Something to consider, though: you’re inviting a designer or agency to be more than a service provider. You want someone who understands you, your audience, and your goals. You want a creative teammate.

Of course, we all remember the old adage, “There is no ‘I’ in ‘team.’” As much as you are hiring someone to provide a service, your provider will expect at least some collaboration so they can help you reach your goals. Here are a few tips to help you and your agency partner work better together.

What’s All This About “Teamwork”?!

You may be thinking, “If I hire an agency to design my logo/build my website/manage my social media presence, shouldn’t they be doing most of the work?” And you’d be right, for the most part! You hire someone for their specific expertise, which is likely outside of your own zone of genius.

Thing is, your agency isn’t in it to only show off their skills. Their zone of genius is using their years of technical experience to help YOU shine online. The only way they can make that happen is if they have a strong grasp on your goals. And the only way they’ll capture that is if you share the details, goals, and resources that are so vital to the project.

Know Your Values – And Theirs

We talk about values often here at Upswept. Making positive contributions to our community is important to us. We choose to partner with other small businesses and nonprofits with the same intentions, and we don’t shy away from these intentions in our own messaging.

How an agency carries itself online can tell you a lot about them. It will also give you an excellent idea of how they may express your ideals online. Take some time to scope out someone’s social media presence to get a better sense of their “voice” and their priorities. Make sure they fit with your own.

Skip the Culture Shock

Just as a creative provider has a set of values, they also have a certain vibe to who they are and what they do. Make sure your company culture matches theirs. You can appreciate someone’s design style or marketing brand voice, but their approach to the work should fit you well, too. For example, if you’re a by-the-book professional focused on metrics and strict deadlines, you may find working with a more laid-back creative-type more frustrating than fruitful.

Communicate Clearly

Keeping lines of communication open is crucial to a good working partnership. What makes great teamwork, though, is also being clear about how you prefer to communicate.

These days, many of us work remotely, and often asynchronously. We rely on email to keep us connected to our coworkers and clients, but there may be times when you need a different way to communicate. You may prefer the occasional phone call, or feel more confident with a regular in-person meeting. You may also find that an online meeting with screen sharing makes it simpler to talk through your needs. Be clear about what works best for you! This way, your creative teammate knows the best ways to connect with you.

Set expectations around availability. You may need someone who can share files or deliverables outside of traditional work hours. Make that expectation clear on the outset, so you don’t find yourself frustrated when you need something after 5pm on a Friday. 

Deciding to work with a creative team can be daunting. But it’s a sign that your business is growing, so celebrate it! Remember your goals, your values, and your communication style—being clear on those will help you find your perfect match in a team.

A self-described “geeky kid from Kansas,” Gilbert Baker made his way to San Francisco in 1970 after an honorable discharge from the US Army. He dreamed of becoming an artist, and began channeling his energies into sewing, creating handmade versions of fabulous outfits he wanted but was unable to buy. Baker also used his skills to create banners for anti-war and pro-gay marches.

His activism in the gay community brought him into contact with community organizer Harvey Milk. When Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978 (the first openly gay person elected to office in California), he encouraged Baker to envision a new symbol of pride for the gay community. Inspired by the 1976 bicentennial and seeing the American flag everywhere, Baker thought it best to create something similar.

The first rainbow flag saw its debut on June 25, 1978, at San Francisco’s Gay Pride Day celebration. Its first iteration had eight stripes, each hand-dyed and sewn together by Baker and a group of friends: pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise blue for art, indigo for harmony and violet for spirit.

When he saw hundreds of people passing the 30′ x 60; flag from hand to hand, Baker knew his life would be forever changed: “Raising it up and seeing it there blowing in the wind for everyone to see. It completely astounded me that people just got it, in an instant like a bolt of lightning – that this was their flag. It belonged to all of us. It was the most thrilling moment of my life. Because I knew right then that this was the most important thing I would ever do – that my whole life was going to be about the Rainbow Flag.”

