Pros
The people who work at Offwhite are all wonderful and form a genuine and deep communal bond, with no exclusions. Newcomers can jump right into the mix and feel at home. The physical office space is well lit and colorful. At Offwhite there is a young, eclectic, talented group of people with a wide range of skills and experiences. The projects that come into Offwhite can be a lot of fun to work on, there is a lot of flexibility in direction, and Josh often tries to bring in work for which we can do a range of deliverables (from print, to web, to marketing, etc). There is also a mandatory observance of Shabbat, so the office is closed Fridays from sunset to Saturdays at sunset. The hours are also generally not too long; a very regular 9-6:30 day can be expected.
Cons
The Creative Director, Principal Designer, and CEO, Joshua White, is the main flaw of Offwhite Design. He views design as a business, not as a craft about which anyone can be passionate. The environment that he desires is one where he is the only catalyst for information into our out of the studio. The plethora of outwardly racist, sexist, and ignorantly biased comments that come out of his mouth is nauseating. Every single action that takes place under his watch is immediately equated with monetary value and decisions are driven solely based on that idea. Joshua White has a very effective way of making his employees feel like they are a waste of the company's money, as opposed to a robust source of its income. Joshua White has never once tried to be a teacher or a mentor to all the fresh graduates he employs; he makes zero effort to nurture their passion for design and because of that many of the designers working there are questioning why they came into this industry after so little as 6 months post graduation. He devalues language, and has a disturbingly low vernacular; he finds offense in an occasion when someone uses a word he doesn't know (often). He functions mainly by proxy and is seemingly unable to genuinely confront his employees about issues he may be having with them, which instead leads to much convoluted passive aggression. I believe that any type of practice one chooses outside of the office is their right to have, however Joshua being highly observant of Jewish Orthodox faith greatly effects the environment and schedule of the studio, negatively. It was a fight to get Christmas day off (for ideal family and travel purposes, not necessarily religious), or to be able to use the provided microwave, refrigerator, and cabinets during Passover. He seemingly enjoys capitalizing on the general lack of knowledge of Jewish holidays; often announcing only the night before that we are being given a vacation day (because as he has said himself, he doesn't want us all going away for the weekend, etc.) Because of this, Josh finds appearances and first impressions to be very important, which they absolutely are in any industry, however the image that Josh projects of Offwhite as a studio is very far from the truth and reality. The employees at Offwhite are unhappy because they are not respected as individuals. Joshua White sees his employees as extensions of his own arms; people without creative drive or analytical thought. He has been overheard saying that women only have "half a brain" in their "small heads" as well as equating "manliness" with certain behaviors versus others. Nobody working there is put into the position to make decisions because Joshua does not see anyone other than himself being capable of the task. Sometimes Josh entices us with ideas of being involved in higher level responsibilities, however they rarely pan out. If you are interviewing at Offwhite, my advice is that there are more constructive, nurturing, and productive environments in New York. All of this negativity still exists despite direct, conversational efforts (from the studio as a whole) to remedy the environment's morale and give Josh constructive feedback, which he has subsequently ignored. I'm writing this review having made significant efforts to understand the world from Joshua White's point of view and put myself in his shoes as a business owner. However, when every single employee (former or current) becomes negatively affected by the emotionally manipulative and offensively ignorant behavior of the CEO/PD/CD, the harsh reality is hard to ignore. I realize that a lot of this review sounds exaggerated and malicious (and I often feel that way when relaying my job experience to friends or family), however having been one of the longest employed workers at Offwhite, I find it to be highly accurate and is what I would have to say to any potential employee contemplating joining the team. Offwhite Design is a spirit-crushing environment and I would not recommend it to anyone.
