About Standard Motion

My name is Jon Setzen and I decided to start a small design studio on a plane somewhere in between San Francisco and NYC in 1999. At first, it was just me working in my apartment churning out websites and print work for cool bands and great photographers. Nine years later from a bright studio under the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, it's no longer just me, but a small group of talented and hard-working people creating user-friendly, engaging websites, and eye-catching print work.

We've been fortunate enough to work with fabulous musicians, photographers, news agencies, bars, restaurants, and many more great people. Maybe you'll be next? We can handle everything from show posters to graphic-rich html emails to blogs to crazy massive intense, database-driven multi-user websites. Drop us a line and let us know what you have in mind.

All our sites feature web standards compliant xhtml and css. Your site will work on all major browsers on both Macs and PCs - IE, Firefox and Safari. There's no point in having a great site if no one can find it, so all our sites are laced with extensive search engine optimized code.

Can I Update My Site Myself?
One question we always get from clients is "Can I update my own website?" The answer is "Yes." We build all our sites with easy-to-use content management systems. To make the updates, all a client needs to do is login to the admin section of his or her site from any web browser on any computer in any city in the world. Whether it's adding 50 photos from your latest photo assignment in Zimbabwe, or posting a quick note to let people know your new single is out - we've got you covered. There is no HTML to learn, no FTP programs, just a web browser with simple buttons to click and forms to fill out. Send us an email and we'll show you.

Why Are You Called Standard Motion?
Although the name, Standard Motion, suggests we do motion work we don't. In the early 80s (when I was a kid), I saw a great BBC documentary about public transportation and the way people can fall asleep on their way home from work and wake up just in time--almost like an eternal clock telling them they're at their stop. The theorists called it "standard motion." I always thought it was fascinating, and so I took the name. There you go.

Partial Client List
826LA, Alicia Keys, American Photo Magazine, Arista Records, Gen Art, Hachette Filipacchi Media, Insound.com, J Records, Jennifer's Spa of Portland, Jim Franco Photography, Maroon 5, Municipal Art Society of NY, Oregon Symphony, REA Paris, RCA Records, Redux Pictures, Rod Stewart, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Public Library, Sony Music, Whittman Hart...

Some Press
Behance Network: Ulterior Motives - Standard Motion Interview
Gothamist: Old interview from 2004
Design*Sponge (various posts): 1 | 2 | 3
Josh Spear: new site post
Apartment Therapy LA: Garage Gallery preview
West Coast Crafty: LA Garage Gallery show review