Week 1: Planning, Strategy and Management | Philosophies, Roles and Approach
Weekly Learning Objectives
By the end of this week you should be able to:
- Research and analyse different models of creative practice;
- Distil your research and understanding into a personal outline for future development;
Communicate your current positioning or one you would like to establish through a written ‘about paragraph’; - Imagine translating your perceived design ethos and positioning to your defined audience.
Week 1: Lecture Part I – Practitioner Case Studies
In this lecture, you will look at practitioner case studies exploring the following questions:
What do you think are the essential logistical and practical requirements to set up a design studio / business?
Tell us about your first studio space: How did you find your first studio?
What is the one piece of advice you can offer about running a successful studio?
Watch the lecture video below and take some time to explore the given materials. Make notes in your research journal, reflect upon these ideas, and use them as a springboard into your own investigations. Use the Ideas Wall freely to discuss, ask questions and share ideas.
What are the essential requirements to set up a studio?
What are the essential requirements to set up a studio?
Simon Manchipp
SomeOne
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
No 1 failing point: people forget to have clients. Until you have clients you don’t have a business.
At least one, ideally three paying decent regular money. Cashflow is what can kill you & get a good accountant.
Agencies can be run in a virtual way (these days)
Be careful what you promise – overdeliver.
Repeat business is the easiest and the best.
Sarah Boris
- Space
- Equipment
- Accountant
- Track what you spend – have a financial cushion
- Be well surrounded
Julian House & Adrian Talbot
Intro
Four things:
- 1st, be a good designer
- Absolutely passionate
- Be a ‘people person’, you need clients need to come back and therefore they need to like working with you.
- Have a head for business. If you don’t then you need someone who does.
When dealing with people, one thing is to listen. Have a knack of getting your idea through as if it were theirs. Flatter them and make the work about the dialogue you had. Do the clients suggestion whether you like it or not but sway them towards a better idea/version.
Don’t aim to be like someone else, find your own way and remember you’re designing for the client so it needs to fulfil the purpose they need. Don’t design for yourself. However, the best way is to have people come to you because of what you do. They’re most likely to let you lead them most of the way. They’ll have their input but they’re happy for you to interpret that in a way you see as right. Give them references you’d like as a way of engaging them early on so they feel involved from the start, you can lead them through the process more than if a client were to come to you and say ‘I want x’. Create a common ground.
A solution can come from something you’ve always wanted to try but only from creating a dialogue.
Good work will bring good work (as long as you remember to show it, and show it well).
Sam Winston
Studio culture ‘fake it ’til you make it’.
Check overheads
Skill-swap, more than expected are happy to. Build an extended network. Social world fits in with your work-world.
Instead of just emailing people asking for things, start to contact them to see if they have anything you can help with (?). Saying ‘I’m into what you’re doing, are there any projects I can help with’, a better way to introduce yourself opposed to ‘look at me, look at me!!’
But don’t be exploited…
Sincerity and transparency are the key points. Show realistic numbers, don’t hide costs. Build trust.
Tom Finn & Kristoffer Soelling
Regular Practice
A studio can ‘professionalise’ you practice (agree, it also separates home/work environments allowing you to switch off)
Keep costs low
Give yourself the time to make work and generate new work
Their work came from people they know (therefore the trust was already there? (See Into notes above)).
Stay in touch with people.
Experience in a studio can give you a sense or how/not to work.
Tell us about your first studio space: How did you find your first studio?
Simon Manchipp
SomeOne
All started working separately but home – was ok but ‘lonely’. First met together working at a bus stop.
Sarah Boris
As part of a collective
Thriving and a good place to learn from others
Although interruptions brought the need for a place on her own.
Julian House & Adrian Talbot
Intro
Next door to Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones. Slowly moved to bigger premises as needed.
More came from then-owners contacts.
Sam Winston
Open plan desk space in shared studio
Realised how different industries were ‘in the real world’
Made own things at the end of the day
Got an ‘in’ from Alan Fletcher
Got another via that to use free studio space, and so more came from there
Tom Finn & Kristoffer Soelling
Regular Practice
Shared studio with friends, offered a place and shared to cost.
