The kickoff meeting we actually run
A walk through the first meeting on day one — the questions we always ask, and the two that catch almost everyone…
Process
22 Articles
Deadlines are design constraints
Infinite time doesn't produce better work. It produces version fourteen, which is somehow worse than version three.
Scope creep is a communication problem
The project didn't grow on its own. Somebody asked, somebody said yes, and nobody wrote it down.
Why we say no (sometimes)
Turning down work sounds noble until you have payroll. We do it anyway, and the reasons are more practical than principled.
The brief behind the brief
Clients arrive with a request. Underneath it, there's a reason. Discovery is the work of telling the two apart before anyone builds…
Good clients ask hard questions
The questions we wish every client would grill an agency with before signing anything. Including us. Especially us.
Bring us the hard one
A love letter to the briefs everyone else passed on. The weird ones, the tangled ones, the ones that arrive with an…
Embedded, not outsourced
The difference between an agency that works for you and one that works with you is quick to spot....
Unsexy work wins
Under every impressive thing sits a layer of work nobody photographs. File names, alt text, backups, the follow-up email. A defense of…
The year-end rush is a choice
Every December the industry sprints toward a finish line nobody can locate in January. On borrowed deadlines, calendar panic, and how to…