THE FIRST COURSE

We are seeking visionary startup chefs, restaurant innovators, CPG founders, or wine and beverage candidates to join our cohort. This program is meant for first-time restaurant ventures, chef-driven startups, food trucks, and small businesses operating on limited capital. Candidates will be selected based on the uniqueness of their concept and the socio-economic context from which they emerge.

The First Course is a new kind of program that combines knowledge sharing, community building and graphic design services into zoom cohorts and individual meetings. Please note: If you would like to receive design deliverables, choose from our menu items or you can attend the free zoom meetings.

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menu items

WHY

In today’s uncertain climate, amid evolving government policies and shifting community dynamics we remain committed to empowering emerging culinary innovators. We think the cohort model will build new kinds of relationships and bring forth unique learning outcomes.

HOW

We will explore the process of crafting a compelling visual identity through real-world case studies and a Q&A with our expert graphic design studio. During the second week "Consultation and Scoping" we can discuss your project and you can choose from one of the menu items (Starter, Entree, Main, Full Course or ala-carte) which will put you on track to receiving completed design files by the end of June. Even if you choose to not engage our services, you can still attend the free meetings but you have to be accepted into the cohort by filling out the form below.
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By the program's end, participants will have a new creative ready to launch, plus a month of coaching and support through July. This offer is reserved for a select group of emerging culinary innovators and is not intended to replace our full, bespoke branding services.

WHEN

‍‍Design Presentations require a menu item purchase.
Free Sessions are open, fill out the form below to drop in on any of them.

Examples of our work

About the project lead:

Jon Santos was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award for Outstanding Restaurant Graphics and was a recipient of an AIGA Gold Medal.  He is best known for the design work he has done for some of New York City's most iconic restaurants and has worked extensively with Marriott (global) to design in-house restaurant brand identities.

He was an adjunct professor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with emphasis on graphic design and animation and in 2018, helped to roll out a new curriculum that taught undergraduate communications design students how to create social resilience platforms.

Santos was a former visiting artist at Saint-Lukas Academy in Brussels, the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, OXBOW / SAIC in Chicago, California College of Arts in San Francisco, and was a guest lecturer at the American Institute of Graphic Arts in Washington D.C.

His work has exhibited widely in group exhibitions at BAM, NY, Walker Art Center, MN and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, NY and has presented his work at the AIGA, Soho House and Pecha Kucha in New York City and his work has appeared in the New York Times, VMagazine, Dossier Journal, Paper, Casa Vogue, Bidoun, the Fader, Casa Brutus, Communication Arts, +81 and I.D. Magazine.

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COMMON SPACE
       is a MULTI—DISCIPLINARY
DESIGN OFFICE BASED IN NYC & HONOLULU
WITH A FOCUS ON
             FORWARD THINKING
CULTURE (.) worldwide.

©2025, Common Space Studio, Inc.