One piece of advice…
Simon Manchipp
SomeOne
Look at all the bad experiences you’ve had in other jobs – now’s the chance to do things in a new way, eg, their contracts are a single A4. Involve many people into the design process, one person can’t do larger projects on their own. ‘Plus-ing it’. Apply design thinking to everything.
Sarah Boris
Explore other options.
Don’t take no for a final answer. First time rejected but try for a second time, but re-invent yourself.
Follow gut
Ask questions
Be prepared to walk away
Don’t compromise (too much) have the right arguments, right dialogues and right timings
Julian House & Adrian Talbot
Intro
Talk to people – communicate effectively
Handle criticism
Not let jobs run on forever, have a set amount of time/changes, etc.
Don’t sit rigid on £x per hour but don’t work for nothing. Balance benefits -vs- money you’ll get
Sam Winston
Trust yourself
Win over yourself
Persevere
Listen
Tom Finn & Kristoffer Soelling
Regular Practice
Don’t just do everything, be brave enough to say no
Show the type of work that you want to be doing – include side projects, show what you can do.
Have an ethos you can follow.
Reflection/Opinions:
I can relate to, and agree with, everything which has been said above.
Intro: be absolutely passionate. I think this is the key one, it’s the one which will keep you going through hard times of which there are bound to be. It’s the one which will keep you on-track and keep you learning and developing as a designer.
Stay open to new ideas and look for ways to learn, don’t just wait for them to come along when you have a job to do (although a deadline can be a good incentive!). Have a good plan but keep it flexible (enough) as you won’t know what lies ahead, stay humble and accept that some people can still teach you things.
Find good support, by this I mean emotional & critical, not financial, and peers who can help you develop, I’ve said in a lot of past modules that my biggest problem has always been this, the friends I have aren’t designers and I don’t value the opinions of the designers I know. Someone to bounce ideas off is invaluable.
I read an interview with Adam Rix, the creative director at Music in Manchester, the one thing he said which stuck was ‘get noticed nationally’, that was one aim for the agency when it started in 2008. If your name gets around, albeit locally or nationally, then that’s another rung on the ladder.
A name…your studio needs a name which you like. Don’t overdo it though, don’t sound trashy. To hopefully illustrate what I mean by that: Pentagram, or The Pentagram. By adding ‘The’ it sounds like it’s trying too hard to sound deep, meaningful and mysterious and ruins the name.
What’s essential in setting up a studio?
Enthusiasm – the neeeed to do it and some work to get you going. The work might already be there waiting which is why you’re leaving your job/taking the plunge to do it for yourself.
Confidence; enough ego to fight your corner but remember that too much will turn people away.
A shoulder to cry on. Things will go wrong or be overwhelming (or both), someone to talk to is essential even if it’s just to get things off your chest when advice on what to do isn’t available.
Clarity – know what you want to do. Have enough of a plan to follow and not just a vague idea of what you’d like in the back of your head. Without this your likely too just coast along doing whatever comes along (like I did), things won’t be out of control but they won’t exactly be under control either…
An accountant – an enthusiastic one. If you can afford to get one, get one, make it the first thing you do, even before setting up. One who is looking for ways to save themselves money on paying tax is the way to choose, they apply any new ways on to you when they find them. Ours has saved us a fortune over the years, all legally…
My first studio space
Came by word of mouth. A studio with around four or five complimentary companies renting space was moving to a larger premises. The building had other designers, freelancers, exhibition designers, writers and a web design company in there already.
One piece of advice
Know what you enjoy doing and chase that, don’t just chase the money or you might as well be selling cars.
Week 1: Lecture Part II – Interview with Gem Barton
Lecture Introduction
This week’s lecture is an interview with Gem Barton, author of Don’t Get a Job, Make a Job, published by Lawrence King.
Scroll through the interview below and take some time to make notes in your research journal. Reflect upon these ideas, and use them as a springboard into your own investigations. Use the Ideas Wall freely to discuss, ask questions and share ideas.
Don’t Get a Job… Make a Job “many people daydream at work of all the other things they would rather be doing…”
An elevator pitch on either their current positioning or one they would like to establish. What advice would you give to them to help with this process?
- be honest with yourself
- get to grips with yourself
- understand your position and what you might like to change about it
- be honest – and patient
- make sure the dreams really are yours, and not a construct of society, your past, your family
What tools or links or advice could you pass onto students in relation to developing skills in planning and strategic thinking for professional practice?