Sadly, grief and rage consumed San Francisco in the wake of the November 1978 assassination of Milk (and Mayor George Moscone). Demand for the flags increased as the community again clamored for hope and visibility. This increased demand resulted in subtle changes to the flag, as hot pink and turquoise fabric was scarce. By 1979, the six-striped Rainbow Pride Flag became the unofficial symbol of the gay and lesbian community.

Since then, variations of the Rainbow Pride Flag have been seen across the world – exactly as Baker had hoped. Members of the LGBTQ community continue to honor his work and build upon it as they visualize and introduce changes. 2017 saw the City of Philadelphia introduce black and brown stripes to represent queer people of color. In 2018, Portland designer Daniel Quasar reimagined an updated Pride flag to also include transgender and non-binary individuals.

Design is something that comes not only with monetary value, but also the potential for deep and lasting cultural value. Gilbert Baker recognized the cultural value of his work, and ultimately never copyrighted his creation, nor did he collect any income from subsequent efforts. Instead, Baker chose to let the simple design belong to everyone.

The next time you spot the bright stripes fluttering freely in the breeze, take a moment to pay respect to this generous gift to the community, and to the brave men, women, and people whose relentless spirits gave us a bit more freedom to live in our truths.

Let’s be real, though: it’s not just a brand identity. It’s a first impression, an aesthetic, a mood, a visual representation of what we’re about. Making this change is not something we took lightly. Since branding is at the heart of our business, we asked our Creative Director/Benevolent Overlord Sarah Giffrow to give y’all a peek behind the curtain into our rebranding process.

Upswept Creative: What inspired the rebrand? And why now?

Sarah: I’m a little embarrassed to admit that this is something I’ve wanted to do for well over a year! I’ve been sitting with the feeling that our brand didn’t quite measure up to the quality of work Upswept has been providing for our clients. We’ve learned so much and worked to refine our skills and processes, and it was time to look at how we’ve changed, and how we can update our brand to better reflect that growth.

I think there just wasn’t enough space in my brain to really bring all of these ideas together until now. The stereotype about designers being too busy to work on their own brands or websites is very real!

UC: Walk us through the rebranding process. Where did you start?

SG: I started by thinking about what was working well for us, and what we wanted to see more of in our work and our clientele. Our values and overall mission were still on-point–the change and growth was more about who we want to design for. We’ve also worked on our brand voice and website copy within the last year. So, after looking at all of the various pieces, I knew it was the visual design that needed the most attention.

As far as visual design, the logo is where we like to start with our brand projects for clients, and it was the piece that really kick-started our own rebrand, too. I wanted to keep some aspects familiar–such as the teal color–but I definitely wanted the new logo to look cleaner and less literal.

UC: What was the most surprising part of the process? How about the most challenging (if you can pick just one part!)?

SG: The biggest challenge might have been keeping the finished logo under wraps for over two months! Our whole team was excited about it, and it was tempting to just blast it out everywhere, but we also knew we had to do this rebrand right. It was definitely worth taking the time to update our entire visual presence, which meant everything from our website to business cards to proposal templates. But, it did take a lot of patience!

UC: What advice would you give someone looking to rebrand or refresh their brand identity?

SG: Always, always start with your values. Businesses grow and change, and things are going to look different after 5, 10, or 20 years. And, well, what we want out of our work is also going to change, because that’s part of being a human being.

Does the mission you came up with when you started your business still make sense now? Does your visual presence reflect the nature and quality of the work you want to be doing? Looking at how far you’ve come, and where you want to go next, makes a powerful foundation for your brand decisions.

And, give yourself time and space. You’ll need time to do the work, and to really think about the hard questions, so plan for that. Block it out on your calendar, set aside that time, and make that commitment to yourself. You’ll also need to show yourself some kindness, because a change like this can be intimidating! It’s okay to take time to adjust to your new brand and the new way of thinking that often comes with it–as long as you make sure to plan for it.

