About Us
M26 Studio is an eco-aware design collaborative, embedded within the design consulting firm Make 26, which was founded in 2005 by Evan Ward. The M26 Studio is where Ward creates, develops, and manufactures his own designs. He and his team strive to apply the basic principles of sustainability and localism, both to the products they create and the process of creating them.
Within M26 Studio, Ward taps into his long-standing passion for design that is both modern and timeless. This passion, combined with extensive and wide-ranging design experience (including work for brands such as Taylor, Whirlpool, Sunbeam, Pyrex, Colgate, Starbucks, and Newell Rubbermaid) enables M26 Studio to explore homegrown ideas and create fresh proprietary designs that address the unmet needs of emerging markets.
Ward’s first line of M26 Studio products, called Hala, has attracted significant media attention and strong initial sales. What makes Hala designs singular is Ward’s rigorous attention to function and detail. His most successful product to date is the FLIP cookbook holder, which, through continual design improvement based on user feedback, is arguably now the best cookbook holder on the market. The simple yet unexpected designs of the Hala MOD and MONOLITH wine racks have also received praise in both local and national media outlets. M26 Studio is now developing a line of lighting that will be exclusively sourced in the Midwest, which can be viewed on the M26 Studio website.