. It has since appeared in roughly 65% of the brand's social posts.
Sometimes the best brand touchpoints are the ones people take home.
The Alabama Biscuit mug was designed as an object people would actually want to photograph and share. It has since appeared in roughly 65% of the brand's social posts.
Sometimes the best brand touchpoints are the ones people take home.
A final word from the client:
Watching Micah do design things is like watching Eric Liddell run in Chariots of Fire. A rare blend of humility and confidence leading to a finesse which can only be described as the real deal.
He’s done several projects for me and always under promises and over delivers.
He’s done several projects for me and always under promises and over delivers.
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