I spent eight years in agencies making big brands look bigger. Now I work with small companies that make real things: ceramics, tonearms, records, hotels with twelve rooms. Most projects start with a long look at the product and end with fewer ideas than they began with.
Three rules
Look at the thing before you draw anything.
One idea, argued well, beats five directions.
If it still needs explaining, it is not finished.
How a project runs
Exposure
Week 1
I come to you. Workshop, factory, shop floor. We talk to the people who buy from you and I read everything you have ever published.
Development
Weeks 2 to 3
One idea, developed far enough to judge. You see it in use on the real product, never as a logo on a blank page.
Contact sheet
Week 4
We lay everything out and mark what stays. You decide with me in the room, and most of it goes.
Weeks 5 to 8
Final art, website and a guide your team can actually use. I stay on call for three months after launch.
A good fit
You make something you are proud of and it looks worse than it is. You will let me talk to your customers. You can decide in one meeting.
Not a fit
You need ten logo options by Friday. Your board has to approve the colour. You want it to look like a competitor, only cheaper.