Audacious and beautiful

You took the big leap. Jumped off the cliff: Your team set one of Jim Collins’ big, hairy, audacious goals (BHAGs). What will immediately follow? A pile of big, hairy audacious problems. Barriers. Roadblocks. Whatever you want to call them, they are the nuts and bolts of how we all spend our days, working to dismantle any wall that is between our clients and success.

We agency folk love a good problem. The messy kind that is both complicated and simple, that demands both collaboration and and bravery. Via analysis, strategy, and design, we crave moments where we partner with our clients to break through their barriers: accurate attribution, call-center messaging, CRM integration, effective display ads, competitive strategy, and more.

Design is the backbone of all problem solving

At the center of design exists the crossroads of story and people, messages and audiences, hope and action. While utility is what gets the job done, it’s rarely what motivates people to change their mind or see something with new eyes. That is where beauty enters stage left.

Beautiful ad design, well positioned to the right audience, on the right channel, coupled with a thoughtful message can profoundly alter how potential customers engage with a brand.

Skating straight to the heart of your audience

I’ll never forget the first time I saw a TV commercial after the birth of my son, watching Winter Olympic Apolo Ohno’s speed skating highlights during a late night feeding. Proctor & Gamble’s Crest commercial about all the ways moms helped their children reach the Olympics over the course of many years brought tears to my eyes. And more tears. I couldn’t stop crying — something about the message and the imagery just made me feel like Crest had seen into my young mother’s heart in a shocking way.

Crest affectionately–and sincerely–brought me into their fold that night with a compelling story and imagery that validated it.  This was great design.When things are beautiful, it changes people’s behavior

Great design, whether it is a process or an image, is a simple, beautiful solution to a problem. How do you keep toothpaste sales relevant during an international sporting event? It’s not an overnight process, but there is a way to make sure you’re actually reaching your audience with something more profound than just “click here.” Designing your visuals and messages, thoughtfully and beautifully, with your audience in mind, will impact them in powerful ways.