The Work That Made Me: Sophie Mascatello
Sophie Mascatello joined Mythology in 2019 and was promoted to creative director and head of design the following year. She joins existing partners Anthony Sperduti, Fernando Music, Ted Galperin, and Audrey Attal in leading the agency's multidisciplinary team of writers, designers, art directors, and strategists who have built a reputation for their work for iconic brands such as Target, A24, Warby Parker, Harry's, LiveNation, Mattel, Speedo, The Coca-Cola Company, and JUST Egg.
Prior to Mythology, Sophie held senior creative and freelance roles at Partners & Spade and Baron & Baron. She also co-founded the creative studio George & Elaine and has been a visiting critic at Parsons School of Design and her alma mater, Rhode Island School of Design.
Her work has been recognised with numerous awards, including an ADC Silver Cube, an ADC Bronze Cube, the Dieline Plastic-Free Innovation of the Year, the Dieline Best of Health, Beauty and Personal Care, and a Pentawards Diamond. She also served on the ADC Awards 2024 Jury.
LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Sophie> Mariah Carey’s “Honey” remix. The video opens with Mariah, who plays a secret agent, swan diving off a balcony into a pool. She sheds her clothes to reveal a Bond girl-style two-piece and runs into a pool house to zip into a glossy wet suit, which she wears as she makes her escape on a jet ski. She’s at the top of her game; and the styling, the fisheye lens, the glam… it’s all just correct.
LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Sophie> The early 2000s Marc Jacobs ad campaigns shot by Juergen Teller left a mark. I graduated high school in 2005 and was into fashion: magazines, clothes, photography, and culture. I watched the Style Network religiously (for those who know) which was basically just runway shows, fashion week coverage, and Nigella Lawson’s original cooking show. Marc Jacobs was the epitome of cool, and I just remember collecting those ads and feeling like it was a world I wanted to be in.
LBB> The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Sophie> Probably anything by the late graphic designer Tibor Kalman, or his firm, M&Co. The work is so smart, conceptual, great looking— and has stood the test of time.
LBB> My first professional project…
Sophie> After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design’s MFA program, my professor connected me with a branding studio in Chinatown called Watson & Company, with Douglas Elliman as a client. Since I had a background in fine art and art history, as well as some experience in graduate school working on exhibition design, I ended up leading a project designing the VIP booth at Miami Art Basel for Douglas Elliman.
The concept was inspired by Bauhausian exhibitions, and we partnered with SITU Fabrication, which engineered, fabricated, and installed the booth in Miami. Although I haven’t gone on to do much experiential work, it was a cool and kind of random experience that we did two years in a row.
LBB> The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Sophie> I’d have to say the years-long spew of DTC brands sucked the creative air out of the room for a while. I touched on this in a talk I gave for It’s Nice That’s Nicer Tuesdays. Everyone working in branding needed a palette cleanse after that ended, to clarify what was actually interesting—instead of more work that had become a parody of macro trends that dominated branding for the better part of a decade.
LBB> A brand identity that I believe has stood the test of time...
Sophie> As a native New Yorker—and a sentimental one at that—Barneys New York is at the top of my list despite its tragic closure. The brand and retail experience was so high touch and singular. Most department stores are cheesy, anonymous, and without personality. Barneys was special and cool. A close second is probably the original Dean & Deluca. So New York, so classic.
LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…
Sophie> We’ve worked with A24 on many projects, including the creation of the brand Half Magic, which was inspired by the TV show ‘Euphoria’ and its makeup artist, Donni Davy. We did everything from naming and identity, to concepting and designing the packaging, to image making and creative directing the launch film.
It’s an example of how being creatively aligned with a client allows the best work to be made. We didn’t have to compromise or dumb things down; our team, Donni, and A24's collaboration made something unique in a really crowded space.
LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Sophie> Early on in my career, I did a bunch of luxury new development branding, which was painful at the time, and absolutely cringeworthy when I think about it now. Some of it, like the hospitality work, was fun, but when you get into branding condominiums, it gets pretty dark!
LBB> The piece of design advice I wish I'd received earlier in my career
Sophie> People often underestimate the value of knowing what they don’t do well and aren’t that interested in. When I graduated from RISD, I felt like in order to be a great designer I had to be good at everything: typography, web design, art direction, etc. Except I don’t enjoy every aspect of design; I’m not a good web designer. Once I realised what I was really good at, I accepted that I couldn’t be great at everything and was able to focus and cultivate the skills that define my career.
