Embracing creative change, however it arrives

If I’ve learned anything over my years running a design business it’s that what I call ‘creative change’ is essential. In fact, our very business model depends on the evolution and improvement of the our clients’ branding.

This can come in many forms. Perhaps a new staff member has a great marketing idea that needs a clever execution. Something completely new.

Maybe the overall look of a website we’ve worked on for many years needs an overhaul. Being precious about work completed in the past is time wasted when this is an opportunity – the design could be refined and reimagined. Made fresh.

Just recently though, change of a different kind was visited upon me in an unexpected way which inspired this post. After six years, our chief digital designer Riccardo, much beloved of our clients (and me!) decided to take his career in a new direction. So… having absorbed this news and determined not to panic, it begged the question: what next?

The quick answer is that the big change arrives next week in the form of our new team member. It’s a bit like revealing the new Doctor Who. I’ll get to all that at the right time, but in the meantime I have been inspired to write a blog post about three  recent projects that embraced ‘creative change’ in very different ways.

Incremental change – The Value Engineers

The Value Engineers website – a good example of creative change

Back in 2014 we were approached to re-work the website of brand strategists The Value Engineers – and the site we developed at the time has remained very similar in the years since.

But just recently we’ve been having a look at various aspects of the site anew. This has involved simplifying some elements of the design and expanding others.

The page count has gone down, the site is less busy and wordy. It feels tidier, simpler – and their business offering, key to their growth, is much clearer.

In particular the homepage has a photo-led gallery of work which opens a conversation with current and future clients. This approach showcases a snappy, eyecatching series of major ‘wins’, intended to inspire and demonstrate the range of their skills.

In addition, The Value Engineers keep a busy and impressive blog, publishing dozens of articles a month. We’ve reworked the index and individual post page so they feel more structured and organised – and themed content is far more accessible.

I appreciate this is scarecely a revolution, but it is a really good example of how modernising a site in an ongoing away prolongs its lifespan. Overall, it’s a clever, sound investment in the future of their primary marketing tool.

The Value Engineers website – a good example of ‘creative change’

‘The tidy up’ – Church & Rose Interior Design

The new Church & Rose branding – a good example of creative change

I’ve written extensively about this project recently, but in particular I wanted to highlight here the way that west London interior design firm Church & Rose have deftly changed their overall visual appearance.

The team at Church & Rose didn’t want to embark on a PR exercise emphasising a splashy new look. Rather, they fancied smartening up in a low key, elegant way, by putting their impressive new work front and centre. In essence this was achieved a a stroke with this new site – without embarking on a needless rethink of who they are as a business.

That said, what has been achieved has been ‘quietly radical’. Working with the team at Church & Rose we completed a brand refresh with a new colour palette.

Then, the main event…

Their new website is a state-of-the-art portfolio covering a range of projects across the UK and continental Europe over long, beautiful pages. They reckon most of their clients use tablets to view the site so (of course) it’s completely responsive, adapting to every conceivable device.

In essence, they’ve quietly ‘tidied up’ their visual look in an elegant, fresh way – and remained discreet about it.

The Church & Rose website – a good example of creative change

Radical renewal: Taylor & Hart

The Taylor & Hart website – a good example of creative change

Diamond engagement ring specialists Taylor & Hart have been a client since midway through 2016 and their new website was a big launch project for us at the turn of the year.

The new site represents as radical a ‘creative change’ as can be imagined – both in terms of branding and indeed the approach to the visual look of a business.

For starters the name changed: from ‘Rare Pink’ to this new, more personal premium offering. That’s a serious leap of faith!

But having established the new brand, its design and packaging internally, the team approached us to launch a completely new site concept. The end result is a labour of many months work and I am so glad to say, six months on, has been a terrific success.

Interestingly (and to go full circle on my theme in this post) the site is gradually evolving too, in line with their long term plans. With this in mind, these are changes we are looking forward to help them implement to develop as time passes.

From radical to incremental… that’s the way forward.

The Taylor & Hart website – a good example of creative change

Find out more about our approach to creative change

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