Recently a prospective new client asked us some rather pointed questions about the nature of what we provided as brand designers, the difference between branding and marketing, as well as some other rather insightful queries. This client was a privately owned, relatively young company experiencing success and growth in their industry, but recognized the need to raise their game and present themselves with marketing and communications in a way that better reflected who they are—or who they wanted to be. But they had very little experience working with a brand design consultancy like ours and wanted to better understand us and what we could offer them. These questions are often on the minds of many who consider hiring us, so I felt it beneficial to reproduce that dialogue as it transpired via email:

What is a brand anyway? And what is the difference between branding and marketing?
Terrific question. To be successful, a brand must consistently provide quality and satisfaction; it must meaningfully distinguish itself from the competition to create customer preference; it must be relevant, convenient and easily accessible to its target audience; and it must appeal to their individual lifestyles, attitudes and beliefs. A successful brand is one that generates loyalty and affection because it provides a level of quality, trust, convenience, assurance and allure for which the audience is willing to pay a premium.

Marketing is more about the planning and execution of the concept, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods/services to create satisfactory exchanges. Marketing most often involves translating the idea of a brand essence down to something practical or tangible to its audience, whereas a brand is a living organism that is built up or torn down in the minds of your customers over time—sometimes by way of a thousand seemingly insignificant gestures or experiences.

For example. if you think about a city, here are some examples of one of the thousand small gestures that might contribute to its brand: The condition of the roads, reports on crime, calibre of the buildings, events and activities on offer, reputation of the police, proximity to other places, ease of transportation, economic viability, etc…Businesses locate in, people move to and travel to places that are friendly, interesting, dynamic and provide advantageous conditions for their needs.

What happens if we have an inconsistent brand?
This question a little flawed. I understand what you’re asking, but assuming the quality of your product and service are unwavering, there really is no such thing as an “inconsistent brand”, just inconsistent delivery of the brand (promise)…or a brand breakdown. Remember, it’s the consumer perception of the elements that comprise their impression and that make up your brand. Thus, you are in control of consistency.

If your products are known to be highly functional, beautifully styled, reliably made and supported by friendly staff and a terrific service support, then what happens when a customer experiences a product failure and calls in, only to speak to a rude, inexperienced call centre employee in Manilla? That is not technically a breach of your brand quality or promise, but it places you at terrible risk. People love to talk. And word of mouth is not only a powerful way to build a brand, but perhaps the fastest way to bring it to its knees. It used to take significant effort to write letters to companies or newspapers to complain about a company, but these days the immediacy of publishing to the Internet and social media can result in PR nightmares for companies who don’t respond quickly.

Why rebrand? What are the benefits of a current, consistent and positive brand?
Very often the trigger for a rebrand by an organization or company is that the existing identity and other elements are dated and no longer reflect the products/services on offer. Essentially, there exists what is referred to as a “brand gap”, which is the difference between what is portrayed/perceived and reality/your aspirations.

There are many examples of successful rebranding in the civic realm. A recent example is Moosejaw, Saskatchewan. They recently went through a full branding initiative, retiring their tired old city crest and creating a terrific new logo and tagline “Surprisingly Unexpected” to better position the city as a great place to live, work and play. A bit of info and background on the process and results can be found here: http://www.moosejaw.ca/branding.shtml

What process do you take a company through when they come to you for help?
We have a design process we’re very proud of—but so does everyone else. Descriptions of process are a dime a dozen and reduce methodology to rhetoric. For us it all starts with ignoring assumptions, asking smart questions and listening carefully. We like to start with a “phase zero” exploration of the context of the situation, immersing ourself in your company so we can thoroughly audit the current health of your brand and identify real opportunities before making any sweeping promises about what we can do to help.

Once engaged, we take our clients through a comprehensive brand discovery, which involves a series of interviews, exercises and explorations as we work together—with the client—to identify who the client really is, what they stand for, and what they aspire to become. Comparing this with the initial research work, often including preliminary research interviews with staff and customers alike, we then identify any gaps between where the client is now and where they want to be.

Once a truly core expression of the company’s brand essence has been established and agreed upon, we convert this to a series of simplified questions that test the core attributes of any marketing or communication initiative. If client stakeholders can’t agree that something meets those brand filter questions, then it doesn’t belong in the brand universe. Simple as that.

In the end, like John Jay of Wieden + Kennedy says, there is no one proprietary process that anyone can claim works best and we must not impose our style onto our clients. The greatest thing we can offer to our clients is to listen carefully to them with empathy, explore their situations thoroughly to understand their truth and their soul, and then offer an expression of their true essence in a way that is relevant to a greater number of people. If there is a better way to express this, I’d love to hear it.

What are the core traits of a brand design firm we should be looking for?
There are a thousand ways to answer this question, but I will defer to Alina Wheeler’s book Designing Brand Identity, which posits that there are 12 traits that the best brand identity design firms have in common:

1. Strategic imagination. An ability to understand and align business goals with creative strategy and expression is critical.
2. Process focus. A disciplined process is used to foster collaboration, build trust, and ensure responsible decision-making and results.
3. Design excellence. Reducing a complex, meaningful idea to its visual essence requires skill, patience, and unending discipline, whether the endpoint is a symbol, a look and feel, or an integrated brand identity system.
4. Irrefutable logic. Creating a new system or brand architecture requires an ability to communicate a compelling case for change to any decision-maker, from the CEO to the director of marketing to a division head.
5. Alchemy. An ability to synthesize vast amounts of information and reduce it to a big idea. Also, an ability to cut through the clutter and see the “gold” in a marketing audit.
6. Empathy and insight. An ability to be collaborative and understand the perspectives of all stakeholders, to suspend judgment and transcend politics.
7. Flexibility and humor. An ability to keep an eye on the big picture despite constraints and challenges. A sense of humor always helps.
8. Mindfulness and curiosity. An awareness of what is going on in the wider world and insight into best practices and the branding landscape.
9. Tenacity. Boundless energy and the perseverance of a marathon runner are required to develop and refine key messages, new names, taglines, and branding guidelines.
10. Organization. Phase by phase, email by email, presentation by presentation, file by file, tracking and documentation are key.
11. Focus. First and foremost, the process must stay focused on the customer and their experience.
12. Passion. Passion fuels excellence and inspires brand engagement.

