Our Process

Create. Refine. Repeat.

These are the steps that we apply to each of our hundreds of projects each year. We learned soon after our founding in 1996 that while the outcome of our creative work is completely different for each client, a stable process allows us to remove predictable obstacles and arrive at creative, professional solutions with consistency.

Some of the steps below will be divided into smaller functions for larger projects or combined into fewer functions for smaller projects. In any case, we always hit these touchstones to ensure a successful and smooth-running project.

Preamble

We need to make sure that we're a good fit. Please have a thorough look at our site to see examples and case studies of the work we've done. If there's one thing you'll see in common across all of our work, it's that we do sweat the details.

The First Step

Call Jenny Robinson or fill in the Get Started Form to get rolling. We'll give you a personal overview of our services and find out some preliminary information about your needs to determine if we should move on to the Initial Consultation.

Initial Consultation

The Initial Consultation is a complementary meeting, ideally in person, which lasts about an hour. We dig deeper into your reasons for contacting us, what your business goals are, what opportunities you have and what challenges you need to address. Based on relevant experiences, we try to provide an estimate on the spot. If that estimate is in the ballpark for your budget, we create a written Proposal and set a date with you to review the Proposal.

Proposal

At the Proposal meeting we review with you the general strategy, as well as the scope and cost of our proposed solution. The Proposal is not a complete blueprint for your project but it hits the highlights and serves as a good starting point for our work together. Every detail of our Proposals are based on your goals and the things we'll create to reach these goals. Additions and substitutions may be made as more information comes to light during the creative process. With your signature and deposit, you secure a place in our hearts and in our workflow.

Kickoff Meeting

With all of the key people present from your team and ours, we cover a lot of territory. A typical agenda includes:

Introducing each of our team members and their roles
Reiterating your goals for the project
Determining how you're unique and how we can articulate that
Reviewing your creative preferences in terms of likes and dislikes
Discussing the next few steps of the creative / production cycle
Planning the next few milestones and the timeline for completion

Research

Depending on the level of service you need, we start with research. We want to know more about who it is you're targeting and what context they will judge you in. For existing customers, we are able to gather what their impression of you is now, what it was before they became your customer and what your most compelling selling points are.

Creative

Our creative team goes into think mode, where we review notes from our Initial Consultation and Kickoff Meeting and break down the project into tasks with micro-estimates so that we can manage the budget we've agreed to. For web projects, one designer and one programmer are assigned the project. For graphic design projects, it typically is one designer who brings the concepts to reality. The product is reviewed by the Creative Director for adherence to the scope and strategy before being sent out for the first Client Review.

For corporate identity projects, we start with the most fundamental visual elements of an identity to create standards-compliant visuals, whether they are modern, classical or something completely different.
For web development projects, we start with wireframe diagrams of a site map and page layouts. These serve as the skeleton of the website development process. We refer to these plans when we build the design and function of the rest of the site.
For graphic design projects, we consider physical constraints such as paper size, folds, binding formats, distribution methods and reproduction. We thrive on constraints and often find ways for you to maximize the usage of a piece through creative execution.

Presentation, Feedback and Revisions

We have yet to see a process in which the client doesn't bring additional information to the table as the project progresses. To accommodate this, we have built our creative and programming process as an iterative one to let you see our work at various stages of development. Each visit we have with you is an opportunity for you to see how the work is progressing, to put a finer point on your needs and to provide us with valuable feedback. Presentation and Feedback meetings are typically scheduled at one- or two-week intervals.

Web Development

While our in-house designers are solving visual and information design challenges, they lean heavily on our in-house programming team to ensure that the solutions they propose won't cause undue technical expense or maintenance. We combine open source software and custom web programming to provide both cost-effective solutions and custom-made web programming to exactly fit your stated goals.

Print Production

Once the design portion of the project is complete, we handle print management for our clients. It is not required but we do this for about 95% of our clients. It includes selecting a printer, getting pricing, reviewing printer proofs and reviewing the completed job to ensure that quality has been maintained throughout the manufacturing process.

Summary

Is it paradoxical that a creative agency has a linear process? Is it odd that we ask rhetorical questions? Fear not. It is a proven fact that the more we can put the mundane aspects of our projects on auto-pilot, the more we can focus our energy on what you're paying us for: reaching goals that make your efforts more effective.

Visit our Get Started Form to set up a free initial consultation.