Obvious State began, quite literally, with bare walls. When we moved back to the U.S. from Paris fifteen years ago, we searched for literary artwork to hang in our home but found nothing that captured the spirit of the books we loved. So we decided to make our own. 

We shared the first three illustrations Evan made on our blog, and to our surprise, readers immediately asked where they could buy them. That early enthusiasm sparked what would become Obvious State — first a two-person Etsy shop in 2011, and now a thriving independent press that has published 14 books, more than 150 original art prints, and a curated collection of literary gifts.

Evan Robertson’s bold, graphic art, elegant typography, and distinctive color palette remain at the heart of what we do. Over the years, our work has found its way into bookstores, museums, and libraries around the world, and we’ve been honored to collaborate with partners, such as Penguin Random House, Chronicle Books, Doubleday, Gibbs Smith, Andrews McMeel, Barnes & Noble, The Strand, Chapters Indigo, Powell’s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Getty, The American Writers Museum, The Emily Dickinson Museum and The Library of Congress.

What began as a personal creative experiment for two English majors and lifelong book lovers has grown into a celebration of the timeless dialogue between art and literature. 

Our studio is located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where we live with our two sons and two exceedingly spoiled cats.

Want to work together?
Have a cool project in mind?
Have a question about a print shop order?
Want to extol the virtues of enlightenment era philosophy?

We'd love to hear from you.

If you are a retailer and want to inquire about carrying our products, please visit our wholesale page.