What tools or links or advice could you pass onto students in relation to intellectual property insights and law for designers?
- Do your research, contact the right people
- get advice
- don’t be left out in the cold
- don’t rush
- don’t be paralysed by fear of getting these wrong
How would you advise them to consider the potential value, place and audience for their own personal practice?
Your time, skills and experience are valuable – and can/should be monetised – you need to determine where you place your value – and that is a personal quest all of its own.
What 5 general steps could students follow to build such experiences in relation to their own personal career development?
- Work hard – all successful entrepreneurs work hard
- Take time to analyse any failures – learn from those lessons
- Be brave, take chances, and believe that good things will happen
- Take care of your emotional intelligence at all times
- Have meaning – don’t just do it for the sake it – people will see through you
The value of collaboration
Collaboration for me is about 3 things;
- The first – quite simply, is about obtaining the skills/knowledge from others that you need, this isn’t selfish or subservient, it is business.
- The second – is about understanding that the whole can be greater that the sum of its parts.
- The third – is about the experience of connection and communication.
Thoughts on distributed and distance collaboration tools?
The trusted old telephone, being able to speak, relay nuanced tones and understand the embedded meaning within a conversation really can make all the difference.
Now with the added ability to see the person you are speaking with either by skype or face time then this really can close the gap thousands of miles.
How do you translate your perceived design ethos and positioning to your defined audience? In your book you talk about propaganda, what advice would you give to each student to help them develop a strategic approach to communicate what they do to a defined audience?
Play to your strengths, be consistent, perfect your personal brand
Jeff Bezos famously said that your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room – reverse engineer this. How do you want to be described, thought of, in your absence?
Once you can identify this – your strategic approach to your own identity/media/propaganda should be centred on achieving and maintaining this message.
What are your top 5 tips for developing a business plan?
- Here’s some good links for preparing a business/plan model:
- Business Model Canvas http://businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas
- The Lean Startup Canvas http://leanstack.com/LeanCanvas.pdf
- Happy Startup Canvas http://thehappystartupschool.com/ebook
- My Startup Plan Canvas http://mystartupplan.wordpress.com/
- Traditional Business Plans http://gov.uk/write-business-plan
Reflection/Opinions:
All excellent advice on the best ways to start and run a practice; follow your gut, collaborate, do the kind of work you love, etc. but where do you go to find it? Collaborating has brought the best for me so speak to people, tell them about yourself and what you do. I need to follow my own advice…
Week 1: Resources
Read | Watch | Listen
Below is this week’s list of materials. For the full module resource list, please refer to the Course Hub. We encourage you to also go beyond and carry out your own independent research into themes delivered. Do not forget to use the Ideas Wall to share new ideas and thoughts.
1. Butler, Sarah (2018) ‘Wallace & Gromit producers hand stake to staff (Links to an external site.)’, The Guardian [online], 10 November. [Accessed 27 March 2019]
2. USI Events (2017) Redesigning Leadership John Maeda, at USI (Links to an external site.), [online video]. [Accessed 27 March 2019]
3. DesignInDaBa (2016) John Maeda on Design Thinking and Creative Leadership (Links to an external site.), [online video]. [Accessed 27 March 2019]
4. Computer Arts (2016) How to Launch and Run a Design Studio (Links to an external site.), [online video]. [Accessed 27 March 2019]
5. millsustwo (2017) Inside ustwo (Links to an external site.), [online video]. [Accessed 27 March 2019]
6. The Futur (2017) How To Run A Creative Business: In-depth breakdown w/ Melinda Livsey (Links to an external site.), [online video]. [Accessed 27 March 2019]
7. Sagmeister, Stefan (2013) ‘Medalist Stefan Sagmeister (Links to an external site.)’, AIGA [online]. [Accessed 27 March 2019]
8. &walsh – https://andwalsh.com (Links to an external site.)
9. Sagmeister inc – https://sagmeister.com (Links to an external site.)
10. Maeda Studio – https://maedastudio.com/
Aardman Animation.
Becoming similar to Pentagram – owned by ‘Partners’ who generate their own work in teams as if a collection of smaller studios. The individuals’ desire to keep it going keeps it going.