—

If our story resonates with you, but you’re not sure how best to start your rebranding process, we’ve got your back. We can help you make a plan for your business brand with a Two-Hour Strategy Session, if you’re just dipping your toe in the water. Or, book a consultation with us, and you’ll get a taste of how we can handle everything from top to bottom.

• Oregon is 25% agricultural land
• In the next 20 years 64% of that land will change ownership as the current generation of farmers retires
• That comes to 10.5 million acres changing hands, potentially irreversibly affecting Oregon’s natural resources, economy, and culture

Working Together for Working Lands

Portlander Nellie McAdams has made it her business to help protect those 10.5 million acres from development. In 2017, we worked with Nellie and Maggie Sisco to develop an infographic to explain succession planning and working land conservation easements that speaks to farmers, the general public, and decision makers about  the threats to farmland and how we can all help farmers safeguard their land against development.

Farmers comprise less than 1% of the population and, even for the motivated, Nellie says it can be difficult to break into the industry without a family connection. Startup costs are high, margins are low, and both the weather and the markets can be unpredictable, making farming for a living a challenging proposition.

Nellie’s professional background in environmental law and agriculture, as well as her lived experience growing up the daughter of a hazelnut grower, places her at an ideal intersection. She can relate to parties on all sides of farm succession.

Nellie says she was drawn to the farming lifestyle for personal reasons. For her, working the land is deeply gratifying, as are the natural connections with land and community, and she feels lucky to be set to inherit her father’s land when he’s ready to retire. For her, a farm is not only  a commodity to be bought and sold, but also an heirloom and natural resource. Both sentimental and practical in nature, it farmland more difficult to divide among successors than a typical business or estate.

When we met last fall, Nellie was splitting her workweek between her own farming training, and her outreach and program development work. In partnership with several organizations, Nellie leads programs that support a retiring generation of farmers with succession planning. They’re also building support for the next generation of Oregon farmers to help them gain the business and land-management skills they’ll need to succeed at farming.

Our Safeguarding Oregon’s Farmland infographic is at work for these three organizations

The Oregon Community Food Systems Network is a collaboration of 40 nonprofit organizations and allies dedicated to strengthening local and regional food systems to deliver better economic, social, health and environmental outcomes across the state. They provide networking, information sharing, research, education, training, planning,  fundraising, and more to participating organizations in pursuit of their vision: that all Oregonians will have meaningful access to healthy and affordable foods that are grown and processed regionally in an environmentally and economically resilient food system.

Rogue Farm Corps’ mission is to train the next generation of farmers and ranchers through hands-on educational program and the preservation of farmland. They do so by offering practical training programs and farm succession planning and access to land workshops.

The Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program(OAHP) was passed by the 2017 Oregon State Legislature to help address the challenges of preserving farmland from development and helping farmers pass it on to the next generation. The program provides voluntary incentives to farmers and ranchers to support practices that maintain or enhance both agriculture and natural resources such as fish and wildlife on agricultural lands. OAHP was developed by a collaborative of organizations representing natural resource conservation and agriculture, including farmer and rancher representatives.

Good Design for Farmland

When Nellie and Maggie approached us to develop the Working Lands infographic, their “rough draft” was in pages of notes that  looked more a grant proposal outline than a snappy single-sheet infographic for public consumption.

The first phase of our work was in helping them and their stakeholders narrow down the scope of the document and refine the language to be concise, direct, and effective. Using color, typography, simple icons, and an intuitive content structure, we were able to communicate a lot of information into a relatively small space while maintaining a visually appealing and user-friendly look. After we completed the final product, Nellie told us that the development process of refining the images and talking points helped her better communicate about the issues in the rest of her work.

What makes you passionate about your work? Team Upswept can’t wait to hear about it, and work with you to reach your ideal audience and grow your business. Click to Get Started and schedule your consultation with us.

It started with a personal project. For holiday gifts in 2011, Tori created her first run of book scarves — an excerpt from Pride and Prejudice silkscreened onto a square of super soft, off-white (think the pages of a classic book) fabric. She gave most as gifts and listed a few for sale on Etsy.