I think this list is quite accurate and feel good about the fact that most, if not all, of these traits can be found at Industrial Brand. But I acknowledge that it is often difficult for business professionals to assess these attributes when selecting a creative partner and “fit” is often a driving factor that is so hard to quantify or even sometimes describe. If we’re not going to have fun working together, we probably shouldn’t.

What do you expect from us during this process?
Another terrific question! First, we expect you to do some due diligence and make sure you choose your creative partner wisely. Hopefully there’s a great fit between our organizations, but if there isn’t, that’s OK if there isn’t. We can help you find the right design firm if we’re not it. We also request that you be as honest as you can with us and trust us as objective external experts.

The ROI and value in what we do relies on you giving us access to key stakeholders and decision-makers, as well as your staff and clients—otherwise it’s difficult for us to truly design a brand strategy or identity that will resonate internally and externally. Of course we also request that you provide us with timely responses and approvals, respect our production management process, and pay your invoices in a timely fashion—we’re not a bank.

What if you provide branding for us and things don’t improve?
This reminds me of a pet peeve about graphic designers—especially those who specialize in identity design. They often act as though they suffer from a mild god complex, as though they are “chosen ones” destined to save clients like Neo in the Matrix. Even the most talented communication designer, capable of producing spectacularly gorgeous logos and collateral, can’t guarantee that all your business problems will be saved with a new identity or marketing strategy. It’s super important, obviously—hell, we argue that it’s the ticket to the dance—but we’re not going to pretend that the secret is a new logo. Anyone who tells you that is full of shit.

As discussed earlier, we can work hard on your behalf to bore into the heart and soul of both you and your customer. From this learning we can use our training, experience and intuition to design a strategy and identity for your brand that will hopefully resonate and be relevant to your audience, but at the end of the day branding is really up to you. Until the day comes that we have complete authority and control over the quality of your product or service, and the way all your staff treat your customers, then we can’t truly provide “branding”. If we work together and things don’t improve, well then it’s likely that we missed something far more sinister than the look and feel of your logo and visual language used in your communications and marketing materials.

Client: I understand now, thank you. When can we get started?

An article titled Substance over Style by our Design Director Mark Busse was recently featured in the latest issue of Business In Vancouver’s Adpages Magazine about how businesses can more effectively attract, evaluate and select a design partner. The article (reproduced below) argues that procurement strategies such as RFPs can produce unrewarding outcomes and offers some tips and guidance for businesses seeking a relationship with creative firm.

Substance over style: How to find the best design partner for your business
by Mark Busse

With graphic communications increasingly recognized as critical to success, it’s important to find the right design firm for your company.

Yet many in business struggle to attract, evaluate and select design partners. One might hire friends or family, while another might create a contest with a prize for the selected submission. Many others rely on archaic requests for proposals (RFPs) for transparency and objectivity in arriving at competitive pricing. The resulting relationships can be as unrewarding as the outcomes.

Is there a better way?

Seek help in your search

Recommendations from within your own industry or from design experts will almost always be more effective than online searches or RFPs. Consult with design associations on identifying qualified candidates from their certified ranks. Are the candidates thought leaders in design, respected by industry, peers and clients? Or consider delegating the search to a marketing consultant with experience procuring and managing design.

Look beyond portfolios

In addition to evaluating a design team’s portfolio, investigate the company’s skills in business and project management. Don’t judge only on æsthetics or descriptions of process. Challenge candidates to express what was behind their design choices and how their particular approaches solved clients’ problems. Visit their studios and speak to them in person to judge fit. You needn’t become friends, but you should share similar perspectives, goals or ethics and enjoy collaborating together.

Ask for case studies and testimonials

Request comprehensive case studies that outline goals, context, and approach to reveal whether processes are results-driven. Ask for testimonials or contact information for specific clients. If candidates don’t willingly offer these, move on.

Who will do the work?

Investigate each firm’s current employees and in-house capabilities. How many long-term, full-time designers do they employ? How much design or development do they farm out, and are they transparent about this? Inquire how direct a role the senior members will play in your project.

What’s included?

What is and isn’t covered in candidates’ fees? Do they provide working files? Do they use proprietary or open-source solutions? What’s their stance on ownership and copyright, and how do they handle cost overruns?

Will candidates be there for you in future?

The real value of a relationship with a designer is in his or her repeatable process and creative thinking applied to your problem, not merely to your final product. Since the worth of this relationship often emerges over time, inquire about candidates’ plans for growth. Look for indications that firms have been and will be around long-term.

Are candidates asking questions?

Do candidates spend most of their time selling you on themselves, or do they seem genuinely interested in your problem and goals? The best practitioners will be hungry for the details underlying your situation and may push you to reconsider causal factors and solutions. Speak openly about your business needs and expectations.

Seek a consultant, not a proposal

Avoid the temptation to require designers to provide firm cost proposals up front on the basis of your description of deliverables. Instead, share your problem, goals, budget and timeline and engage a qualified designer to work with you to prescribe strategic solutions tailored to your unique situation. After this initial discovery, create a project plan that outlines the specifics of the solution. Write a contract after arriving at an agreement. As to hourly rates, you get what you pay for: prices will reflect experience and efficiency.