John Maeda
Good points from the USI event: You might have a question but you can’t ask it to me because I might have gone somewhere else and so your brain has gone somewhere else.
If at the moment you have a question, go ahead and ask it.
All of you have chosen to sit in those seats and you want some kind of value, and you can hope that my presentation gives you value, but the best way is to ask for it and sometimes I can achieve that.
‘Radical transformation’ ‘not trying hard enough’ how do you cope? Is there an expectation that you should scrap what’s already there.
Look up Moore’s Law.
Potential isn’t linked to age; young have potential, old have been good in the past.
“Two views on design; design is a cost, design is an investment”. The second view is the most valuable in terms of understanding what design can be capable of, it’s not just something you have just because you have to have it.
Change happens. Rethink yourself.
tDR
This is a good source of advice, lots of levels; do’s/dont’s and their own results having been through the ‘unplanned structure’ of tDR.
Never started out as a ‘business’ – was left as an organic setup; if there was more work than could be handled, take on someone new to help. ‘A team, a gang’.
Running a business is hard work, it’s not just sitting designing what you like all day (unfortunately), and when staff are involved, rather than a group of mates working together, then the rules change.
“Pack of wolves”
Overall feeling they give is to do what you enjoy.
“Clients tend to just respond to what they see” they need to see what you can do.
themTwo
The owners oooze enthusiasm which has to rub off onto staff and clients.
“In principal; don’t be a dickhead”
Week 1: Workshop Challenge
How do you translate your perceived design ethos and positioning to your defined audience?
Revisit the geotagging workshop challenge from Week 2 of the Contemporary Practice module, and explore different studio philosophies through their about button and company statement.
Write an ‘about’ paragraph – an elevator pitch on either your current positioning or one you would like to establish. You may choose to take a speculative approach and envision your global dominance as a design studio superpower. Or as a more humble sole trader who works in a freelance capacity. Have your values changed since beginning the course? Is there a strategic approach your company would communicate to potential commissioners or clients?
Please consider the following in your approach:
- What is the idea?
- How does it work?
- Why does it work?
How do you translate your perceived design ethos and positioning to your defined audience?
Me…
I’ve worked as a designer since 1994, yes 1994, probably before some of my peers on this course were even born.
Jobs were hard to find so for graduates it was especially hard, there were no paid internships, no internet, no emails, no online portfolios, so no easy way to get in touch with studios.
Being from Lancashire I lugged my A2 portfolio all around Manchester. All the studios I’d contacted said the same; ‘we can’t afford to employ a junior right now, but we’re happy to look at your work and give you advice’.
I always got a good response from my portfolio, some places really apologetic for having to turn me away, but they all gave me more points of contact to try, so that was encouraging at least.
It took just over a year to find my first position, it came along via my now-wife Carol. She spotted an advert in the window of what stood for the job centre in the Shropshire village she was living. She told all her collage housemates who were designers about it first who all said no, then she asked me. At last, a job as a designer, starting as a junior in a studio in Shrewsbury. I worked there for around two years, working up to their senior, art directing and interviewing for new designers, etc. Some of the other designers there left to set up on their own and rest of us talked about our vague plans of doing the same in around five years time.
I left for a job at a larger agency in Oxford as middleweight, they had a wider range of clients which attracted me there, a better chance of doing work which would get seen, and I enjoyed working here. I’d always intended getting a job in London but I never quite got around to it, I put that down to being impulsive enough to just taking the next job offer regardless of where it was, and I had no real plan other than the vague five-years-time.
Moved on again, impulsively, after two years to a smaller agency in the West Mids where I would have more say in how things should run. Not much to say about this one though, it was never what it was supposed to be. It was an hour and a half commute and all the work ended up being below the line for engineering companies. There was a little for Railtrack and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, but the owner wasn’t a designer so money was the important thing to him and that’s what he chased.
Then myself and one of the other designers there decided we’d set up our own studio, we were good friends and trusted each other. It was 2000, I was in my late 20’s when we got going, we stole a client, picked up another and made things up as we went along. The five-year-ish idea had happened more by luck than judgement, I still with no real plan: ‘one day I’ll…’.
Without that plan, not a lot came from this studio in terms of varied work, but the one client, the one we stole, kept us busy and we made a lot of money for the next 17 years.
