Caution? No.

Our process may involve a lot of thinking, but it begins with listening. Asking questions. Challenging the current path, clarifying goals, learning new subjects.

And when the thinking begins, look out. We like to develop ideas and concepts, make new associations, travel new paths, offer new ideas. Our work connects on many levels, and it’s a success when our clients see directions they didn’t expect, and have a difficult time selecting between too many good options.

Oh, sure. A thing can be made to look pretty. We’re experienced and time-tested in the art of our profession. We’re in love with the beauty, form, and function of typography. Of finding the perfect image, choosing appropriate colors. Of contrast, balance, and the flow of the eye across the page. We believe our design work is memorable, accessible, deceptively simple, and rewarding. But that’s not enough.

We’re concerned with more. The essence. The reason those elements are selected, how they’re incorporated, what their connection is to the underlying message.

For example, the rebrand for Western RE — an underwriting agency for U.S. earthquake markets — is a fresh look for the firm’s second generation management team. The rebrand builds on their reputation of reliability, lets their clients know the management team has fresh, forward-thinking ideas, and on a deeper level, implies that Western Re is the unifying force, offering clients a stabilizing platform from the hidden danger below.

We designed our Prevue Cage Kit POPs to be a significant upgrade from the former two-piece style — they’re eye-catching; readable; color-coordinated; are a one-piece, one-position POP designed to save materials and labor through better fit, fool-proof placement, and use less materials and take less time to attach. They also feature bird images appropriate to the cage and, with the birds on the inside, literally preview the cage in use.

We like that, for ES&T — a company which collects hazardous waste and by-products from industry to recycle, rejuvenate, or dispose of in the most environmentally responsible manner — the logo itself illustrates their process. The underlying black field is “piped” through the typography, becoming filtered, cleaned, and purified, before being ported out on its appropriate path.

Yes. We think too much. Do too many sketches. Create too many possibilities. It can be the most difficult part of the work. Yet it’s this stage which yields the most successful result. And we think it’s what sets us apart.