Like hiring a senior employee or taking on a partner, choosing the right design firm can be a critical moment in the growth of your business. The best candidates won’t give away strategy to prospects – certainly not before doing the research and diagnostics they’ll need for understanding the situation fully – so don’t ask for it before hiring a team. If the initial discovery phase doesn’t impress you or you dislike working together, discontinue the relationship and move on.

About 20 per cent of our business at Industrial Brand comes from clients who hired design providers ineffectively and have had to redo their identity systems or websites, didn’t understand what they were paying for or found themselves with limited options after their designers vanished. Don’t fixate on deliverables and costs before choosing your partner. What you’re really paying for is a well-considered process. Use the opportunity to start a long-term relationship with a partner you trust.

Mark Busse is design director of Industrial Brand, a Vancouver-based brand, communication and interactive design firm he co-founded in 1997. He’s a certified professional member and B.C. past president of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada as well as member of the Association of Professional Design Firms.

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This article is from Business in Vancouver Adpages 2011, which you candownload as a PDF here. Adpages contains numerous other practical tips and informative articles for the business community and we encourage you to support BIV and buy a printed copy today!

Business in Vancouver has been publishing in-depth local business news, analysis and commentary since 1989. The newspaper also produces a weekly ranked list of the biggest companies and players in a wide range of B.C. industries and commercial sectors, monthly features and industry-focused sections that arm its subscribers with a complete package of local business intelligence each week.

From Adpages, published by BIV Magazines. Copyright © 2011, BIV Magazines, a division of BIV Media LP. Reproduced with permission.

Move beyond the RFP to evaluate and hire the best design firm

I have responded to numerous Requests For Proposals (RFPs) in the two decades I have been managing a design studio, and we have developed a point of view that makes some business people uncomfortable: RFPs are an expensive and inaccurate process when hiring design services.

RFPs are a flawed mechanism

While graphic and communication design is increasingly considered a critical component of business success, expert business analysts and chartered accountants are advising their corporate clients to avoid this antiquated method of evaluating and selecting design vendors.

In his excellent article in CA Magazine A Decent Proposal, Cal Harrison argues:

“buyers have the opportunity to create strategic advantage for their organizations when procuring a professional services firm. However, they must first abandon their reliance on the constraints of the traditional RFP process.”

RFPs were born in the manufacturing sector, where project parameters were often clearly defined. Such is rarely the case with professional services like design. Expertise, budget and timelines should be expected in any project description, but RFPs too often score based on issues like hourly rates, process description, sustainability policies, even creativity—all reasonable issues to consider, but not a good basis for evaluating solid candidates for solving your business needs.

Most RFPs score hourly rates or total project price as only one component of a proposal, but all RFPs try to commodify that which is not a commodity, generally attracting those most eager to win the work despite not having clearly defined project parameters—in other words, the lowest bidders who are also often the least qualified or suitable.

What is the difference between one design firm and the next? It may very well be the reduced uncertainty they bring via experience, process and motivation to meet the agreed to goals and budget. The adage “you get what you pay for” absolutely holds true in this context.

RFPs often do little more than create artificial optics of fair market evaluation, instead of producing terrific results. By their nature, RFPs can only yield ideas based on conjecture and loose, arbitrary budget guesses.

The bottom line is that the RFP process is counterproductive to a good design process. It doesn’t fully allow designers to bring their outside perspective and critical thinking to bear. The best graphic and communication designers work as consultants WITH their clients to analyze, diagnose and create strategic solutions from the inside that address problems and meet goals, not toss about random ‘best guesses’ based on incomplete RFP information. The most progressive and admired companies in the world understand that design isn’t a commoditized output well suited to an RFP process.

So how do you choose the best design team?

A quick Google search offers a dizzying array of design firms of all kinds and sizes, some offer general graphic design and production services, others specialize in strategy, branding or digital and interactive technologies. But what criteria should you use to compare one experienced firm to another and choose the best design firm?

Hire an expert in their field and yours. There is a distinct advantage to hiring designers who have superior educations and professional designations, such as certified graphic designers (CGDs). Additionally, consider design teams that specialize in producing solutions for your particular industry. Specialization can result in beneficial insights that can work to your advantage, but consider that it could also be something to avoid if what you are looking for is a fresh set of eyes. Whatever your starting point is, seek out designers who utilize a process that allows them to identify critical elements and uncover key insights and ultimately customizing a communication design solution.

Evaluating a design team’s portfolio and process is crucial, but look beyond the pretty pictures and ubiquitous descriptions of process and request comprehensive case studies that outline goals, context, approach, results and testimonials. Case studies will demonstrate if their process is results-driven and show you what steps the design team will take, giving you a good idea what you can expect and whether you’ll like working with them. If they don’t have any, move on.

It’s important to realize that the real value of a relationship with a designer is in their repeatable process, applied to your specific problem, not merely the final product. The value of this relationship often emerges over time, so look for indications that the design firm has been and will be around for the long term.

A beautiful website, portfolio or even proposal will never tell the whole story. It’s critical to hire a likeminded company that shares your goals and ethics. Invite design firm candidates to interviews and judge fit in person with dialogue. You don’t need to become friends, but remember, the design firms you really want to work with are also concerned about fit and are evaluating you too. Both parties will be defined by the other.

Look for thought leaders in the design field who are highly respected by industry and peers. What evidence can you find that they are leaders in their field? Do they participate in the leadership of professional associations? Are they involved in teaching or mentoring? Do they publish opinions on industry issues? This can be very telling about their perspective and abilities.

