How I Work: Danny Miller, Founder, High Tide
Danny Miller likes to start his workdays early. Image: c/o Danny Miller. Design by Barbara Cadorna.
Danny Miller, founder of High Tide, is putting this idea out into the ether so it will eventually come to fruition: an instrumental surf track that he and his team work with a band to produce, press it on a 45 record with a picture sleeve they design, and release it in limited quantities. Yes, please!
Until then, Miller and his team are busy working with their clients, notably Warby Parker, KITH, and Resy. High Tide benefits from Miller’s uniquely artistic approach to branding and design. He grew up in New York City, surrounded by contemporary art his entire life. He eventually studied Painting and Art History at UCLA before transitioning to the design world. (His late father was a prolific artist and subject of Danny’s own book, Nachume Miller: Behind The Painting.) Here, Miller shares how he works, including the delightful, wide-ranging soundtrack he listens to, drinking his coffee out of High Tide’s own mugs made out of milk glass, and his love for a certain whale-shaped knife to open boxes (and sharpen pencils!).
Danny Miller at work in High Tide’s NYC office. All photos by Dylan Nelson.
Rise and Shine
I’m quite lucky to be able to split my time between our New York office, which is in the heart of Union Square, and my home in the Catskills in the town of Accord. When I’m at home upstate, I usually start my day with my two kids, who will wiggle and worm their way into our beds by morning time. After a few minutes of casual lazy bedtime banter, my wife and I will head downstairs to the kitchen and one of us will begin making breakfast while the other packs the kids' school lunches. The kids go to different schools, so we divide and conquer by dropping them off individually. I have a morning coffee routine, which involves grinding my beans fresh (I’m currently very into Sey coffee), and making myself a pour over. Then, it’s out the door to drop off the kids at school. Often, they will request music to be played on the ride there, and our four-year-old River is currently very into Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which he refers to as “zucchini and wapsody.”
When I’m in the city, my routine is similar but different. I’ll wake up, take our dog Alfie out for a morning walk in and around Union Square, and will get into the studio pretty early where we have a drip coffee machine set up. I usually have about an hour or two before the rest of the team gets into the office, and I try to take advantage of this quiet alone time.
Work Uniform
I tend to want to dress pretty casually and comfortably unless we have a client coming in or are pitching new business. On most days, it's a black or white tee with some comfortable worn-in jeans. Maybe I’ll throw on a fun graphic tee by my friend Ariel who runs the lifestyle brand Mister Green if I’m feeling sassy that day. If I need to dress a little more formal, I’ll throw on a nice collared shirt and maybe a pair of linen slacks by collaborators and friends of the studio Aimé Leon Dore.
Miller’s playlist is wonderfully eclectic.
How I Structure My Day
My days are heavily dictated by my calendar. They are a mix of internal meetings with the creative team to look over and critique work or workshop client feedback, new business chemistry meetings and pitches, and check-ins with the more operational side of the business. I try to block out some time within meetings to either step out and stretch my legs, maybe take a walk around the block, or have some heads down time to get through work-related emails or tie up any loose ends with our internal projects. I find that taking breaks from the computer screen and doing something outside really helps balance out my day and allows me to reflect on things. I am also a big fan of to-do lists. I rely on the Notes app on my iPhone screen to create a daily checklist that I’m constantly updating and checking things off as the day progresses.
Playlist Favorites
It really varies depending on my mood and what type of work I’m trying to get done. When I really need to concentrate, I tend to put on some instrumental music. Lately I’ve been into the Misha Panfilov Sound Combo Days as Echoes album, Philip Glass “Solo Piano,” or Brazilian music from the 70s like Jorge Ben Jor. When I’m in the mood for something a bit more uptempo when I’m flipping through books for references and inspiration, I’ll either throw on some 70s psych rock, some 90s hip-hop like Ghostface Killah, some Al Green, or some old roots reggae like Jackie Mittoo or Johnny Osbourne. Here’s a snapshot of what I’ve been listening to recently:
“Aonde Você Vai” - Antonio Adolfo
“All Through The Day” - Las Los
“Bucket Bottom” - Prince Alla
“The Weather” - El Michels Affair & Black Thought
“So Much (Music)” - Madlib
“Le soleil dans le mond” - Domenique Dumont
“Live On Live Long” - Capone-N-Noreaga
“Romantic Attitude” - John Fitch & Associates
That coffee mug? Made out of milk glass.
Tools of the Trade
We made some functional notepads for the office during the pandemic that I use almost every day. They’re both letter size, one is gridded and the other is blank for more free form note taking and sketching. I tend to alternate between the two depending on what I’m doing. I do love a nice pen as I like to doodle a lot. Pilot Precise is a tried-and-true favorite, but I’ve also been loving the TRC Brass Ballpoint Pen by this company out of Japan called Traveler’s Company. It’s super light and the brass feels nice on the fingers. I also like how it flips into itself and becomes half the size when you want to throw it in your bag and take it somewhere. I’m also a big fan of having knives around, usually to open boxes, sharpen a pencil, or open mail. These hand forged steel ones in the shape of a whale are a personal favorite. They’re made by a company out of Japan called Yamashita. Additionally, I’m a big fan of having my morning coffee in a beautifully designed and perfectly weighted mug. We recently created our own, crafted out of milk glass. I suggest everyone get themselves one because they’re both beautiful and very enjoyable to drink out of.
Dream Studio
My dream studio is something I was talking a lot about over the pandemic with my team, which would be located on a ground floor space in New York (preferably the Lower East Side or SoHo) with great natural light and tons of plants. We would build out the front of the area to be a lounge/retail area to sell products, and have events and art exhibitions. Really it would be an area where High Tide can show up as a brand and showcase things that we as a studio are passionate about and into. Perhaps we can have a little coffee bar there where clients or friends of the studio can pop in and enjoy an espresso if they’re in the neighborhood. Then the ⅔ back of the house would be where the design and operations team would work during the day. Of course, part of that would also be a massive library to store the collection of books and records the studio has accumulated over the years, a lovely hi-fi sound system set up (Klipsch speakers and a Mackintosh receiver), and a large magnetized steel wall to pin up works in progress and for creative team crits. (Here is High Tide’s current studio.)
One Unique Thing About My Work Process
I think a lot of my ideas form when I’m not in front of a computer or on a call with my creative team. Things usually coalesce for me when I’m doing something mundane like washing the dishes or in the shower — that’s when a lot of lightbulb moments happen for me. It’s probably when I’m undistracted by external things so my brain is allowed to form ideas and thoughts together more clearly.
Mantra
An idea is only as good as its execution.
My Bright Idea that Never Saw the Light of Day
I’m putting this out there so it will eventually come to fruition: an instrumental surf track that we work with a band to produce, press it on a 45 record with a picture sleeve we design, and release it in limited quantities.
To-Do List Item That Keeps Me Up At Night
I look forward to the time where nothing is in a box on the floor and everything in the New York office is nicely organized and everything is in its right place (shout out Radiohead). We’re slowly getting there. Our next big step in the right direction will be having a custom storage credenza fabricated where we can store and showcase all the print and product collateral we’ve designed over the years in a nicely organized manner.
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