Towards the end of that time I’d started doing side projects as a way of developing new skills and also as a way to stay interested in being a designer, and having some work I felt was worth admitting to. The studio was tucked away on the outskirts of town which didn’t help with I’d started to dread Monday mornings, dread the phone ringing and dread dealing with the mundane and the soul-destroying client. That initial trust between the two of us and feeling of being ‘in it together’ started to fade, things were never going to change, I was losing any drive to rebuild the company especially as the other director wasn’t interested in doing so, so I did what I should have done years before and threw in the towel.
Things must have been better than they sound here, mustn’t they?
Now it’s just me, with my own studio and a bit of a plan of what I’d like to do, albeit a little late in the day. I took the MA to rebuild enthusiasm and confidence in what I’m able to do. I’m going to use this module as a way to review and regroup before I slip into old habits. The fact that each week needs an answer will make me come up with some direction to follow instead of procrastinating even longer.
My advice…make a better plan than I did
Abouts…
I’ve collected the About Us texts from places I admire; their work, their setup, even their name. I think having the right name is really important to a business because if you love the name you’ll love telling people what that name is, and, why you chose that name – even if it’s just down to the shape of it in a certain typeface.
I don’t like the name of my studio (some of you might recall from an earlier module…), I had to come up with one quickly at the time of setting up. It’s called Severn, yes, after the river, and what’s worse is that now there’s a hair salon and nail-bar (if that’s what they’re called) across the road with the same name, and they have the ‘V’ made out of a pair of scissors…
Somehow the word Agency got tagged to it which is something it isn’t and it’s ended up sounding like a place which does the kind of corporate run-of-the-mill work which I don’t want to do. I don’t have confidence in how it looks or sounds and that probably comes across when I’m talking about it, it’s as if I don’t want people to notice it.
There’ll need to be some of that corporate kind of work as there are bills to pay, but I don’t want it to be just whatever happens to turn up.
I can go on about this for hours but I’d better get back to my original topic; the About Us pages.
Agencies/studios I follow. Their name and/or their work will be what got my attention. Not listed in any order of preference.
Pentagram
The name just sounds right. The story behind the name is right.
50 years and their name, their setup and their idea of how things should be are still the same. There’s nothing you can see which suggests a change of direction or a fear of becoming outdated, they’ve just evolved. They look for the best people and invite them to join.
This is how I perceive them to be, I hope I’m right.
Their About Us:
Pentagram is the world’s largest independently-owned design studio.
Our work encompasses graphics and identity, architecture and interiors, products and packaging, exhibitions and installations, websites and digital experiences, advertising and communications. Our 25 partners are all practicing designers, and whether they are working collaboratively or independently, they always do so in friendship.
Our structure is unique. We are the only major design studio where the owners of the business are the creators of the work and serve as the primary contact for every client. This reflects our conviction that great design cannot happen without passion, intelligence and — above all — personal commitment, and is demonstrated by a portfolio that spans five decades and all industries.
It’s very succinct, that’s the main thing I like about this text. It doesn’t try too hard to sound good, there are no words which stand out as being heard over and over again on everyone else’s site, nothing about it which makes you roll your eyes and skip over.
It sounds passionate and authoritative; they know what they’re doing.
Intro
Nice name; simple, has meaning, looks neat. Their website isn’t great, it looks out of date but the work is good.
Their About Us:
Intro is an independent creative agency with a longstanding reputation for producing ground-breaking work across all media.
Established in 1988, Intro pioneered cross-media working. We were one of the first studios to do everything under one roof.
This way of working is now more relevant than ever and allows us to deliver to our clients high quality creative solutions across every medium. Our work is as varied as our clients. We offer award-winning films, campaigns, brand identities and events for a roster of international brands.
Again, short and sweet. There’s no huge list of skills which, in my opinion, shows a lack of clarity or confidence in how they see themselves. Worried that they might miss out on work if they don’t list that they will even run your Facebook page, eg: It reads ‘We were one of the first studios to do everything under one roof” – which could be followed by:
- List
- List
- List
- List…
However there’s a hint of it in ‘creative solutions across every medium‘…
DixonBaxi
Combined names of the founders – an easy solution to finding a name for a company, clients won’t question any hidden meaning and there isn’t any attempt to sound impressive. Names like this can be said to sound like accountants or solicitors by default, but I doubt that causes an issue.