Choosing the right design firm can be a critical moment in the growth of your business and it can be equivalent to hiring a senior employee or taking on a partner. At Industrial Brand, about 20% of our business comes from clients who have ineffectively hired a design provider and have to completely redo their identity systems or websites, didn’t understand what they were actually paying for, or found themselves with limited options after their designers vanished.

As you evaluate candidates, try not to get too distracted by hourly rates or final deliverables. Instead focus on the more valuable diagnostic, strategic and creative thinking being offered. Experience shows that those who can provide the best results in the shortest amount of time charge higher rates.

Make sure you understand what is and is not included in the project fees. It’s normal for the cost of images, photography and writing necessary for a project’s success to be supplementary, but discuss what budget should be expected for a project of your scope. If the company is experienced, they will be able to at least offer you a budget range so there are no surprises. Don’t forget to also clarify the form in which the work will be delivered and ownership/copyright terms surrounding the finished work. Will they provide working files? Will the website use a content management system? Is there any licensing involved?

Once you have found an experienced design firm you like, the rough parameters of the project are clarified and a basic understanding has been reached, a written contract is an important step in solidifying the agreement. Good designers employ comprehensive contracts. But demanding written proposals up front isn’t going to get you the best talent. A complete project proposal often can’t even be created until the design firm has been engaged and initial assessments made—and paid for their time of course.

The best designers don’t give away strategy and ideas to prospects—certainly not before engaging in the research and diagnostics required to fully understand the situation—so don’t ask for it before hiring a design team. If the results of the initial research and discovery phase don’t impress you, or you truly dislike working with them, discontinue the relationship and move on. Blair Enns, a sales and marketing consultant who specializes in creative services, even suggests to his design firm clients that they offer prospects a money back guarantee for this first phase. Now that’s bold.

Cover your bases, not your ass

Many argue that RFPs bring transparency, objectivity and accountability to the procurement process, increasing competition that results in competitive prices, but more often than not the RFP process itself lacks integrity, prohibits the designer from acting as a consultant, costs the design buyer more in the end, and results in nothing more than something to hide behind when the wrong choice was made—and by then it’s too late.

So next time you’re seeking a professional design firm, instead of relying on a poorly considered RFP that imposes process, articulate your problem, goals and budget and ask qualified candidates smart questions to determine who can bring their experience, critical thinking and design process to bear to best create clever solutions for you. Instead of becoming fixated on the deliverables and costs prior to choosing the right design partner, remember that what you really pay for is a well-considered process, so use this opportunity to start a long term relationship with a design partner you can trust.

Tips for evaluating a design firm

• Consider a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) that includes project goals and budget as an alternative to an RFP
• Consult with design industry associations like GDC.net for guidance in selecting designers
• Consider whether specialization in your industry will be an advantage or not
• Avoid meaningless descriptions of process by asking to see relevant case studies that show goals, context, approach, solution, and results
• Encourage discussion and questions by respondents and meet with most qualified candidates in person to judge fit, but choose talent over fit
• Engage a design team to evaluate and diagnose solutions before requiring a project proposal
• Ask what happens if after the first phase you are not comfortable working together
• Clarify what you will actually get in the end and who owns the working files
• Formalize a written proposal or contract only after an agreement has been arrived at

Industrial Brand was recently featured in an article called Leverage Design as a Business Asset in Business in Vancouver’s 2011 edition of How-To, their annual publication of practical tips for business. The article (reproduced below) by GDC/BC‘s Copywriting Chair, Eagranie Yuh, argues that businesses who invest in hiring experienced designers have an advantage and reap rewards in the long term.

Leverage Design as a Business Asset
by Eagrane Yuh

Think about your business assets: human resources, information technology, investments, property and design.

That’s right: design. In a recent poll of 526 businesses conducted by Harris/Decima, 63 per cent of respondents reported a link between design and better business performance.

A recent study from the United Kingdom shows that three-quarters of businesses that have made design an integral part of their operations have improved their competitive advantage.

How does visual strategy translate into business success?

Differentiating your product

Level Ground Trading in Victoria was one of the first companies to market fair-trade coffee, but since its beginnings in 1997, many similar companies had entered the market. Consumers liked Level Ground’s coffee and key message but not the packaging and design of the product.

Level Ground worked with Subplot Design Inc., which overhauled the company’s brand strategy, logo and packaging. From a decline of 1.3 per cent in sales from the prior year, Level Ground saw an increase in sales of 12 per cent across its main categories.

“It finally gave them a way to tell the story that they hadn’t had in the past,” says Roy White, CGD, creative director and partner at Subplot Design.

Reaching your target market

In 2009, Amacon, a real-estate and development and construction firm, launched District, a condominium complex in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. “We really had to build brand awareness, because there were limited developments like District in the area. We needed to sell the area,” says Nic Jensen, Amacon’s sales and marketing manager.

Amacon hired Industrial Brand, a Vancouver design firm, to target a specific demographic with a cohesive campaign that included a website, a display centre, brochures and several 40-foot billboards.

Amacon opened the display suites on September 15, 2009, intending to sell 75 per cent of the units by the end of the year. By the close of opening weekend, the first building was sold out. Three months later, the second building was sold out, and Amacon closed the sales centre, a full nine months ahead of schedule.

“The pre-sale market wasn’t very strong at that time, especially in a new area. The campaign was exactly what we needed,” says Jensen.

Gaining a competitive edge

Read Jones Christoffersen (RJC) is Canada’s oldest engineering firm. Its outdated website didn’t reflect the stature of a company that had been in business for six decades and completed more than 30,000 projects. “We needed to bring the personality of the firm to the forefront,” says Patricia Glass, RJC’s marketing specialist.

