What TBD* does

TBD* Studio at CCA is a student-run design studio operating within California College of the Arts' Center for Art and Public Life, co-founded in 2017 by instructors Eric Heiman and Rachel Berger. The studio provides pro bono graphic design services to Bay Area nonprofits and civic-minded institutions, with each semester's cohort of approximately 8-10 advanced graphic design students delivering real client projects under faculty supervision. Service disciplines include branding systems, campaign design, data visualization and infographics, environmental graphics, animation and video, editorial design, and fundraising materials. Clients are admitted through a Google Forms application process and receive services at no cost in exchange for the educational experience provided to students.

The program's leadership combines academic credibility with industry standing: Eric Heiman has taught at CCA since 1999 and co-founded the established Bay Area design agency Volume Inc. (recently named an AIGA Fellow), while Rachel Berger has been on CCA's faculty since 2010. Tracy Tanner, Assistant Director for CCA's Center for Art and Public Life, serves as operational lead. Notable repeat clients include Elder Care Alliance (multi-semester engagement from Fall 2019 through Spring 2022), BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), ACLU Northern California, 826 Valencia, SF MOHCD, Children's Creativity Museum, Galería de la Raza, and SPUR. The studio has continuously operated every semester from Fall 2017 through Fall 2025, with a publicly accessible project portfolio at tbdcca.com.

TBD* is not a commercial enterprise: it has no revenue, no funding rounds, no investors, and no productized offering beyond the academic program itself. The studio's go-to-market is purely inbound via the CCA network and its website portfolio, with community partners self-selecting into the application queue. Pricing is structurally zero — services are free — because the labor is supplied by students earning academic credit rather than paid staff. The studio's institutional moat is its embedding within CCA and its practitioner-faculty leadership; its strategic trajectory since 2017 has been one of stable, semester-cyclical operation rather than expansion.

Name

TBD*

Legal name

TBD* Studio at CCA

Website

https://tbdcca.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

TBD* is a student-run pro bono design studio at California College of the Arts, providing branding, campaign, environmental graphics, and editorial design services to Bay Area nonprofits and civic institutions through semester-long student cohorts under faculty supervision.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Educational Program Services: TBD* is an in-house design studio at California College of the Arts (CCA). Services are provided to community partners free of charge as part of an educational program. The studio operates on academic semesters with students receiving course credit and professional experience rather than monetary compensation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

TBD* is a student-run design studio at California College of the Arts that provides free, professional-quality graphic design services including branding systems, campaign design, environmental graphics, web design, motion/animation, and data visualization to Bay Area nonprofits and civic institutions. Services are delivered by advanced graphic design students under faculty supervision on a semester basis.

Product overview

TBD* is a student-run design studio at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco that provides pro bono design services to Bay Area nonprofits and civic-minded institutions. The studio operates as a single unified service offering—professional graphic design work—organized across multiple project types and disciplines including branding systems, campaigns, data visualization, environmental graphics, animation, editorial design, and fundraising materials. All projects are executed by advanced graphic design students under faculty supervision, with the goal of providing quality design services while giving students professional experience serving the community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Branding System Design Services Comprehensive visual identity and brand identity design services for nonprofits and civic organizations, including logo design, typography systems, color palettes, and brand guidelines.
• Campaign Design Services Design of marketing and awareness campaigns including social media graphics, posters, promotional materials, and multi-platform campaign systems for community engagement.
• Data Visualization and Infographics Creation of data visualization systems, infographics, and visual frameworks for presenting complex information in accessible formats for site-specific installations and community outreach.
• Environmental Graphics Site-specific environmental and wayfinding graphics design for physical spaces including schools, public facilities, and community centers.
• Animation and Video Motion graphics, promotional videos, and animated content creation for storytelling, digital campaigns, and social media engagement.
• Editorial Design Publication design services including newspapers, magazines, catalogs, exhibit catalogs, and printed collateral with focus on readability and visual storytelling.
• Fundraising Materials Design of fundraising collateral including donor booklets, pledge forms, modular folders, and campaign materials for nonprofit development efforts.

Named customers20 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• California College of the Arts (CCA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017TBD* is an in-house design studio at California College of the Arts. The program is supervised by CCA instructors and provides academic credit to participating students. Eric Heiman and Rachel Berger are credited with co-creating TBD* at CCA in 2017.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pro Bono Design: The exact peer concept—designers donating time to nonprofit and civic clients—is exemplified by multiple small ad hoc collectives; TBD* is essentially an institutionalized, academic-host version of this broader pro bono design movement.
• Catchafire: Skills-based volunteering platform that matches design and other professionals with nonprofits for pro bono engagements. Comparable mission of channeling design talent into the nonprofit sector at no cost to the recipient.
• Volume Inc. Bay Area design firm co-founded by Eric Heiman, the same designer-instructor behind TBD*. Operates in the same city and design community, with overlapping civic and cultural clients, making it the closest spiritual and operational peer.
• Taproot Foundation: Nonprofit that connects skilled professionals—including designers—with nonprofits needing pro bono services. Operates the same free-design-for-nonprofits model at scale across many U.S. cities, making it the closest functional analog.
• Public Architecture: Nonprofit that mobilizes design talent (architecture rather than graphic design) for pro bono work benefiting the public realm. Operates a parallel model in an adjacent design discipline, addressing the same 'designers serve the public good' thesis.

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Largest independent design consultancy with offices worldwide. Comparable in offering full-spectrum graphic design services (branding, identity, editorial, environmental), but operates as a paid commercial firm across all sectors, including civic and nonprofit clients.
• IDEO: Bay Area-based global design and innovation firm with a strong civic and social impact practice. Comparable in blending design with public-interest problem-solving and serving community-minded institutions.

Regional players

• Manual: San Francisco-based creative studio offering branding, identity, and campaign design for mission-driven organizations, including nonprofits. Same regional base and similar client mix, but operates as a paid commercial firm.

Others

• AIGA: Professional association for designers in the U.S. that Eric Heiman was recently named an AIGA Fellow through. Ecosystem enabler for the design-for-good community in which TBD* operates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tbd-at-cca

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TBD*