Naming with names still has to sound right, still has to flow. IX & XI helps with how it looks and the number of syllables is low, it’s easy to say.
Their About Us:
Brave brands change the world.
We help create them.
Founded in 2001. DixonBaxi is a brand consultancy designing a better future.
We believe that in a world of rapid, constant change, there has never been a greater need to future-proof brands.
We’re trusted by AT&T, Viacom, Capital One, WWE, Audible, IMAX, Premier League, Channel 4, Netflix, British Land and Paradox Games. Companies that seek to be bold and challenge convention.
Brand. Design. Consultancy.
Strategy
Research
Brand strategy
Data analysis
Audience Segmentation
Journey mapping
Experience strategy
Brand consultancy
Naming
Brand architecture
Voice
Communication framework
Tone of voice
Brand
Brand identity
Brand systems
Brand in motion
Brand toolkit
Digital brand experiences
Ongoing brand development
360 brand world
Photography
Film
User Experience
Concept and UX design
Usability testing
User research
eCommerce + websites
iOS + Android Apps
Digital product + services
Design systems
Interactive prototyping
From our London studio, we work with brands all over the world. We’re proud to have a highly- talented cross-functional team of creative people with diverse perspectives from – Sao Paolo, Lisbon, Hong Kong, London, Rwanda, Scotland, Belgium, Germany and more. It makes for a rich, vibrant, open environment full of ideas, opinions, and experience.
Simon Dixon and Aporva Baxi met 25 years ago and bonded over a love of film and design, in particular, 2001: A Space Odyssey. It follows then that the pair would decide to set up their collaborative studio in 2001, calling it DixonBaxi. Today, it is an established name in the world of strategy and branding reaching 3 billion people with its international work.
In 2016, our first feature film – Tiger Raid was officially selected and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. We are working on our second film – The Year of the Ghost.
It’s huuuge and there are a lot of lists. I hadn’t realised how much About Us they had.
I don’t know, maybe they’ve got the balance of stories -vs- (great) images right? Each of the stories works well on it’s own and they aren’t over-worded, maybe that helps as, despite the size of the page, it’s quick to read.
Music
What sounds like a random word is well explained in the About Us text. Everyone likes music…
Their About Us:
Music can be complex and orchestral or as simple as banging on a bin lid.
It can inspire, provoke, change, reassure.
We believe great brand design can do the same for businesses.
Music moves people.
Branding is the fabric of everything we do at Music.
It’s at the heart of our business.
We create brands from scratch.
We evolve brands to better compete and engage.
We bring existing brands to life across multiple platforms.
Clients as diverse as tech start-ups and global football groups, cancer charities and fashion weeks, come to us and stay with us because we make it our business to really understand their brands and brand ambitions.
What we do
Branding: strategy & creative
Digital strategy: UX, SEO, content
Digital design & build
3D & interior design
Design for print: advertising, DM, corporate, packaging
Copywriting
Environmental design: signage schemes, exhibitions
Film creation, edit and production
A bit of a list…
Again, short enough and not trying too hard to sound better than everyone else (that makes you sound the same as everyone else).
Their text is split over two screens-worth of their site, the first part makes sense of their name and the list is separate to the rest. I suppose that’s not too bad as viewers can skim down it to get the idea.
why not associates
everyone wanted to be why not associates when i was at college first time around. we all stopped using capital letters and started collecting the next directory
Their About Us:
why not associates is a british multi disciplinary design studio with a world-wide reputation. we believe that compelling communication demands an element of surprise, whether it’s for postage stamps or public art, tv idents or cultural institutions. we may have a name for taking risks and pushing boundaries, but we experiment for good reason — to serve our clients’ best interests. that’s why we’re prepared to run through a dark room clutching lit fireworks. fingers grow back, and great work lasts forever.
They don’t say much but I don’t suppose they have to. What is there is confident, they have their back catalogue to show why the can be so.
Local abouts…
Going back the the Geomap from S3, I’ve revisited the three local practices to look again at each About Us page:
Source
Their About Us:
A little bit about us
A full service brand, digital & marketing agency
Established in 1991, we love creating stand-out brands, impactful digital marketing campaigns and innovative websites, all whilst implementing a 360 approach.