Industrial Brand revamped the website. Search-engine optimized, the new site has a robust search function that has brought in new clients. What’s more, a new recruitment interface has significantly streamlined RJC’s recruitment process.

Becoming more efficient

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is Canada’s leading retailer of quality outdoor gear and clothing. With 14 stores across the country, the company has a strong brand and consistency across its visual communications.

This is primarily due to MEC’s brandstandards guide. The 38-page guide provides explicit instructions for the company’s visual communications: logo, font, colours, in-store signage, store exteriors, website and more.

For Judy Snaydon, CGD, MEC’s creative director, the guide ensures consistency and enables efficiency. “We work with a lot of external vendors. If we didn’t have brand standards, I’d be constantly having to outline who we are, what we’re about and what our brand looks like. With brand standards, I can stop worrying about these things and focus on the objectives of each project.”

Using design as a business asset

These companies have leveraged design as a business asset and invested in strong visual strategies. In working with certified designers, they work with providers who incorporate strategy, problem-solving and business acumen into the process. The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) is the professional association for certified graphic designers (CGD). To be certified, a graphic designer must pass a rigorous portfolio review and abide by a code of ethics.

The society’s website provides resources for businesses to find certified designers and to determine whether they they themselves are working with reputable designers. For more information, visit www.gdc.net.

Eagranie Yuh is copywriting chair for the B.C. Mainland chapter of GDC. She is a freelance business writer and award-winning blogger. She also teaches chocolate-tasting classes.

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This article from Business in Vancouver How-To 2011, which you can download as a PDF here, which contains numerous other practical tips and informative articles for the business community. We encourage you to support BIV and buy a printed copy today!

Business in Vancouver has been publishing in-depth local business news, analysis and commentary since 1989. The newspaper also produces a weekly ranked list of the biggest companies and players in a wide range of B.C. industries and commercial sectors, monthly features and industry-focused sections that arm its subscribers with a complete package of local business intelligence each week.

From How-To, published by BIV Magazines. Copyright © 2011, BIV Magazines, a division of BIV Media LP. Reproduced with permission.

We’re often asked by client to rationalize why they’d pay us more than the next guy for a project. One answer we give is “reduced uncertainty”, as in the knowledge that you’ve spent a premium on a team with the experience, process and motivation to live up to the standard set by the agreed to budget.

So when I read Win Without Pitching author Blair Enns’ blog post Why I Charge More with his generous offer for us to use it as our own, I thought it would be a good addition here:

Dear potential client,

The more we charge you, the more pressure we put on ourselves to perform for you.

The client who grinds us on price is the least satisfied. He gets less attention from us and is most likely to be pissed off at us. And we don’t really care, because to be honest, we resent him. The very fact that he is on our roster reminds us that we’re part prostitute. For him, we’re doing it for the money and as it isn’t very much money we’re not troubled by not doing it well. He pays us a paltry sum, we perform poorly, he gets angry and we resent him. We can have that type of relationship if you like.

The client who pays us the premium gets our best work. He’s the one we wake up in the middle of the night thinking about, wondering if we’re doing all we can to earn his money. When he calls, we jump. Hell, we call him first. We take pride in moving his business. We try to make ourselves indispensible to him. We imagine that he winces when he opens our bill (he doesn’t say), but he thanks us for all we do for him. He’s the one we worry about.

We’re great at what we do, but if someone hires us without giving us the resources (money, time, access) to do a great job, it’s easy for us to rationalize poor performance. When a client gives us everything we ask for, he removes all the obstacles to a high quality outcome. There’s no way for us to rationalize anything less than perfection.

There is no greater pressure than the pressure we put on ourselves, and the only way you can add to our own sense of pressure is to pay us well. Yelling won’t do it. Neither will threatening to pull your business. Our deep sense of obligation comes from you paying us well enough to dispatch all of the excuses. Then we have to prove to you, and, more importantly, to ourselves that we are as good as we say we are.

So, we’ve given you our price and it’s the price that we need to charge to bring a deep sense of obligation to the job. Will we work for less? Probably. Can you negotiate with us? Sure. We can have that type of relationship if you really want us to be that type of design firm and you want to be that type of client.

Let’s just understand each other before we get started.

If you’re a designer and reading this, this is but a taste of the kind of wisdom we’ve been given by Blair Enns in recent years. And if you live in Vancouver, you won’t want to miss his workshops being hosted by GDC/BC and FunctionFox on February 9th. Information and tickets are available here.

Over the years as a design director, design association executive, and design instructor, I’ve been asked by innumerable potential students about the merits or shortcomings of the various local design schools. It seemed time to put these thoughts down in writing once and for all, hopefully saving me some time in the future.

When considering design schools in BC, most think first of schools like Emily Carr, Capilano, and Kwantlen. But what about Langara, Vancouver Film School, Malispina (now called Vancouver Island University), The Art Institute of Vancouver, or Vancouver Community College? They may not be the first that come to mind, but each have design programs that may be well suited for you. Though perhaps not at the top of your Google searches, the students and faculty at these lesser-known schools can be as talented and passionate about design education as their counterparts in the bigger schools.

Design schools differ in size and location, embrace varying philosophies and program lengths, employ instructors of all kinds with various backgrounds and experience, and range from inexpensive to rather pricey. But which one is for you? Unfortunately, the answer is the all-to-common “it depends”.

“After finishing my undergraduate degree in Alberta, I was seeking a particular kind of intense, shorter design program with real-world emphasis to take me to that next level,” says VFS Digitial Design student Joshua Michie. “What I didn’t realize until I really investigated and spoke with recent graduates and industry professionals,” says Michie, “was the variance between the programs offered.”