Tori had been living in Portland since 2008, when she moved here in pursuit of a career in fashion design. She was working four days a week at an office job in the dental field, and worked on her creative projects with her time off. The book scarves were the first item she’d put up for sale on the peer-to-peer e-commerce site, which focuses on handmade and vintage items.

As a fashion accessory, the scarves were a perfect statement for Tori and some of her friends. One of the things that she likes about designing wearables, in addition to the utilitarian aspect, is that “no matter what, what [a person wears] expresses aspects of one’s personality.” A self-identified bibliophile and introvert, Tori liked that she could spark connection over one of her favorite things though her apparel choices, and keep her neck warm in our cool PNW winters, too.

The Pride and Prejudice scarves sold quickly on Etsy, and Tori received many requests for more. The scarf got shared on Pintrest as well, further boosting interest. After three months, Tori was able to leave her office job and make scarves full-time.

Rising Action

Since 2011, Storiarts has expanded their catalog to celebrate more than 27 titles on scarves, fingerless writing gloves, t-shirts, pillows, and baby hats. Staying rooted in the Pacific Northwest is a key value in the company, and most of their products are printed, cut, sewn, warehoused, and shipped in Oregon, with some milling and cutting happening in LA. All of their products are handmade in the US, even though production has scaled up quite a bit since Tori made everything by hand in her garage. Now that the manufacturing is off her plate, Tori can focus on design of new products, as well as drawing all of the illustrations for their scarves, writing gloves, and t-shirts.

Though Storiarts was born through e-commerce sales and continues to sell through several online retailers, it wasn’t long before they expanded into sales at brick-and-mortar stores. The Library of Congress shop was the first to approach Tori about carrying book scarves, and today you find them in the New York Public Library as well, along with dozens of other libraries and boutiques across the US, and in Australia and New Zealand. 

To Be Continued…

Upswept Creative does much of the marketing photography for Storiarts, from clean product shots to lifestyle photography like this one featuring Amber Nicotra, wearing a new scarf from their Spring 2017 collection. 

We love working with Tori and her co-owner and husband, Chris. Their company embodies so much of what we value in working with independent businesses — from their commitment to keeping it local, to the thoughtfully-crafted, pleasantly nerdy products they sell.

What’s your next creative venture? Let’s talk about discovering your authentic and compelling brand story that will help you connect with your ideal audience. The first step to schedule a free clarifying consultation is clicking ︎ here. ︎

Our hope was to represent perspectives on design from multiple design disciplines, so  panel consisted of Design Scientist and Innovative Strategist Stef Koehler, Architectural Designer Callie Coles, Apparel Designer and Founder of Hubris Apparel Rita Hudson-Evalt, and Upswept Creative’s very own Sarah Giffrow, who specializes in website design and branding.

THE DISCUSSION

The panel dove right in, addressing the question at hand. How does good design solve problems? Kohler spoke on her practice of making the problem bigger, “see all the parts,” she said. “Look at it as a system. Don’t make it simple, complexify it.”

A major piece of creating beautiful, problem-solving design is finding out exactly what a client’s problems are–and that can often be tricky. The panel agreed that most clients don’t have the language to communicate exactly what they want, and that means it’s a designer’s job to pull it out of them. “The client may not know what the problem is. Get ahead of the problem…Make the dress that lets them feel like themselves,” said Hudson-Evalt.

Sarah chimed in with an approach all of the panelists could agree with: communicate with your client. “Have a conversation. Engage with the client to pull answers out.”

As an architectural designer, Coles described how she will go into a space to observe how people use it. When do people start looking confused? Where do they look for direction? “[There is] no substitute for observing what people do real space,” said Coles.

“[Create a] balance between ‘brand’ and what the user actually wants to get to. First impressions- big photos, catchy phrases- can get in the way of finding the pie or buying the shoes. What is the interaction the end-user wants?” said Giffrow.

