We didn’t know him on the schoolyard, but Cody Small is the kind of guy you would have wanted on your kickball team. He’s all heart and big ideas with the ability to laugh at himself and enjoy the game for what it is. Off the field we know he’s a meticulous and humble artist who inspires us to let our minds wander and create art for the sake of it. Needing an excuse to share a beer, we met up with him in early August at Station Tavern in South Park for burgers and the launch of the new Boyte Creative series “San Diego Creatives,” a project that explores and showcases the creative minds of California’s finest city. We love this guy, and think you should too.
Officially, Cody is the founder and creative director of Caava Design, a multi-disciplinary graphic design studio that focuses on helping clients communicate their unique vision through art and form. He believes that simple, functional design enables brands to tell their visual story and develop their truth to audiences that matter to them. Using part intuition and part technical skill, Cody takes a difficult and vulnerable process of branding, web development, and establishing a creative identity and makes it fresh and exciting. We happen to know from experience, the new look and feel of Boyte Creative was his brainchild.
A self-described bicycle enthusiast and “font savant” with the uncanny ability to identify fonts on demand, he is constantly drawing inspiration from the adventures and the mundane of everyday life. He and his beautiful wife Emily welcomed their first child, Everett, into the world in early February and have been on their toes and head-over-heels in love ever since. Parenthood is an experience he describes as incredibly profound, “being part of a this guy’s existence is really nothing like I could have imagined.”
During our interview, there are three words that Cody keeps to bringing table: communicate, support, and inspire. These are words that mean a lot to Boyte Creative too; they serve as founding pillars of the San Diego Creatives project itself. As creatives, we are not only making art that is visually appealing, but that also helps communicate the interconnected nature of the human experience. When we support one another in creative endeavors, we can inspire new ideas, new techniques, and new ways to look at the world. It’s simple: grow and foster the creative community, and watch everything around you grow too.
This shared vision is what made us certain that Cody Small was the perfect first case study for the San Diego Creatives series, found exclusively at the Boyte Creative Blog. Welcome to the journey. Welcome to the community. Check back soon for more on the talented folks that make us smile.
* Directed, Shot, and Edited by Shaun Boyte. **Written by Kelsey Brown. ***Huge thanks to Toyo y Moi for use of music in video portion of project.
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