Based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, our energy-efficient, quirky HQ houses a talented team of individuals, who specialise in everything from brand and packaging, to digital and marketing. Team Source are problem-solvers, driven by one desire – to challenge the ordinary and create the extraordinary.
As an established full-service agency, we’ve delivered countless creative, digital and marketing projects for a wide range of clients, from start-ups to blue chip organisations and local government to corporate. Our work isn’t just limited to Shropshire, we work both across the UK and overseas.
At Source, our mantra is ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ which is why everything we do is bespoke and specifically tailored to the individual needs of each client’s business. We handle everything in-house to ensure a full understanding, control and total transparency. This includes taking the time to learn about your business, target audience and objectives, in order to develop a solution that’s unique for each client.
Our team
A passionate team of creative thinkers, technical pros & talented designers working together with our clients to create truly inspiring brands.
They’ve dropped the long list they had.
There’s a lot of elaborate wording straight away: stand-out brands; impactful digital marketing; innovative websites; implementing a 360 approach…
There’s more: our energy-efficient, quirky HQ; Team Source are problem-solvers, driven by one desire – to challenge the ordinary and create the extraordinary.
It’s clearly meant to sound dynamic and inspiring but, for me, it sounds like what you would expect to read anywhere. However, it must work for them because they are pretty successful in the area and nearly all of the work on show is local.
The have a respected name in local business circles; local Chamber of Commerce, networking clubs, local business hubs, but these are sources I will always want to avoid because they’re full of people who want to market themselves by putting their logo on a pen.
BDC (Design By Country)
Their About Us:
LET’S GET PERSONAL
As a founder, you’ll get richer results from a deep and meaningful relationship with your design team. Bringing to bear your taste, gut, intuition and passion along with ours. Working closely and fluidly together, not relying on rigid models or processes.
EARLY-STAGE BUDGETS
It’s all about the people. No large headcount or expensive offices, just smart folk coming together where and when you need them to work on your business problem.
KEEPING REAL PEOPLE IN MIND
Let’s never forget who’ll be consuming, touching and connecting with your brand. We always ensure that insight and an understanding of customer behaviour sits at the heart of our work.
NO CHANNEL OR SKILL BIAS
Your brand should have no channels bias – and neither do we. We can flow and flex into any channel with our network of talented friends and experience of growing brands. Taking you from idea to market.
SERVICES ON TAP, ONLY WHEN YOU NEED THEM
Strategy, Brand identity, Graphic design, Packaging, Naming, Website design, Creative direction, Moving image, Copywriting & more.
If you’re an early-stage founder and want to create your brand then get in touch.
This now sounds like a new setup, a collaborative studio rather than the small company which came across in S3, I’m wondering if that’s what’s making it sound a bit vague to me. It’s not how I remember it.
It had a different approach, more open, more direct than before (and a different front-man), they aren’t going overboard with their use of language.
I’m guessing ‘As a founder…’ means you, the potential client. Perhaps this is aimed at new start-ups but that isn’t clear.
Their list: & more. Just in cased they’ve missed off what you want them to do?
The Curious
Their About Us:
We create, launch and grow brands the excite the world.
Delivering growth by winning hearts & minds
Working closely with you to push the boundaries of design and in doing so define what’s new and what’s next. From startups to established businesses, we create new, exciting brand and web experiences like no other, leaving your customers wanting more.
25+
The Curious has grown to a team of more than 25 talented individuals.
92%
We’re proud to work with brands of all sizes but more so, 92% of all projects come from recommendations.
450+
Today, we have helped hundreds of people achieve and exceed their business goals.
RECOGNITION
Our success can only be measured by the success of our clients, and nothing is more rewarding than hearing about the achievements they have made since beginning their journey with us. Read some of their stories here, and find out how we have helped all kinds of clients to establish a successful brand and achieve their business goals.
“The success of the project has exceeded my expectations. If you have a chance to work with them, take it.” Read Milia’s Story
OUR VALUES
01.Add value to people’s lives
02.Celebrate the ambitious
03.Take care of one another
We’re built from forward-thinking, creative individuals with a drive to be inspired and challenged on a daily basis. If this sounds like your kind of thing, then we want to hear from you.
