In 10short years, Fallah has taken his edgy and iconoclastic view of the world and woven it into one of the premiere international contemporary art and design publications. Something in the Universe benefits from the hard work and connections garnered from that endeavor and seeks to raise its cachet to unknown heights.
Daily operations are executed from the second floor of an unassuming Culver City office building. The skeleton crew – consisting of only a handful of UCLA grads – at first glance looks like the very same kids you’d find in a Mixed Media or design course. That’s no small coincidence, since nearly everyone working at SITU has an academic background in the Arts.
For special projects, however, the sky is the limit. Fallah contracts work as far as Finland and Japan to facilitate completion on various campaigns.
This agency is so in touch with the needs of a visually hungry public, that many of its media and marketing collaborations (with companies like Smart Car and Toyota) have been adored by fans who never realized the depth of hard work and history behind them.
Fallah’s tight-knit community of artists includes visionary Aya Kato and Jesse LeDoux (the award-winning creator of the Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow album cover art). Both have helped to create and implement his vivid imagination.
“We were actually supporting these artists years before anybody gave a shit about them,” says Fallah.
That type of “finger on the pulse” perspective has even led to Something in the Universe’s creations getting featured in some pretty big upcoming projects –most notably, the second installment of the Transformers franchise. The filmmakers were turned on to SITU’s work and decided to use several items in one of the story lines. If all goes well, moviegoers will get a heaping dose of what this agency is all about when a character close to Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky sports everything from stickers to T-shirts.
Beautiful/Decay is also in the Hollywood mix. A recent issue showcases the art collection of Michael Gold – a contemporary art collector whom one of the characters on AMC’s hit series “Madmen” is based. The Neptunes and N.E.R.D’s mastermind Pharrell Williams and his new protégés, Chester French, have even employed SITU to create the band’s logo.
While enthusiastic about all his agency’s past successes, Fallah is still quite anxious to explore new boundaries.
“I would love to work with any company that puts some trust in us,” he explains. On his radar is the opportunity to partner with museums that are looking to inject a little urban edge and street cred into their catalogs and press materials. Fallah is also into the use of media convergence across multiple platforms as a way to expand Something in the Universe’s long-term goals.
The agency has curated an art show in the hot new stomping ground for L.A. artists and musicians: Ojai, Calif. They will also sponsor an upcoming event in the swanky (and cash-rich) mecca of cool and kitsch, Miami, Fla.
But for now, Fallah is keeping a level head with a sharp eye on his prize. He plans to grow his company with the intelligence and patience of a savvy business mind while continuing to seek accounts and projects helmed by those smart enough to see where SITU is coming from. After all, “It’s not about the brand,” he says, “It’s about the artwork.”
For more information, visit somethingintheuniverse.com. SITU designed this week’s cover of Campus Circle.
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