There are currently six post-secondary institutions in BC that offer a Bachelors degree in the design field. They include Emily Carr University (Bachelor of Design in Communication Design), Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Bachelor of Applied Design in Graphic Design for Marketing), Thompson Rivers University (Bachelor of Design), Simon Fraser University (Bachelor of Interactive Arts and Technology), Vancouver Island University (Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design), and University of the Fraser Valley (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Extended Minor in Visual Arts).

Several other schools, such as Capilano University, Langara College, Malaspina College, The Art Institute of Vancouver, Vancouver Film School, among others, all offer diplomas in various design fields, with a few of them currently restructuring their programs to offer Bachelor degrees in the coming years.

Here are a few tips when considering which design school is best for you.

1. Do your homework. Determine which schools work closely with local industry and what efforts they make to get their graduates hired. Do they offer internships, co-ops, or job placement assistance? Do they invite industry advisors to engage with their program? Do they participate with local industry associations? Do they have any real evidence of their success, such as percentage of students who land positions after graduation? Considering the investment you are about to make, any school worth more attention will easily be able to answer yes to all of these questions. But your investigation should not end there. Ask to speak directly with one or two of their top faculty about the program—this could actually have positive results if you enroll at their school too as it says something about you, your process, and how serious you are about your education. Also, consult the Society of Graphic Designers’ website at gdc.net/education, or contact your local chapter’s Education Chair for some perspective and advice.

2. Consider your goals and what you are willing to do to get there. It’s important to consider what your dream job is and work towards that. What credentials will you require to get your foot in the door? There are numerous end results of a design education, with better schools offering Certificates, Diplomas, Bachelor degrees and some Masters degrees (even beyond at some schools, but not in BC). Some schools offer an intense multi-disciplinary education into one or two years, others have programs spanning three years, while the Bachelor degree programs involve a four year commitment. The important thing is to consider where you are now (perhaps you already have an undergraduate degree and experience in the design field), where do you want to go (do you want to be an Art Director or a production designer?), and how much time and money can you commit to your education? It’s about fit for you, but do consider that there really is no substitute for a comprehensive education and a field as competitive as design has little room for short-cuts.

3. Seek out a balanced program. There are numerous choices for potential design students in BC, so one way to evaluate a program would be to look at the curriculum and consider how much hands-on studio time is involved. Criticism of some programs include too much theory versus practical, or too much emphasis on the electronic tools of the trade versus creativity, ideation, and the craft aspect (hand skills) of the trade. Some programs stress the importance of art and design history, and so they should, but you also want to find a school that embraces the cultural and technological changes that occur so rapidly these days and is committed to teaching current thinking and practical skills. What you’re looking for in a design program is a balance between these elements.

4. Look at the results yourself. Perhaps the best evidence of a school’s success and suitability is to evaluate their graduates yourself. Treat it like a design project and evaluate the competitive landscape among the graduates of various programs. Look at designers’ websites, portfolios, employers, and see if you can identify any trends among your findings. Which schools produce the students winning the most design competitions, such as GDC’s Salazar, Rock, or Graphex Awards? But don’t stop there, identify a couple Art/Creative Directors you admire or design firms you respect (or would like to work for) and pick their brains and ask them where they have hired their best young designers recently. The bonus is that once you make that connection you are on their radar, and that’s powerful fuel for a new graduate shopping a shiny new portfolio around looking for work.

5. You get what you pay for. Obviously a key consideration when choosing a design school is cost. We’re all restricted by the budgets available to us and often public schools are more affordable compared to private schools. More expensive design programs in BC—intensive year-long programs can be as much as $30,000—include some outstanding programs, opportunities and extras (some schools even provide laptops loaded with software when you enroll). Each school has different facilities and you should investigate what they offer, where they’re located, and what tools you get access to. But remember also that there is more to any particular program than can be reflected by tuition costs, so consider all the other factors above and make your choice knowing you did your homework and understanding what you’ll get in return for your investment.

6. Evaluate the vibe. One important aspect of choosing a design program often missed is the culture or “vibe” of the school. Get into their space. Walk the halls, listen to the students talking, check out a grad show. A huge part of your educational experience will be the feeling that the school, program, students—even the space itself—is a good fit for you. Do you sense creativity and passion? Do the students and faculty seem enthusiastic about learning, debating, and exploring design and visual communications? Will you feel excited about going to school each morning? If the answer isn’t yes to those questions, think again.

7. Be ready to fill in the blanks. Obviously choosing a good design school is an important step in your education and career, but remember too that many remarkable designers have emerged from lesser-known design programs. While not an ideal situation, young design students sometimes find themselves enrolled in shorter programs only to realize they are missing key components of their education. The reality is that a designer never really stops learning and the good ones always overcome by filling in the blanks themselves. In many ways, your design education begins the day you leave school and start working as a design apprentice.

“This is an industry filled with people that are working their dream job, making it an incredibly competitive industry to break into,” explains Joshua Michie, “I chose VFS because that gave me access to an international network that was connected to some of the biggest players in the industry.”

In the end, the most important thing for someone considering a career in the design field is to pick a school you’ll be happy with. So, with that in mind, spend the time to do due diligence as you examine your options thoroughly. Be relentless in your investigation of each school. Interview the school as much as they might interview you—but remember that they want you to choose them, so take their answers with a grain of salt and look for real evidence that they provide what you’re looking for. Many of the better design schools maintain blogs, student forums, portfolio and grad show pages, social media pages on YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. Check them all out with a keen eye for clues that this is the place you want to be associated with. Seek out the information you need to validate them as your top choice, and then prepare yourself—be it a one year or four year program—there is hard work ahead.