With our head office located in the picturesque town of Shrewsbury, we have grown and expanded into an agency that serves clients from around the world. We now have offices in London and Manchester, as well as a satellite office in New York. Wherever you are based, we are ready to help.
SHREWSBURY MANCHESTER LONDON NEW YORK
Excite the world indeed…
Lots of over the top descriptions; Delivering growth by winning hearts & minds – that doesn’t need to be there, it’s just words.
push the boundaries
define what’s new and what’s next
experiences like no other, leaving your customers wanting more…
The numbers they show are a good way of getting a message of success across to potential clients but a lot of the text sounds a little patronising. It needs an edit to strip away the padding.
Write an ‘about’ paragraph – an elevator pitch on either your current positioning or one you would like to establish.
My current position: in limbo…
I’m procrastinating still so I can avoid starting or committing to a new studio principal in case I get it wrong again. I’m convincing myself that I’m actually considering options and directions I’ve come up with, knowing full-well that there’s nothing there. I’m taking every opportunity to distract myself from taking it on and the modules we’ve worked through have been a great way to distract so far. Now my D-Day has come and it’s time to decide, it is the module and I can’t hide from it any more ????
I feel like my ideal doesn’t exist: nice work for nice people. I’d like my work to be challenging creatively, not just a challenge in getting through the day. I’d like to retain more autonomy over projects (I’d like complete autonomy but that’s going too far if someone else is paying for it).
I’m getting the wrong kind of clients and I’m guessing that’s down to me not being clear about the kind of practice I want to be.
Print: Erik Spiekermann
Perfect goal…
Perhaps I need two approaches to my studio:
- To realign my current studio – including a new name – to reflect the type of work I prefer: non-corporate, based in arts and culture.
- To realise more aspirational projects: arts-funded, collaborative, public display.
Both approaches will still need to be get noticed…
analog
Potsdamer Str. 100
10785 Berlin, Germany
For the time being we’re open Wednesday through Friday from 12 to 7 pm.
instagram → @analog_berlin
Business Dreams…
Studio one
Not really an ‘About Us’ at this point, I don’t feel I can write the right one until I figure out what we are about. Hopefully that will become clearer as the module goes on. So far it’s a dream scenario…
My main aim is for a studio is simply to enjoy being in it, however it wouldn’t be simple to get it so.
I would look to set up on two-levels; studio one would be a small commercial studio; myself, two or three designers and an admin, no desire to build a global empire, and for larger projects or those needing a specific skill we would have a network of collaborators who we could call upon to join us for the duration of that project.
Work-wise, I can’t narrow it down to be too specific for categories, sectors, etc. except for what I wouldn’t like to do; working for large corporates where everything is supposed to sit within a set of rules and guidelines, a marketing department who fight you for autonomy to the point of just doing what they want you to so you can finish and move on and try again next time – I’ve had more than enough of that situation.
Studio two
‘2nd’ studio. This side of the practice would be focussed on projects such as the design festival, developed in the S1 Self Initiated Module, arts funded and community projects like my Market Hall project in S2 History and Futures, or just plain self-indulgence.
I would like this side of the studio to start to influence the type of work going through Studio 1, a good example of this is the kinetic sculpture created by Accept & Proceed which, after being displayed in their studio, brought a commission from NASA/JPL which tracked the movement of water across the Earth by satellite. It’s an extreme example, but it illustrates the idea for the plan perfectly.
Revisiting this week 1 task after the intensity of business plan writing for week 4 with an ‘About Us’…
A multi-disciplinary studio.
We are a design consultancy, we see great design as much more than decoration; we get to understand the audience, we set objectives, we deliver well-crafted solutions: logos and branding, print and digital, exhibition and environmental.
Reflection
This exercise was like getting blood from a stone. When it comes to writing about myself I always shy away and do it tomorrow, when it comes to writing about work it sounds like I’ve swallowed a dictionary and the word ‘succinct’ was missing.
Having a deadline set by someone else where missing or putting it off wasn’t possible helped me to drill-down and I think my ‘About Us’ is ok to put online. It’s likely I’ll tweak it now and again as things change but for now it doesn’t make me cringe when I read it.
