Justin David Cox is a freelance creative at Public School – a collective comprised of designers, illustrators and photographers based in Austin, Texas. He is a taco fundamentalist, a queso enthusiast and a dance floor disaster. He believes that less is more, real men hold open doors and that scotch should taste like a campfire. He’d like to thank Visa, Andrew Bird, Conde Nast, Blender, The Globe and Mail, C3 Presents and Transmission Entertainment for helping in his feeble attempt to pay off his student loans.

FROM YOUR DESKS: What time do you do your best work?

JUSTIN DAVID COX: I function best late at night or really early in the morning. I function on little sleep.  I love starting at midnight or getting up early to knock things out. I’m often up at 6am working to get things done before breakfast. I like the sense of accomplishment you feel knowing you’ve been productive before most people have woken up. Also, my mind tends to wander in the middle of the day.

FYD: If you could curate your own pop up shop; name your theme and (5) MUSTS. 

JDC: Young Men Looking Old: The shop would smell like old books and bourbon and be filled with vintage leather dress shoes, fitted tweed jackets and wool pants. Outside of vintage items, we’d carry O-Check Stationary, Makr Goods and Filson Tab Suspenders.

Cody Haltom. I’m a designer residing in Austin, Texas, working in art direction, visual identity, illustration, print, and interactive design. I’m also a founding member of Public School. I’ve created work for clients such as GOOD Magazine and Chronicle Books, and my work has been recognized by a variety of design publications such as Print Magazine and HOW Magazine, among others.

FYD: What are your three favorite go-to websites? Select any three from this list, as I frequently rotate the preferred order: Lookwork, Svpply, Design Observer, designworklife, ESPN, MLB, fffound, NY Times, Apartment Therapy UnderConsideration, Desire to Inspire, Don’t Even Reply, Paul Sahre‘s website.

When procrastination sets in, I….initially panic, then go with these steps:
1. Clean my desk and surrounding area.
2. Look at completely unnecessary and unrelated blogs, thus wasting more time.
3. Get coffee.
4. Work.

I’m reading What We Talk About When We Talk About Love—Raymond Carver and look forward to reading Outer Dark—Cormac McCarthy.

I currently love the bands ….Balmorhea (Constellations), Iron & Wine (Kiss Each Other Clean).

On the weekends, you will find me .…Recovering from the night before. A good meal somewhere, followed by wandering to the bookstore, record store, coffee shop, etc.

Austin, Texas pride is …Telling people not to move here. It’s awful here. Just terrible.

Matthew Genitempo. In 1983, I was born, along with my brother, at Rosewood Hospital in Houston, Texas. My father bought my mother a 35mm camera. I adopted it a few years after. The bulk of my photographs are my way of making up for lost time. There are countless images that I wish I could have captured. For now, I’m trying to discover an unfamiliar America in a closely associated setting.

I am currently living, working, and eating pancakes in Austin, Texas. I am a proud member of PUBLIC SCHOOL.

FYD: What time do you do your best work?

MATTHEW GENITEMPO: I like to get all of my day-to-day stuff done in the morning and work on the creative stuff at night.

If you could curate your own pop up shop; name your theme and (5) MUSTS: It would be called “THE MEAT OF CHAMPS” and it would be the best tacos, hotdogs, BBQ, steak and sausage in Austin Texas.

What are your three favorite go-to websites? Yewknee, American Drink, Don’t even reply.

When procrastination sets in, I...look for stuff on Svpply.

I’m reading Runner’s World Magazine and look forward to reading Next months Runner’s World Magazine.

I currently love the bands.…Titus Andronicus, The Eastern Sea.

On the weekends, you will find me…at Dave & Busters, not really.

Austin, Texas pride is…Jay B Sauceda’s beard.

Shaun Lind hails from New Mexico, went to school in Waco and now calls Austin home. Along with being a partner at PUBLIC SCHOOL, he also runs a blog called Seriously Sorry.

FYD: What time do you do your best work?

SHAUN LIND: I work all day, but my best work comes about at night. I am definitely a night-time thinker. It takes about 8 hours for my brain to come to life.

FYD: If you could curate your own pop up shop; name your theme and (5) MUSTS:

Vintage Books.
Must haves, and they must be old, worn-down, hard-cover:
1. Walden
2. Moby Dick
3. The Collective Works of Edgar Allen Poe
4. Watership Down
5. Leaves of Grass

What are your three favorite go-to websites? Can I include Public School? What about Seriously Sorry? Just kidding…Yewknee, Annals of Americus Heavy Eyes.

When procrastination sets in, I...don’t fight it, creativity works on its own schedule.

I’m reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and look forward to reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

I currently love the bands…Arcade Fire, I’ve always been a fan and I love the new album. However, I’ve been really into the oldies lately… Chuck Berry specifically…

On the weekends, you will find me …sleeping in, going for a run around town lake, then grabbing some pizza at Home Slice…

Austin, Texas pride is….drinking a 512 Pecan Porter after a day out on the lake…

PUBLIC SCHOOL is a creative studio on the east side of Austin. We share studio space and ideas as well as a fondness for the Mexican food on our side of town.

We work together when the projects call for it and separately when they don’t. Ultimately though we believe in the value of shared experiences and the ability to continue creative growth by learning from those around you.

Our collective and individual clients include Chronicle Books, Conde Nast, Sweet Leaf Tea, Iron and Wine, Baylor University, Ogilvy & Mather, LIVESTRONG, Pearson Publishing, Stussy, Time Inc., NIKE, The University of Texas, The Sunday Times of London, as well as a few other folks.

Collectively, see what’s up with Public School on Facebook + Twitter @go2publicschool

Individually see what’s up with:

Justin David Cox on twitter @justindavidcox
Cody Haltom on twitter @codyhaltom
Matthew Genitempo on twitter @genitempo
Shaun Lind on his blog