Zach Horst is a queer Graphic Designer, Letterer, and Illustrator living in Houston, Texas.
Currently, Zach is having a blast as Creative Director of Goodnight Hospitality. Otherwise, they have been enjoying doing branding, logos, illustration and other fun design-y things for brands like Michaels, Coca-Cola, R/GA, Whole Foods Market, and Facebook.
Read about Zach in Tribeza. (2021)
Read Zach’s interview with Flat Vernacular. (2023)
See their home tour in Apartment Therapy. (2024)
About
Zach was born in San Antonio, TX, grew up in the suburbs of Houston, and spent 10 years living in Austin after graduating from the Art Institute of Austin in 2012. Now Zach, their husband Taylor, and their cats Stu and Louie are living in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, TX where Zach is Creative Director for Goodnight Hospitality.
A love of color, energy and weird letterforms defines their work, with inspiration drawn from sources as varied as vintage Japanese matchbox illustrations, neon signs in Rome, loaves of bread, typewriter eraser packaging, and 90s sticker sheets. Favorite projects involve solving problems in new and creative ways, pushing traditional production techniques, and spending way too much time messing with the typography.
Zach has had jobs spanning from hand-lettering chalkboards for Whole Foods Market, to designing environmental graphics around the country with Waterboy Graphics, to opening a hotel and 14 restaurants over the course of three and a half years while working as Art Director for the ever-growing MML Hospitality group in Austin.
Inspiration & Recs
Sainsbury Packaging Archive is an archive of vintage packaging from an English supermarket chain.
Vintage Illustrated Japanese Fireworks Catalogues
The Peculiar Manicule is a brilliant collection of 60s/70s Op Art design.
Swiss Style Color Picker really helps when you get into a rut of using the same colors over and over again.
You are probably already reading Brand New, the only place to discuss logo redesigns.
Future Fonts gives you the opportunity to invest in a font that’s currently in progress. The earlier in the process, the less you pay. Plus, the fonts coming from them are, in my opinion, some of the best things being done in the world of letters right now.
My other favorite thing being done in the world of letters right now is called Vocal Type. Tré Seals, as Vocal Type, creates beautiful fonts based on old protest posters and signage.
