Adam McDermott and Chad Kushner are the co-founders of Linus Bikes. No strangers to traveling and surfing, the two South African-born high school friends found a home in Venice. What began as a modest shop run from the back of a classic California bungalow has become a burgeoning brand represented in twenty countries.

When Linus started out, the bike industry focused on athletes and pushed technology and development with products plastered with graphics and logos. Adam was inspired by the old postman bikes but wanted to make something that was lighter and more agile. As with Nixon’s most iconic watches McDermott and Kushner found a way to push the limitations of the industry by embracing a clean, elegant look. The result is a stable and comfortable bike that’s fun to ride.

Though they are passionate about cultural change, they are driven by their personal values of simplicity, ease, and community. “I think it’s more an idea about life,” McDermott says. “How you feel about the environment and your own health, and the pace and the way you live. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to ride a bike everyday.” For them, the bike is the perfect way to learn about a new place, and they hope to see their bikes become synonymous with urban travel.

Secret weapon: Alloy parts
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Life-changing event: Having a baby (Chad)
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Interested in: Urbanization (Adam)

Korean-born KB Lee grew up in Long Beach, where he learned English from music videos and the lyrics of hip-hop songs. Without the Internet or direct support from his parents, he found his way to the graphic design and streetwear industries. His passion and hard work took him all the way to the head of design at Undefeated, where he worked for seven years. Now he’s out on his own, consulting for clients in California and also all over Asia.

Over the course of his extensive travel, KB has come to see an opportunity in redesigning the flying experience. “I travel so much, I get on the airplane so much, I will design the layout and setups of the airplane,” Lee says. “Because every time I get there, it doesn’t matter if it’s first class, business class, or economy; I think there’s a way you could actually make it better for someone.” For today, though, his main mission is to take what he’s learned and experienced from Los Angeles, and share it with those outside of the city.

For KB, the design game is about the whole package. “Design will involve everything in the future,” he says. “It’s one of those things, like, let’s say food. There’s nice food, but then you want to have a nice plate, you want to have a nice table setup. So people are more aware of all of those design elements.” As for streetwear and underground culture, he never could have dreamed it would have become this big.

Secret weapon: Confidence
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Favorite desk accessory: Neighborhood incense chamber designed in Japan
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Currently inspired by: Asian and oriental color combinations and patterns

Jonathan Whitener is the Chef de Cuisine at Animal, the now world-famous restaurant on North Fairfax. He began cooking at 13, and has been obsessed with the kitchen ever since. His studies have taken him to New York and Europe, but nothing suits him as well as living and working in California.

One of his favorite pastimes is to go over to Tiki-Ti in Silverlake and chat it up with the bartender of the family-run business. There he can hear stories about the cultural history of the city at a time when there weren’t even white bartenders. You might also find him at El Cochinito where people go to share large plates of Cuban food. Otherwise he’s most likely at Animal, tending to a crying cook or dealing with the day in and day out of getting food ready.

Animal, the restaurant where Whitener currently plies his trade, is celebrated for its innovative preparations of parts of the source protein that other people might throw away. His customers have been known to storm into the kitchen demanding to know where he gets his recipes. “My mom used to make something just like this,” they tell him. “I think it’s really important to make that connection,” Whitener says. “If you can make somebody connect to their childhood and something that they ate twenty, twenty-five years ago, I think that’s rare and very special.” If he can make people feel like a kid when they eat, he knows he’s succeeded.

Secret weapon: Lemon
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Alternate career: Cultural Anthropologist
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Favorite item purchased on Fairfax: A Supreme jacket that says “Eat the Rich” on the back

Dana Jazayeri is the founder of As Issued, a specialty bookstore in Costa Mesa. The store/gallery hybrid hosts book signings and art openings, all of which bring the community together to interact with his curated selection of art books and design reference titles. The genres he provides access to include everything from textiles, fashion, photography, tattoos, and graffiti to books about punk, surf, and skate subcultures.

Despite being called the “City of the Arts,” the town has only three galleries, As Issue included. But thanks to the thousands of pages of visual information he’s compiled, there’s now a resource for working professionals and students of design who want to learn more. “Really what I’m doing,” Jazayeri says, “is I’m a tool salesman. I find…the best tool on the market and I say, ‘This will make your life simpler. This will help you with projects.’”

One gem on his shelf is a book of box labels that a German designer collected for twenty years. “It would take an individual an extremely long time to locate all that individually,” he says. “But if someone hand curated the information in a quick, tangible format to access, then it’s easy.” He’s currently working with local schools, museums, and private gallery owners to create Canvas Cost Mesa, a bi-annual arts event. As Jazayeri well knows, while it’s absolutely important to have a passion, the key is to be able to share your passion with the world.

Secret weapon: Compilation titles
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Definition of a zine: A blog before the Internet
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Currently excited about: 3D technology