This touched on a major theme of the evening, empathy. To get inside the end user’s head, a designer has to be empathetic to that experience. Hudson-Evalt suggested, “Talk to people constantly, what they need from the dress/what they want. Realizing themselves in the mirror.”

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Team Upswept Creative had such a blast putting on the event, and we hope everybody who came out enjoyed themselves, too. Thank you to all of the panelists, Design Week Portland, and our lovely audience for braving the heat to make it out to our little event.

Think about these elements of good logo design to examine how you really feel about yours.

Keep it SIMPLE.

Simplicity is key. Too often a design will try to communicate too much or be overly clever, resulting in a jumbled message that’s too difficult to remember. It’s important to remember that a logo doesn’t necessarily have to directly relate to what your company does. It is much more important that the design evokes a feeling that is consistent with the rest of your company’s marketing.

Make it ADAPTABLE for maximum exposure.

An adaptable design is also very important. The whole point of a logo is to slap it on everything relevant to your company’s brand presence: business cards, storefront, website, profile pictures, and so many more. The design should be scalable down to about 1×1 inches without losing detail, and be able to not lose impact when made large.

Choose a design that’s APPROPRIATE for your audience.

Consider what kind of markets your company will be appealing to. A well-designed logo needs to appeal to those same audiences. A logo for a water park should be way more fun than a logo for an accounting firm, right?

Beyond the Logo

A lot of nuance and expertise goes into good logo design, but in broad strokes, the most important things are to keep it simple, adaptable, and appropriate for your target audience.
There is, of course, a lot more that goes into developing a strong brand. If you’re interested in continuing to develop your brand sense, sign up to get exclusive access to  our awesome (and free!) Branding Workbook. Just by signing up, you’ll also be the first to hear about more exciting things we have planned! Sign up by following the link below.

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Algorithms Can Have Powerful Consequences

Carina C. Zona opened Day 2 with “Consequences of an Insightful Algorithm” and talked about the incredible number of things we can learn about people through data, and subsequently, the potentially hurtful actions that can stem from it. Zona brought up several examples of big-name companies who have used their data less-than-responsibly, such as FitBit’s public exposure of sexual activity on profile statistics, or even more disastrous, Target’s advertisements towards pregnant women exposing a teen pregnancy. Big companies can learn a great deal about their customers by gathering and analyzing customer data, but they can easily fail at using that data responsibly.

Inadvertent algorithmic cruelty–a phrase coined by Eric Meyer–is, “what happens when code works in the majority of cases, but fails to take other use cases into account.” These types of things often happen because the consequences of how data is being used aren’t being thoroughly considered, which is easy to do when you assume that your customers and users are similar to you. That means that people outside of the assumed majority can get hurt.

We all have biases, whether we’re aware of them or not, so it’s important for us all to consider what motivates our choices, and how that can affect others who don’t share our biases. Data can be an extremely powerful tool, but it’s up to us to be honest and trustworthy, to use data responsibly, and to actively counter the biases that exist in ourselves and our culture.

Good User Experience Means Seeking Other Perspectives

With the Day 2 keynote fresh in my mind, I attended multiple sessions that encouraged all of us in tech to reach outside of our own perspectives, to think and learn about users who are different from us, and use that knowledge to create better user experiences for everyone.

Amelia Abreu and Rachel Shadoan facilitated a longer-form session, “Dog Food is for Dogs: Escape the Crate of Your Perspective with User Research,” which focused on escaping the limitations of our own perspective through user research. We know our own projects inside and out, but our users don’t have that same advantage, so it’s part of our job to do the research and learn more about the people we’re designing for.

The session focused on a couple of different strategies to help us learn to see beyond our own experience: first, we looked at a photograph and brainstormed about everything from the circumstances and feelings of the people in said photo, to potential solutions to their problems. Later in the session, we broke up into several groups and explored different scenarios, so we could strategically think about the different types of people who might work with our projects, what’s exciting them about our work, and what their struggles might be.

The clear message here was that we need to consider a variety of people when we create user experiences. People tend to congregate with others who are just like them, so that can easily lead us to assume that our experience is the only one that matters. Our user scenarios should be based on field research, or we risk falling into tropes and our own biases.

