When Roger Tory Peterson published A Field Guide to the Birds in 1934, its simple but effective premise forever changed the practice of bird spotting. What the field guide did, as David Reinfurt —a designer featured in last year’s Field Guide—points out in his excellent essay on the origins of this genre (dot, dot, dot, issue 6) was to switch the emphasis in the process of identification from biology to typology. Now, using formal characteristics to distinguish species, birds could be spotted in action—in the field. Here, documented for your easy reference are details of the natural habitats, distinctive markings, calls, and flight patterns of 25 representative examples of today’s most talented fledgling designers, nominated by a committee of distinguished international designers and educators.

The first thing to note is that they are actually out there in the field. Of this representative sampling of 25, all but one are running their own businesses. The firms range in scale, certainly. One designer refers to her budding practice as “mostly an idea”; others are working at established design studios while building empires in their spare time and spare room. Some in less harsh climates are already fully launched. Strikingly evident among these independents is a refusal to specialize. Instead, what is valued most is ambidextrous exchange between the realms of art, print, motion, type, illustration, fashion, product, and writing. This multitasking sensibility is endorsed both by current thinking in design education, where there are growing numbers of transdisciplinary courses, and by an increasingly imperialistic design culture.

As part of this diversification, many designers have started ancillary enterprises such as a gallery space in Brooklyn, or a series of design lectures at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Others spend time writing, photographing, and creating their own publications about swimming pools or tower cranes, assembling a design boutique in a Berlin shop front or online, or authoring discussion on the design blog Speak Up. None of these activities is treated as tangential or a hobby; instead, in an increasingly competitive industry, they become the defining, passion-fueled characteristics of a design firm—how we tell if they’re a species apart.