Meet Nic & Hannah Malone | Creative Directors at Lap Cat Studio

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nic & Hannah Malone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nic & Hannah, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Nic here! Back in college, long before we got married, Hannah and I discovered that we worked really well together. We envisioned co-owning a design studio where we could own our careers, collaborate with dream clients, and produce work we could truly be excited about. After working on larger teams, we learned how valuable a small, nimble studio could be to clients who needed fast timelines and the ability to be part of the design process – and have carried that over into how Lap Cat Studio does business today.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We create visual identities, marketing collateral, packaging, and pretty much anything else.

Being in Music City, a large portion of our client base is in the music business, and helping folks in music find their visual aesthetic is a really fun part of what we do. We recently worked on a rebrand for Ace High Music and what we built with their team is currently topping our “proud moment” chart!

Lap Cat’s journey hasn’t been easy but it has been gratifying. When Nic launched Lap Cat, he had one client… and we were within a week of closing on our first house! It was absolutely nerve-wracking. We’re so grateful for that one client who believed in us, and for our homebuying team who were used to working with freelancers. Now we are firm believers in the power of word-of-mouth. We have done zero self advertising, instead putting our focus on building great relationships. Our biggest takeaway to share with other entreprenuers is to never burn a bridge so far as it depends on you. Nashville is a small town, no matter how big it feels at times.

We’re really proud of the brand we are building, and the clients we are blessed to support. No matter what we make, our passion is to develop the best creative goods for good humans.

Even when we’re not designing, we’re… still designing. We recently bought a tabletop printing press and are having fun getting reaquainted with an art form we’ve not had the opportunity to practice since college (note: looking to sell a press or moveable type and are within a day’s drive of Nashville? Hit us up, we might buy it from you!).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hold on and be prepared to walk off a lot of good food, bestie.

Eat:
Crieve Hall Bagel is joy disguised as carbs, so that is a must.
On Tuesday we’ll just eat tacos all day, because tacos are life. Starting with Redheaded Stranger for breakfast, Nectar Cantina for lunch, and finally, Mas Tacos for dinner.
If bestie grows tired of the taco obsession we can break it up with a delightful family-style dinner at Xiao Bao, grab a snack at Donelson’s new Fryce Cream, or spring for pizza at Tennfold Brewery.

Drink:
Diskin Cider! Great drinks, great vibes, we’ve been a fan since their literal Day One.
Tiger Bar – this is a new favorite of ours. Best for gin lovers, but they have a little something for everyone.
Moving on to the non-alcoholic drinks, Crema, Dose, and Steadfast are our favorite coffee shops. If a little bit of work pops up, as it does, we’ll hit up Switchyards for the fast internet and locally-sourced coffee.

Music & Fun:
This is where walking off all the decedant food comes in. We’ll make sure the itinerary aligns with a Nashville Flea Market weekend or visit Dashwood Vintage & Flora and go treasure hunting. Then we’ll mosey over to Thrift Smart (reduce, reuse, recycle!), and finally, stop into Gift Horse Nashville for something adorable and well-designed. If the weather is nice, a stroll through Cheekwood is a must! The Frist is also a classic Nashville stop that, as designers, we simply can’t miss.

When in Music City, taking in a show or two is basically a requirement so that is the evening’s fun… our favorite venues are The Ryman and The Basement.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Hannah: Doug Regen deserves a huge shoutout! He was one of our favorite professors at O’More College of Design (and is a current professor at Belmont). Full of wisdom, encouragement, and a healthy dose of humor, he has a gift for coaching young designers. Doug is passionate about helping his students land great internships, hone their craft, and succeed past graduation. He’s helped me in my career from student, to intern, to designer, to business owner (and trusts Nic and I to critique his current students’ work!). His support – to this day – means so much and I’m grateful to count him as a friend and mentor.

Nic: I want to give a huge shoutout to our fairy godmother of design, Alex Fortney. Since the beginning of my design career, Alex has been a rock to lean on. After connecting, thanks to Doug, she became my creative director at my very first internship. She turned every mistake into a learning opportunity, even the time I accidently deleted the entire department’s files (sorry Alex!). She has been at every turn of my career, helping me navigate graduating, becoming a junior designer, to owning our own business. Alex is also an impeccable design leader who continues to grow and push the boundaries of what a well-rounded design career can look like. She inspires me to continue learning new skills and discover more opportunities to stay on the forefront of the design landscape.

Website: https://lapcatstudio.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lapcatstudio

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/company/lap-cat-studio/

Image Credits
Headshot and Cat Portrait credit: Ashley Scott