Adding an Edge | Hardly Square

Stay Nimble

Back when Devin and I started Hardly Square in August of ’05, and even before that when we were freelancing together, we had a different idea of what a successful business structure should look and act like in today’s market. I’m not going to sit here and say this is a whole new idea we came up with on our own. These topics have been touched on before (as you’ll see by my links below). But let me say my piece. If you’re starting your own graphic design firm you’ll probably find this philosophy and business structure inspiring.

Hardly Square’s base philosophy came from my experience at a large agency. In 1999, I worked for one of the largest marketing communications firms in Baltimore. I learned a lot about process, structure, and the power of sound research. I also noticed some aspects I didn’t deem ideal moving forward into this new era of digital marketing.

This large agency wasn’t agile or nimble enough to keep up with the market shift we saw in the early 2000s. There were less than productive systems in place, masked as process. I witnessed too many:

• office distractions
• environments harvesting group think
• unnecessary meetings full of over thinking & less doing
• business structures blocking clients from the point of creation
• strict procedures and not enough creation

All this led to decreased productivity, poor customer service, inflated overheads, excessive costs, and ultimately a solution I felt could be better.

I was working at this large agency in a distinct era in marketing communications we like to call “the bubble”. The bubble was a profitable market created by a new media (the Internet) with an exorbitant amount of opportunity for marketing and graphic design. It connected us all in new ways on a whole new level. The market was shifting.

In comparison, pre-internet media was primarily fueled by single stream consumption. Marketing agencies made the media. You consumed it. In this marketing platform time was less sensitive.

When the internet came into play, it offered more streams. We were all of a sudden communicating with each other, sharing content, our opinions of that content, and eventually creating our own media/content. Subsequently, new strategies needed to be put into place to accommodate this new form of media. However, what I was witnessing was a large agency trying to compete in a new market with old strategies. As we all saw, once there was a realization of what this new media actually meant, the bubble popped. This successful agency that had grown into a huge creature was left stuck, as if in a tar pit (love these old claymation films).

The Balance Between Planning & Doing  - Stay Nimble

The Hardly Square approach to business grew from our discontent with large agencies’ sluggish methodologies and structures that ended in projects running way over schedule and budget. In today’s market of constant change, progression, and new media, traditional foundations don’t have the same relevance.

It’s imperative to know when the time has come to stop planning for what may work and really find out so we can ship. Sure, it’s a balancing act, but the world isn’t waiting for you. This is why responding to the dynamic of Internet evolution is more important than following a strict plan. Being able to adjust and tweak your project as you stay aware of new breakthroughs of internet technology, as well as old ideas made new again, will add an edge of modernity and know how to your project. Sequestering yourself in your office, diagramming out a perfect first run with blinders on will only leave you behind the curve.

The internet is fast. We must remain nimble.

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Our Formula

I’ve boiled down our business structure:

Boutique Intimacy + Big Agency Excellence – Excessive Overhead = Hardly Square Design

So, for this equation to work, it’s obvious you’ll need an exceptional team. We stand by utilizing a highly skilled multidisciplinary team. In essence, each member needs to wear multiple hats. Our employees are designers, photographers, musicians, marketers, project managers, and baristas (gotta be able to make a good latte) all in one.

Our multi-hatted employees have to work well together too, not just parallel to each other. It’s important to put platforms in place (we use Basecamp) that foster this interaction, freeing your employees so they can spend their time creating. If you hire the right designers and implement the right client relationship management (CRM) platforms you won’t need a project manager breathing down your creatives necks and scheduling unnecessary meetings. Your clients can be closer to the point of creation too, while having instant access to:

• centralized assets/source files
• budget, schedule & product status
• communication tools

It’s also important to note, boutiques must have a strong network of outside talent. When the large agency I worked for finally crumbled, it filtered into an array of boutique agencies with separate core competencies. I’ve kept many of these contacts and can call them in when necessary. This will give you the benefit of a large pool of talent without the salary overhead, which allows you to pass the savings on to your client. Win win!

Now I’m not saying you should compete solely on price, because someone will always be able to out bid you, but being able to leverage both price and quality will give you an added edge.

Remaining nimble in a market running at the speed of the Internet will prove to be your biggest key to success. The internet is evolving at a high pace and we need to stay on top of these changes.

How has your company transitioned to keep pace with the changing needs of the industry? Are you working in a larger firm now, and finding the systems in place frustrating or necessary? I’d love to hear your experiences.