Discovery

We kick off the creative component of your project with an in-depth creative conversation about the design aesthetic you want to achieve. We uncover your likes (and dislikes), learn what aspects of your existing branding can (or can’t) change, and study what your competitors are doing right (and wrong).

RECENT WORK

American Astronomical Society - Our team flew to Washington D.C. to meet with the folks at AAS. In attendance: Content managers from several different departments, the program director, and internal Drupal developers with whom we’d be working in tandem. Over the course of two-and-a-half days, our creative team documented a solid design direction for their project. Because Discovery went so well, AAS was able to quickly approve subsequent mood boards and mockups.

Jammit - Having been burned in the past, Jammit was looking for a web team that they could trust and form a long-term relationship with. We carefully listened to what went wrong with their previous experiences, addressed their concerns, and let them know with our communication and expertise that they'd finally found a home. In the past, they'd been met with disappointment when development companies told them they were unable to create the look and feel they were going for using Drupal. Through a thorough discovery period, we not only reviewed their previous mockups that never came to fruition, but also collaborated with them to go above and beyond what they were looking for.

Art Direction

Like swatches and paint chips in the hands of an interior designer, we use mood boards to establish the creative direction we’re proposing for your project. We “pin” photography styles, color palettes, fonts, patterns, and graphics—and you get to give early feedback on whether you like what you see.

RECENT WORK

Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation - As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” When our creative team showed the first mood board to the group at The Pearlman Foundation, they didn’t love it (it’s rare, but it happens). The good news: Our designers found out their visual direction was “off” after just two hours of work—not 15 or more. After realigning the creative direction, our team cranked out another mood board that the Pearlman team loved, and we were able to move on to successfully design and develop the rest of the site.

Center for Chicano Studies at UCLA - When our creative team presented the first mood board to the group at UCLA’s Center for Chicano Studies, their feedback was: “You hit the nail on the head with the first try.” This is a testament to our team’s active listening during Discovery as well as their creativity and resourcefulness in composing a mood board that the Center responded to in a positive way.

User Interface Design

Page compositions make us happy. Why? Because when you see what your finished UI design will look like before we start coding it, any creative changes you may need or want to make can be incorporated quickly and easily. Using mockups early and often keep your project in scope, on time, and on budget.

RECENT WORK

Sandusky Radio Group - Our creative designers worked with the Sandusky Group to develop the “mac daddy” radio station Web site that later became the archetype for nine offshoot sites. Thanks to our dev team’s Drupal development expertise and our creative team’s Drupal theming know-how, we were able to efficiently roll out the nine new sites, each with its own personality, design, and vibe—from sports talk radio to Top 40 hits to classic rock.

FlamencoTickets.com - Flamenco Tickets were very particular about what they wanted their new site to look like. Our team of creative designers worked hard to develop a new online destination that would not only allow people to register for flamenco shows throughout Spain, but look great, too. The result: Flamenco Tickets is very satisfied with the attention to detail and visual creativity that our team delivered.

Fine Tuning

As we pass the baton to the development team, us creative types stay involved. We monitor progress and make sure that coded pages line up with the established design direction. We also cross t’s and dot i’s on design features like line spacing, text sizes, color accuracy, and use of graphic elements.

Recent Work

Center for Chicano Studies at UCLA - In working to finalize a new media-rich Web site for UCLA’s Center for Chicano Studies, our creative team caught numerous tweaks, adjustments, and alignments for our Drupal theming team to tackle before handing the site over to the client for review. It’s this kind of behind-the-scenes attention to detail that clients may never even know about—but directly benefit from.

Princeton University Art Museum - Sometimes projects evolve—even after they’re underway—in ways no one could have predicted. And sometimes the end result is better for those unplanned detours. This was the case with Princeton. When Princeton asked for numerous changes late in the development cycle, we consulted with them at every step, stayed flexible, and adapted the project accordingly. Ultimately, our creative team had the chance to shine, and the finished product turned out to be a real showpiece.