The cherry on top of the ice cream sundae is we're located in the beautiful, soulful, spirit-filled city of Santa Fe, New Mexico a place you'll want to visit, breathe in the mountain air, soak up the sun, eat some peppers, and do some business.

CORE TEAM:

joe shands:

writer,

creative director,

dad,

vols fan,

song writer,

dart expert.

kieron monahan:

brand strategist,

family man,

really good landscape photographer.

georgeann farah:

calls herself chief people person

mom 3 great souls,

sings better than the people on yacht rock radio,

anson stevens-bollen:

designer,

sky diver,

newspaper man,

illustrator extraordinaire.

Positivity is powerful.

Personally, we live on the sacred ground and in the spirit-filled mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Professionally, we live at the intersection, entertainment, branding, tech, and art.

30 years affords you many friends. We have a huge network. It’s called The Known Universe. The people we put on your business, will know your segment, and audience and, of course, we know each of them and we know they’re nice and exceedingly talented. Hence, the name: KNOWN Universe.

We sell 2 things: wisdom and instinct. That’s it. Only through wisdom and instinct will your brand be able to do the kind of work that will make an emotional connection, effect positive change, and make a profound influence on the ever-changing, ever-evolving human condition.

Our names are Joe Shands and Georgeann Farah.

We’ve helped build some of the world’s biggest brands. And many of its smallest. Through it all, we’ve come to these 7 conclusions: (Yeah, there are only 7. 8 thru 10 are, “be nice”, repeated twice.)

1. FANS ARE BETTER THAN CONSUMERS. People buy FROM you after they buy INTO you.

2. RESPECT INSPIRES RESPECT. Respect consumers intelligence and they love you for it.

3. PURPOSE MATTERS. We live in a very small, very interconnected world. Your brand’s actions matter. Net, net…stand for something greater than profits.

4. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. It’s about your audience.

5. TRUST YOUR WISDOM.

6. TRUST YOUR INSTINCT.

7. BEING ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE IS A RECIPE FOR INVISIBILITY. Here’s the secret sauce to visibility : make your work memorable, entertaining, and all about your audience’s hopes and dreams. If you do that (with us) people will want to watch it (repeatedly) and then share it.
For that to happen, people need to see your work and say, “Wow! Did you see that?!”

Wisdom & Instinct is all of our experiences and knowledge — all our heads and hearts, all our “been there’s” and “done that’s” — coming together as a team to tell your brand story in a way that inspires the human spirit.

EVERYONE IS AWESOME is a our core belief system. It’s the tone we take when talking to consumers on behalf of brands — and how we feel about people in general. Positivity is powerful. We want to give positivity to as many people as possible.

You are witnessing a sausage being made.
A website with less rambling theory
and B.S. is coming soon. Do enjoy!

Clients

We have sixteen fabulous offices. Come visit us at any of our studio locations, at La Mama’s on Marcy. At Ikonic Coffee on Lena (and sometimes we work next door at The Bread Shop), at Cafecito on Shoofly, or any of our other fabulous locatio.

BRANDS SHOULD BE uninterested in being sheep. Loved and respected, yet hard to predict. Full of wisdom and full of instinct. Interesting. Surprising. Curious. Child-like in their ability to charm and delight. NEEDED. Connected. Aware of people who love them, and why, and even more aware of people who hate them, and why. Human. Generous. Honorable. Reliable. A beacon of good craftsmanship and good will. Tasteful. Fun. Constantly evolving, and (as a result of all this) very lonely … at the very top.

WISDOM and INSTINCT

BRANDING – and DESIGN

NOT SOLD
SEPARATELY.

FULL SITE COMING SOON. STAY TUNED.

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