Pretty Useful Co

Pretty Useful Co We make clever goods and designs for fun people.

05/22/2026

One of our favorite bits from the brand refresh project is this topographic map detail we used as a background texture and as an alternate logo. We started with a survey map of Knoxville from 1977, found the location of the Native Maps studio, carefully traced and cleaned up the elevation lines, and then finally simplified and roughed it up to create the abstract topo icon. It’s hand made, thoughtful, and rooted in place, just like Native Maps 🌎

Had to jump on the  (.now) bandwagon and dig through our own archives to find some of our favorite marks we’ve made ✍️
05/06/2026

Had to jump on the (.now) bandwagon and dig through our own archives to find some of our favorite marks we’ve made ✍️

🌎 If we had to describe  in a word, it would be “thoughtful”. David puts care and consideration into every choice in his...
05/01/2026

🌎 If we had to describe in a word, it would be “thoughtful”. David puts care and consideration into every choice in his business — the city maps he screen prints, the eco-friendly inks and papers he uses, the handmade frames he sources locally, the national parks non-profits he partners with, the list goes on and on. As the brand has grown from David’s small attic studio in 2014, it’s shifted to be less about perfectly replicated hometown city streets — it’s more about the messy and memorable journeys we take, and the memories and experiences we bring with us when we’ve returned home. David brought us on to retool the brand to reflect where it stands now over a decade later, and to give it the same care and attention he gives each of his products. We created a suite of marks, illustrations, textures, icons and colors that feel equally at home in your living room or in a National Parks gift shop, and a flexible system of logos, colors, and typefaces that will continue to grow with Native Maps in the future.

It’s always a joy to work on a brand project with a longtime collaborator, and that’s especially true when they have the clear vision and rock solid values to guide the process like David does. We’re excited to see what the next decade of Native Maps brings!

We were honored to bring home some very exciting hardware from the Memphis American Advertising Awards last weekend! Our...
02/27/2026

We were honored to bring home some very exciting hardware from the Memphis American Advertising Awards last weekend! Our Blue Bowl Bases poster series won Best of Illustration and gold for Illustration Series, and the Biodiversity Victory Garden Project’s Pollinator Pantone poster series brought home Best of Art Direction, gold for Illustration Series, and silver for Art Direction Campaign.

Thank you to our clients and for collaborating with us to make work we love, let’s do it again in 2026 💪

Thank you to .deluxe for making possibly our favorite Best Of awards ever 💀🧠 and to for throwing an amazing party as always!

🏆 Best of Illustration
Blue Bowl Base Posters
Blue Bowl Superfoods

🏆 Best of Art Direction
Pollinator Pantone Poster Series
The Biodiversity Victory Garden Project

🥇Gold
Elements of Advertising / Illustration Series
Blue Bowl Base Posters
Blue Bowl Superfoods

🥇Gold
Elements of Advertising / Illustration Series
Pollinator Pantone Poster Series
The Biodiversity Victory Garden Project

🥈Silver
Elements of Advertising / Art Direction Campaign
Pollinator Pantone Poster Series
The Biodiversity Victory Garden Project

🍫💞Candy Hearts is a sweet little hand lettered sans with the perfect dose of whimsy. Expressive, chunky, and a touch car...
02/10/2026

🍫💞Candy Hearts is a sweet little hand lettered sans with the perfect dose of whimsy. Expressive, chunky, and a touch cartoony, Candy Hearts is all caps with alternate “Loves Me Not” lower case characters, a full set of punctuation and numbers, plus more symbols and advanced characters than you can shake a rose at 🌹 It also comes with a silly set of printable Valentines, because we just love you that much 💋💘 Only $15 in the shop! https://pretty-useful.co/products/candy-hearts-display-font

NEW PRODUCT ALERT! 🚨 Ever said, “Thanks, I made it!”? For the knitter, crocheter, embroiderer, needlepointer, cross-stit...
02/06/2026

NEW PRODUCT ALERT! 🚨 Ever said, “Thanks, I made it!”? For the knitter, crocheter, embroiderer, needlepointer, cross-stitcher or crafter-at-large, our magnetic “I MADE THIS” badge whispers from the rooftops that the beautiful object you’re wearing was made by yours truly. Wear it as a badge of honor to commemorate your hours of work and to spark conversation with fellow crafters. Designed with magnetic back so it won’t damage your fabric, and includes a one-inch ruler on the back for measurements on-the-go.
P.S., obvi Clare knit that sweater!

Happy Giving Tuesday! 🌳🐦‍⬛🌿 We recently created branding for the  giving societies - Roots, Canopy, Poplar, and 1901, pl...
12/02/2025

Happy Giving Tuesday! 🌳🐦‍⬛🌿 We recently created branding for the giving societies - Roots, Canopy, Poplar, and 1901, plus a family of icons for each level to be used on member gifts and collateral. Did you know that for just twenty dollars a month you can join Roots and get invites to exclusive events, excellent members-only swag, and support their mission to keep our park beautiful and thriving? Sounds like a pretty good Giving Tuesday deal to us!

A lot of small businesses took a hit from the economic chaos this year - new collections on hold, restocks in limbo, and...
11/25/2025

A lot of small businesses took a hit from the economic chaos this year - new collections on hold, restocks in limbo, and unexpected fees and costs piling on top of each other. Big box stores have had an easier time taking it all in stride, but many small artists and brands have had a rough go of it.

We’re not doing a BFCM sale (frankly we’re really not feeling the Black Friday spirit this year) but we wanted to take some time to shout out all the brick and mortar stores, perfectly curated gift shops, and small brands we personally love to do our holiday shopping at.

We know we say this a lot, but if you love that small independent makers and shops are out there making and curating beautiful products, and you want to KEEP seeing them around, you should support them even if they can’t do a sale this year. Shop small, make Jeff Bezos shed a tear, and long live small biz!!

❤️💙💛 love and kisses the PU crew (we could only tag 20 of you but just know you’re all tagged in our hearts)

🎬 Today and tomorrow,  kicks off its first children’s film festival! We created some fun little film guys you’ll see aro...
11/22/2025

🎬 Today and tomorrow, kicks off its first children’s film festival! We created some fun little film guys you’ll see around the festival, and we’re so excited to sponsor Maya, Give Me a Title by Michel Gondry. Take a look at the schedule and comment “we like like you” for a chance to get free passes to any screening today or Sunday! Who knows, you might even get a chance to join their “not so secret secret film society” 🤫

🐿️ 🌿 More work for ! In 2026 Overton Park is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding in 1901. We created two i...
11/13/2025

🐿️ 🌿 More work for ! In 2026 Overton Park is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding in 1901. We created two illustrations for their banner poles featuring the places, people, and animals that make Overton one of our favorite places in Memphis to visit, and a new anniversary logo to use all year long as they celebrate. We’ll see you on the new trails!

It’s a beautiful weekend to support 👏 small 👏business 👏 We’ve heard from so many people in our community that it’s been ...
11/07/2025

It’s a beautiful weekend to support 👏 small 👏business 👏 We’ve heard from so many people in our community that it’s been an exceptionally tough year, and this holiday season will be make or break for a lot of folks. If you love that Memphis and our neighboring cities have such vibrant communities of talented crafters, ceramicists, painters, woodworkers, jewelers, sewists, candlemakers, and artists come out and support them this Saturday at and at other maker markets this season. Buy small, buy local, and make a difference with your holiday shopping ❤️💙💛 (Can you tell we’re obsessed with the Zohran campaign aesthetic?)

Address

1951 Poplar Avenue, Suite 102
Memphis, TN
38104

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