Graphic Design Degree Programs in BC (these are changing, so if you know of updates to this list, please add send them to me or post them in the comments below):

Emily Carr University
Bachelor of Design in Communication Design
Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design (includes courses on sustainable design)

Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Bachelor of Design in Graphic Design in Marketing

Simon Fraser University
Bachelor of Interactive Arts and Technology

Thompson Rivers University
Bachelor of Design

University of the Fraser Valley
Bachelor of Fine Arts. Extended Minor in Visual Arts

Vancouver Island University
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design

Diploma:

Arbutus College, Vancouver
The Art Institute of Vancouver
Canadian Community College, Abbotsford
Capilano University, Vancouver
Centre for Arts and Technology, Kelowna
College of New Caledonia,
Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo
North Island College, Courtenay
Oxford College, Vancouver
Pacific Audio Visual Institute, Vancouver
Pacific Design Academy, Victoria
PCT, Kamloops
Prince George, Prince George
Pro-soft Training Institute, Surrey
Royal Oak College of Design, Vancouver
Selkirk College, Castlegar
Surrey College, Surrey
Thompson Rivers University, Burnaby
Trend College, Kelowna
University Canada West, Victoria
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
VanArts, Vancouver
Vancouver Career College, Vancouver
Vancouver Film School, Vancouver

Certificate:

BCIT/Emily Carr Joint Certificate, Burnaby
Lasalle College International, Vancouver
Northern Lights College, Chetwynd
Vancouver Community College, Vancouver

Last year our brand identity project for Yaaway was featured in BIV’s special AdPages issue in an article called Logos Stick written by Jill Lambert. This year we are proud to have some of our work and opinions featured by BIV again, this time in an article in the AdPages 2010 20th anniversary edition called What Meets the Eye.

Written by Noa Blouberman, the article is a look at some of the key aspects behind effective visual design solutions with some tips for business, and features a recent ad campaign we created for Bikram’s Metrotown Yoga as well as the identity and campaign we developed for Amacon’s District real estate development project on South Main.

Click here for a PDF of the article in question without downloading the entire e-book or 10MB PDF.

“We need a Facebook page and a Twitter account, right?” ask many of our clients these days. Much like clients who want news sections or blogs as part of their websites, our answer is always “It really depends.”

If social media channels are where a majority of your audience is spending their time, then yes, you should probably consider making it part of your marketing and communications plan. But if you don’t formulate a strategy and stick to it, you could make a mess and even undermine your brand in the minds of that same audience.

Many of our clients have jumped into the “Twittersphere“, convinced there is benefit in engaging an audience using this new form of communication through micro-blogging. However, some take on this activity without the aid of a formal strategy to guide them and as a result get caught up in tweeting often instead of tweeting well, risking turning off the new audience they’ve attracted.

One of our clients recently engaged the services of two PR & communications professionals and challenged them to build their brand presence online using Twitter. They came out of the gate strong, using some clever posts to get the attention of dozens, then hundreds, of followers. But as they got more comfortable with this new voice, and others in the group joined in the publishing of tweets, they began to post too frequently (and at the wrong times) and the content of their posts were increasingly less relevant to their business and its audience.

Our advice? Focus. It was time to re-examine the strategic plan outlining why they were using social media in the first place. A social media plan is terribly important if you want a tool like Twitter to work for you.

One of the fundamental issues behind a decision to engage in social media with business has to be the goals and objectives. As with any marketing initiative, it is imperative to consider who your target audience is, how they are using social media and most importantly the core message you want to share with your audience. Lastly, some thought toward how success in this new realm will be measured is highly recommended to avoid endlessly investing time with no notion of what positive impact the effort is having

Our client stated that they were expanding their tweets beyond their niche focus to integrate others’ posts (retweets) and local events to establish community relations. This might be a smart strategy if used wisely, but could undermine the whole effort if it resulted in a drift away from the core message and numerous tweets which ultimately serve to annoy their audience.

As much as social media can be a fabulous way to create large ‘social’ networks, when used in the service of business, it works best when focused on expressing or reinforcing that ONE THING that a business does best.

For example, a restaurant may choose to use Twitter to foster a genuine relationship with an online community–especially if there is something unique about the restaurant that people may not know about from existing channels. This audience might be grateful to read posts about location openings, new dishes, special offers, contents, events, even customer polls, but that same audience might not appreciate being inundated by frequent, irrelevant or even confusing tweets.

Many social media experts will argue that using Twitter is about creating a conversation, which we agree with, and having a human tone and friendly interactions can be a good way to engage a community in a dialogue, but one should remember that this is still a business/consumer relationship. A corporate Twitter account isn’t probably the best place for chit chat with strangers, clogging others’ Twitter stream.

It’s a good idea to remember that you’re not buddies, and keep casual conversations to a minimum—just enough ton invite or welcome new members to your tribe. If tweets are meaningless gibberish without clicking on “In Reply To…”, or merely retweets of some local Twitterstar with little relevance to your core message, then you are risking annoying your audience and might suffer the dreaded “unfollow”.

Our experience has shown that personalized, original content wins over repurposed content every time, so when tempted to reply, quote or retweet anything, our advice is to pause to recall your strategy, asking yourself “Is this the right tone or relate to our core message?” or “Will our audience understand or even care about this?”

Another risk when tweeting for business is too frequent of posts, which is a common reason for users to unfollow an account. If you have a lot to say, stop to ask yourself “Have I tweeted too much today?” or “Should I schedule this for later?” knowing that there are spikes in Twitter activity in late morning with the peak actually between 3–4pm. Avoid posting a flurry of tweets in a row if you can help it.

Using the restaurant example, perhaps tweets about offers or specials could be scheduled for late afternoon or early evening, resulting in the highest revenue return as people consider where to dine that night.

One company who we think does a tremendous job of using social media to build their business is Rouxbe.com, a Vancouver-based online cooking school and recipe website. They know exactly who their audience is and what they are interested in, and they never stray from their core message.

