After watching this week’s lecture material and conducting my own research I found that what it takes to start a business. It was great to see such a varied group of practitioners from different studios. I feel like each group answered the questions differently. The two questions that stuck out to me were:
What do you think are the essential logistical and practical requirements to set up a design studio/business?
The decision to start a practice is not to be done lightly, as Simon Manchipp of SomeOne puts it. Starting off with a client base is essential, you need the cash flow or you wont get off the ground. Managing the company finances can be a hassle, hire an accountant. Never over promise, it’s much better to under promise and overdeliver. The more ways you can ensure repeat business the better.
It’s important to establish a space, wether that’s an office or a cornered off part of your house. Keep your work and personal affairs separate wherever possible. Make sure you leave enough money in the coffers as an emergency cushion, you never know what expenses are going to crop up. Surround yourself with peers and fans who can inspire and support you.
Be a good designer. If you’re not good, no one is going to work with you. You should also be very passionate about what you do. Make sure that you have somewhat of a head for business, if not, surround yourself by those who do. Make sure that you’re listening to clients and doing work that they actually want. Learn how to put your ideas through to clients as if they were their own, make it about them.
Be extremely transparent. Be honest with yourself and clients. Make use of people. There is always help out there. Don’t be afraid to chase potential clients and colleagues. Be lean and flexible in your approach to working and your business. Keep your practice up to date and keep expenses to a minimum.
What is the one piece of advise that you can offer about running a successful studio?
90% of what you do won’t be design. Now is the time to re-design all of the things you hate about your current job. Make things as easy for yourself and clients as possible. Apply your design skills and methods throughout all aspects of running a business. Ask the questions. Don’t take no for an answer, get rejected once and try again with another approach.
Follow your gut, if something isn’t feeling right, find out why and ask the questions. Don’t be afraid to say no to clients, don’t compromise your vision. Find a balance. Don’t let jobs run on longer than they should, create an open dialogue with your clients, engage with them. Instil a timeframe idea into the client, you’re doing a job, imagine being a plumber. You can wear different hats for different clients.
Trust yourself, the main person you have to win over is yourself. Put out the type of work that you want to produce. Always showcase your good work.
Workshop Challenge – The Elevator Pitch
I have a list of design studios in London that I’d love to work for. I’ve been curating this list for three years. It currently consists of 15 agencies. I took a look at six random agencies’ about pages to see what they’re touting themselves as. What Kind of message are they putting out about themselves. The six design studios are: Koto, B&B Studio, DixonBaxi, SocioDesign, Magpie Studio and Nice and Serious.
I’m not bothered about which big clients X studio works or has worked with. It’s all about the design and values that the studio upholds. Koto for example, believe it’s important to foster a real connection with clients and all work produced is for this reason. The emotional resonance that personal, tailored design offers to clients and consumers is what design is about for me.
B&B Studio are laser focused on innovating and designing for the future. Ensuring longevity in design is a key theme that most if not all of these studios strive for.
DixonBaxi uses a lovely video on their about page to give a more human touch. The ethos of the company isn’t just words on a page. It’s a carefully curated expression from the soul of the studio, straight from the co-founders.
SocioDesign take a very clinical approach, much like their work, to explain themselves. They support clients with an experienced hand.
Magpie Studio focus on getting their clients unique voices heard. Working together with clients to shake up the status quo. Magpie also show off a lot of awards, I’m sure that helps.
Nice and Serious have a relaxed tone. They focus on creativity and ambition. With a very positive and can do team, you get the impression that Nice and Serious can help you take over the world.
My Pitch, It’s not perfect, finished or tried and tested. Yet.
I wanted my pitch to be speculative. As Tom and Kristoffer of Regular Practice put it, “If you want to do a certain type of work, put out that work”.
Behind every big brand campaign, logo, website, there is a meticulously crafted story and message that’s being told. It’s fine if you just want it to look nice but we prefer to make it look nice AND tell your story. Your story is what sells, making it amazing to look at is the bonus you get from us.
Your words can empower your audience and give you a voice. We can help you shape your tone and get in touch with who you need to. There’s no excuse for not being the best best version of yourself that you can. We certainly don’t hold back here.
We are a design agency that is constantly evolving. We tell all of our new clients that the work we do for them will be the best we’ve ever done, because it will be. We keep getting better, don’t be afraid to get better with us.
We focus on your story. All of our decisions are informed by your founding, growth and future aspirations, we can help you establish and deliver all three through the use of beautiful design and meticulous storytelling. We love what we do and we think you will too. We’ve spent a long time working on ourselves and it shows.
We create bespoke brand identities and visuals that connect with customers, Digital experiences that inspire and advertising campaigns that get people talking.
Notes
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