2 Minutes With ... Mackenzie Brookshire, Creative Director at Landscape

Mackenzie Brookshire is a creative director at Landscape, a boutique San Francisco-based brand strategy and design studio shaping structure and surface in service of social good. Mackenzie’s background in fine arts, illustration and art direction give her an insightful vantage point in helping clients that pursue social change through their products and services.

Mackenzie brings a contagious energy to both Landscape’s work and culture, collaborating with brands like Google Ara, Positive Intelligence, Radix and Seed Health. Before joining Landscape, Mackenzie ran a risograph printing shop in Atlanta. Day-to-day, she listens closely to client passions, then uses intuition to turn their stories into something beautiful, meaningful and distinct.

We spent two minutes with Mackenzie to learn more about her background, her creative inspirations, and recent work she’s admired.

Mackenzie, tell us…

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

I grew up in north Georgia. I’ve spent some time in Texas, Savannah and Atlanta…I live in Oakland, California, now.

How you first realized you were creative.

My big sister and I used to imagine the woods behind our house were magic—the holes in trees were treasure chests and the creeks were moats filled with alligators. I don’t know if I ever really realized anything, but I was definitely always into drawing and anything related to art from a super young age. And my sweet family probably convinced me that everything I did was the best thing they’d ever seen.

A person you idolized creatively early on.

David Bowie.

A moment from high school or college that changed your life.

My college experience as a whole was pretty life changing. Being at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and living in Savannah was the first time I’d been around that many other artists and creative people. Studying art full time and in such a beautiful city almost didn’t feel legal… it was awesome. I completely evolved there.

A visual artist or band/musician you admire.

Right now I have a crush on this performance artist/synth pop girl, Geneva Jacuzzi.

A book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.

David Byrne’s “How Music Works.”

Your favorite fictional character.

King Kong.

Someone or something worth following in social media.

Landscape’s new personal project DOG.

How Covid-19 changed your life, personally or professionally.

Work from home life is just what the doctor ordered! I get so much more out of the time in my day now, and if I’m stressed I can simply hug my cats.

One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on.

DreamOre, a book of poems we designed in collaboration with Hunter Longe. Using design as a way to bring art into the world is a great use of time. And the conversations we had with Hunter were super inspiring to me on a personal level. It was a really fun photoshoot, too!

A recent project you’re proud of.

Naming, branding and ongoing event promo for DOG—a project space by Landscape. It’s been so cool watching the crowds of people at our shows mingling around the sign I designed and thinking, wow, we’re really doing this! It’s been a big collaborative effort, and it feels great to be building momentum with our own little contribution to the Bay Area creative community.

Someone else’s work that inspired you years ago.

Johann Kauth.

Someone else’s work you admired lately.

Max Ernst.

Your main strength as a creative person.

Intuition and ideas.

Your biggest weakness.

Thinking linearly.

One thing that always makes you happy.

Warm weather, sun on my face.

One thing that always makes you sad.

A lost kitten? Mass consumption? The first ten minutes of Pixar’s Up.

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in design.

Making objects, selling drawings.