They tweet original and relevant content just frequently enough to stay top of mind and at strategic times during the day. They also use a variety of online media tools such as Netvibes to track mentions of key words and phrases that appear in the Twittersphere so they can respond to them strategically. They’re cunning in fact.

When someone posts a tweet that says something like “I wish I new how to cook”, they engage them by following them, followed up with a short greeting along with appropriate links to pages on their online cooking school. If someone posts something specific, like “I’d love to learn how to make pad thai,” they respond with a direct link to that recipe with video instructions.

“We hope to do more on the social media side, and for me it’s all about providing a service to others—even if this just means reading, comment or contributing to others.” says Rouxbe founder Joe Girad. “What we try NOT to focus on is “pitching” Rouxbe too often.” This strategy is results in a quick, inoffensive and effective way of engaging people, and their social media efforts have not only helped create a large community, but more importantly a highly focused one that actually spends money on the  company’s website!

Going back to the restaurant example, perhaps the chef decides to do create a special dish? This is a terrific example of what to feature on their Twitter channel! Heck, they could even link to info on the qualities and characteristics of the ingredients and done well, this will compel people to engage in conversation, others to come to the restaurant to try it out.

Of course a restaurant doesn’t want to sound desperate, but some have even started using Twitter to offer special discounts to users and post information on waiting time for tables. Useful and relevant to that audience, making them feel like they have a genuine relationship with the business—like they are part of their tribe.

There are a couple key things to keep in mind when using Twitter. Twitter is just a tool—in fact, it’s a very easy thing to learn how to use—but it takes training and practice to become an effective Twitter user. Also, there is a huge difference between people AT a company and the way they tweet versus the way the company itself tweets to its audience. Forget that and things can backfire quickly.

To summarize, using Twitter can be a powerful business tool used to attract a broader audience when used cleverly as part of a social media strategy, but it can also be a risky proposition if not done well.  When focused and on message, Twitter can help build a business and increase the value of its brand, but used haphazardly and in an unfocused manner, a business runs the risk of annoying and even alienating consumers, causing potentially irreparable damage to the relationship. The key to success is a well-considered strategy resulting in a set of rules understood by all participating in social media outreach.

Now consider all the other social media tools you can use, such as Blogs (yours and others), Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, Technorati, Tumblr, Foursquare, Gowalla…the list goes on. The  reality is that unless you employ a dedicated, full-time  marketing person to create and maintain a comprehensive program, you’ll not likely want (or need) to engage in all of these channels—but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go secure accounts in all of them before someone else does!

Our very own Matt SamyciaWood was featured in a recent issue of Business in Vancouver with his article A Home Business is Still a Business. Addressing some of the more common mistakes with branding a business, Matt shares insights into how those very same lessons can guide a home-based business to consistent messaging and success.

We’re often asked about how Industrial Brand does business development and find our clients. Good question, but not one that can be easily answered in a short explanation or blog post. One issue that always gets met with raised eyebrows is the fact that we’re sort of picky about the clients we DO work with and how often we actually decline work.

What? Decline work? In THIS economy? Are we crazy? I don’t think so.

We feel that it is important to consider what our clients, their products, practices, and reputations say about us as their design partners. As we’ve said before, we are defined by our clients.

Things aren’t always so black and white though. It’s easy to say no to a pornography website project, but what about online gambling? We’re confident we’d decline working for a tobacco client, regardless of the revenue potential, but what about a drug company?

And can we please be honest about something? Realistically, how often really do designers engage in any real due diligence investigating their potential clients and their backgrounds the way companies check OUR references? Not often enough I’ll venture to say.

Beyond the important ethics issues, how about a client that has no experience working with a brand strategy firm like ours? Or if the primary contact isn’t empowered with the authority to make decisions for the company? Or even if the company is in a totally different industry or sector where we’ve decided to specialize? These are all important issues worth considering when taking on new clients—for us anyway.

So, understanding that we can’t always take super cool, well-paying clients whose companies, products, or service are things we love and endorse, we created a five point grid by which to judge all potential clients and projects.

The rules are simple. As we consider any prospective client or opportunity, we ask ourselves five simple questions—we call them “The Five Ps”:

• 1. Positioning: Is there something about this client or project that will enhance and leverage our portfolio so we may attract more, similar and better work in-line with our emphasis on serving professional services firms?
• 2. Profit: Is there inherent potential to make enough money with the initial project to contribute to a healthy bottom line and sustain the business? Is this a high risk start up with clients spending their own personal money? Has the client allocated appropriate budgets and is being forthright about those parameters?
• 3. Purpose: Is this client doing meaningful work we can be proud of? Is this client/product/service something we can endorse and believe in, or at the very least not compromise our ethics or doing harm to people, communities or the environment?
• 4. People: Will we enjoy working with them? Are these people experienced working with a strategy-driven brand consulting firm like ours and respect our team and processes, is there a point of contact with authority to make decisions, will we be able to access the key stakeholders and leadership in the organization, and will they trust us to do our best work?
• 5. Perception: Are there any other factors beyond the above that we need to consider? What does our instinct tell us? Can we determine why this client needs a new design firm? Does it feel like they terminated their previous creative partnership for good reasons?

We find we do our best work when all five Ps are aligned, but if the answer to these questions isn’t yes to at least three of them, for whatever reason, including gut feeling, we decline the work. Every time. Sometimes this has meant missing out on tens of thousands of dollars of revenue. But by doing this, we better understand who we are as a design firm, as a company, as individuals, and as a brand. Our integrity is intact and our reputation is unsullied. Well, mostly.

How do you choose clients? How often do you decline work?