Useless Function is a small design studio in Boston and New York. We build brands as worlds: the idea first, then its rules, and the logo last. Every good thing has a useless function. The cape on the cow at Burgman makes no burger better; it makes you remember the burger. The two quiet minutes Sukoon asks for are two you never needed. Nobody asked the crab at Dancing Crab to dance, and it has never stopped. Cream of Life prints its calories large enough to read from the freezer door, and Raw Materials keeps your screenshots in glass marbles, because nobody has ever loved a folder. We make that part first, on purpose: the detail that serves no purpose except being loved, found by playing rather than chosen by taste. We also make software of our own: Umbrella books a painter like a room, and LIFE-001 plans your day with nine creatures who never sit still. Before that we designed products for other people: a first kit for SURI, a road-trip planner for Polestar and a savings game for U.S. Bank. We write it all down in the Journal. This document is also our inbox: write in it, take out what you don’t need, and send it to us.
Everything we’ve madeTap one to add it to the document. Click it in the text to open it.
