George Eid laid the foundations for the agency in the late 1990s working primarily in filmmaking, but in 2003, the current AREA 17 was founded with the help of Arnaud Mercier, a renowned interactive designer and founder of Marseilles-based design firm Elixirstudio. Mercier was originally approached to assist in the creation of AREA 17’s visual identity; as a result, he and Eid began to collaborate on projects before merging their companies in 2005 and setting up base in Brooklyn. Expansion into Europe followed a year later with a Paris studio helmed by Dominique Deriaz, who had joined the agency in 2004 as a senior producer and information architect