In a similar vein, David Newton tackled the topic of making web design more inclusive in “Universal Web Design: How to create an awesome experience for *every* user.” Newton looked at successful examples of universal design in the real world–such as curb cuts to improve accessibility for wheelchairs, strollers, and bikes–and then expanded on the concepts of universal design and how they can apply to Web Design.

Creating web design that’s intuitive, flexible, and easy to use in a variety of situations was a big topic here, and it’s one that I loved talking about. A good universal design works for us, and we don’t really think about it until it’s not there when we need it. No matter what type of web site we’re building, be it business, personal, or community, our number one goal? We want people to use the site. If you have a web design that’s confusing, or that isn’t easy to use for all of our users, then your web site is falling down on the job.

Newton went into a detailed run-down of tips, concepts, and best practices for making web designs more accessible. And, he also stressed the importance of listening to and considering a variety of users. Diversity is not only about the user, but also how they access the web, what devices, connection speeds, and so forth. We were encouraged to listen to our users, respond to their email feedback, do focus groups, and do our best to learn what they need, so we can create a better web site experience for everyone.

In short: “Remove barriers. Make things easier for users, even if it’s a little harder for us [as designers and developers].”

Did you miss out on the conference? Look back at Day 1 of Open Source Bridge, and take a look at some of our photos on Facebook.

Stepping Towards True Diversity in Tech

Adair emphasized the importance of companies throughout tech stepping up and putting real weight behind their stated desires for diversity.  Empathy is key to creating an environment that is welcoming to all, and a supportive work environment is key to retaining people from those underrepresented demographics.

In short, it’s important to create a space that’s safe for everyone, and that allows diverse groups to flourish. It means not allowing members of your company or community to act badly without consequences. Value interpersonal skills as well as technical skills. Give access to tools and education, and inclusive healthcare. It can even be as simple as taking the time to learn an unfamiliar name. When you think on diversity, don’t simply wonder, “how do I add diversity?” but ask, “how do I make things better for everyone?”

When Fear Takes Hold, Reach Outward

In an afternoon session, Adam Edgerton looked at what happens when the project management cycle gets scary in “Project Fear.” He touched on the very real issues of burnout in all facets of tech–Edgerton suggested that burnout is one major contributor to why people quit the industry–and the feelings of uncertainty that come with joining a new project or a new company. “Impostor Syndrome is most strongly associated with high achievers,” so even those who are expert and capable, and performing well, may feel the fear that comes with uncertainty

New hires can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to gain the background knowledge about a company that’s needed for them to perform well, so patience is key. Edgerton suggests reaching outward to help combat uncertainty–asking questions and doing research to gain the background you might be missing can help you find the “a-ha” moment of understanding. It’s also important to balance your gut feelings and your logic, much like our friends Kirk and Spock. And, allowing yourself to talk about struggle and share it with others can help relieve the pressure that leads to burnout.

Your Job Impacts Your Community

An afternoon session with Kelsey Gilmore-Innis, “Your Job Is Political,” dove into the long reach of tech dollars in politics. Using her knowledge of tech leaders in the Bay Area, she went into extensive detail about venture capitalists in tech, the surprising number of tech companies they’re tied to and invested in, and most importantly, where their political interests lie–and subsequently, where their millions of dollars are going.

A sad truth of our political system is that money continues to command a great deal of power, and the work you do as an average tech worker contributes to advancing political interests that you may not support. If you don’t take a position, but your bosses invest revenue from your labor in politics, you are not impartial. Be aware of who is at the top levels of your company, and what they are doing (or not doing) to benefit your community.

It’s All About The Interface.

How You Connect People and Ideas Can Make You Memorable.

Good Design Means Working Together.

“Real design does not have an end point. It is infinite; it is iterative.” #Webvisions

— Upswept Creative (@UpsweptCreative) May 15, 2015

Good Design Thinks About The Next Step.