We were recently provided with a lengthy email from an outsourced technology group that very thoroughly explained why they could not “do” what we had proposed in the design. There was nothing about our design that we couldn’t have built ourself actually, but since they were the developers chosen by our client, we had to grin and bare it.

Technology advances. Designers find new inspiration mid-way through a project. Stuff happens. And usually these re-directions, make for a petter product (and happier client) in the end. So good developers, printers, photographers, or other creative industry vendors should anticipate things like scope creep and client add-ons. Its doesn’t have to be open ended, just a little more forgiving. 

Taking a little extra time to troubleshoot a bug, or crank out an extra page template, or extend a design to an additional piece of stationery, buys a lot of good will. Take printers for example. An extra 100 business cards, hand delivery, a suggestion on how to save a few bucks… These small gestures don’t cost much but pay off in spades. When a client sees you as their champion you make them a fan.

The bottom line is that graphic design, advertising, web development and the like are service industries. Doing great work is important of course, but great work what is expected of us. When we exceed the expectations and deliver just that little bit extra, they are more likely to hire you again, bring you more work, or pass your name along.

Portalupi winery just launched their new website. We had a great time creating the site for Jane and Tim. Our design was completely inspired by their very cool label design – beautiful type, simple black and silver foil… Nice! The new site really breaks the mold of the typical type you see out there. Especially for super-small, boutique wineries. And in case you are wondering, the wine is AMAZING! Seriously. The Zin in just incredible and the Barbera is an award winner. Check em out and tell em Plumbline sent you!

The photography was done by Kathryn Barnard.

Well Sherman, set the way-back machine for 1996…

Back in the day, dot-coms used to blow a lot of VC dough on crazy parties. DJ’s, Ice Scuptures, GoGo Dancers, and so on. And until last Thursday night, it had been ten years since I’d even heard of anyone willing to launch a site under any fanfare at all. Enter Driverside.com. Not only did they bring the old launch-party-magic back, they did it surrounded by a few million bucks worth of exotic cars.

How they got Benteley SF to provide the venue I have no idea. And I probably don’t want to know. I rolled up in my 2003 Jetta Wagon (complete with Gym bag on the passenger seat), a valet stepped up, gave what I think was a ironic smile and drove off. Walking into the Bentley showroom I was greeted by a few very nice young ladies holding clipboards, doing what they could to refuse entry to riff-raff – but since my name was on the list, they let me in anyway. Next it was a tray of Grey Goose Peartinis. Which Robert and I each drank, but with as much manliness as we could. After all, the alternative was a Cosmo. And we just weren’t going down that road.

What would be going down the road eventually was on of the many Lamborghini’s they had in the showroom. An already sold bright yellow Murcielago. – a bargain at over $350k. Next to that was a chartreuse Lambo, one in Silver and several very very nice Bentleys. It’s an interesting experience to drink alcohol around a dozen cars that each cost as much a small home in Portland.

The DriverSide gang gave a great thank-you speech and were nice enough to mention Plumbline’s work in designing the architecture and UI/UX for the site. It was quite an event. It came compete with top-tier catering served to some of who I am sure represent the SF Social Elite (though I would never be able to pick them out of the crowd)… There was even an ice sculpture.

DriverSide Launch Party

There are few things that satisfy our collective design egos as well as the return of a former client. When an individual leaves his our her previous employer – our original client – they tend to bring us along with them. It does us good to know that not only did we deliver for them on the original gig, but we did so well that they want us to help them look good with their new boss.

When Kristi left American Golf she took us with her to Prestige Homes.
Jad took us from Compare Net to Peet’s and now to DriverSide.com.
And Jed brought us with him when he became a partner at DFJGotham.

But it’s even more exciting when years later, the original company comes back for more. Clients like Academy Studios, Premiercru.net, and the Ann Getty House Collection. All of whom have re-hired us once again help build their brands. Though our creative solutions were on target and we delivered on their expectations, we believe the reason they call us back has more to do with who we are that it does with what we do.

When reflecting on our client list the other day, I was stuck by the notion that a large percentage of our client list can be traced back to about three specific points of origin. The fact that most of our clients come to Plumbline via referral is something we are really proud of.

An example – spanning a decade!

Rent Net introduced us to Compare Net in 1997.
From Compare Net, we worked with LetsTalk.com in 2000.
LetsTalk introduced us to Martha Olson from The Leap Group in 2001.
Leap Group recommended us to Savvio in 2002 and SunLink in 2007. 
And many others in between.

Even better is the fact that Martha introduced us to Mark Jordan. And Mark has been a key part of Plumbline’s team ever since. He has also brought great projects into the mix for clients like Webroot, WYSE, Inveneo, and Sonic Solutions.

The Rent Net / Compare Net lineage can be used to trace about two dozen clients since 1999. Among them, DFJGotham Ventures, Peet’s Coffee, DriverSide.com, and Premiercru.net.

Then there is Mashery (Oren Michaels) who we worked with on PremierCru and from whom we continue to get referrals. And F.O.P. (Friend of Plumbline) Kathryn Nudleman who introduced us to Gretchen at Ranch Winery – from whom we were passed along to Portalupi Wines.

We also have been fortunate to receive referrals from our old employers. American Golf came from an Addis referral for example. And Ann Getty came to us via our development partner 42inc – who provided web services to Addis back in the early nineties. Although the Ann Getty connection could also be traced to their long time family friend, Trevor Traina at Compare Net and now Driverside.com.

Small world I guess.

A design firm is only as good as its clients, and we’ve been pretty lucky over the past decade to work with some really great people doing some really cool things. We’ve been able to get genuinely excited about what our clients were doing and the products or services they provide, and when you believe in the value of the thing your are designing or you are inspired by the people who hire you, it shows. What’s more is that you actually enjoy doing the work. Something that you graphic designers, brand builders, photographers, copy writers and other commercial creative types will recognize as a somewhat rare occurrence.

When Plumbline started out in 1999, we didn’t have a niche or a focus or even a plan to do anything beyond Websites and maybe some banners. But it soon became apparent that the small businesses and start-ups we were working with/for needed more. So we started doing what we were originally trained to do pre-internet – identity, advertising, layout, etc. Providing the full range of creative services was kind of a new thing way back in the olden days of the ‘net. Only the big firms were doing it – and for big bucks. That is until the bubble burst. But lets not revisit that dark time…

We’ve worked with all kinds of people do-gooders and corporate killers alike.

Here are a few stand outs:

American Golf Corp.
We created a new Website for AGC in 1999 and continued to do web-based work for a few years. When Goldman-Sachs took over the company our status with AGC went from frequent contractor to full time agency and since then we have been providing every type of creative service for them. They trust us to do what’s right for them, their customers and their bottom line. They treat us as their in-house creative team. The fact that most of us play golf once in a while helps too.

Academy Studios
One of our first clients and one of the only times we had to pitch against “real design firms”. The exhibit designers at Academy create some truly amazing stuff. We create a new identity system for them back in 2001 and they have recently come back to have use re-work their website.  We feel inspired by their work and talent. Walking into their shop an seeing a huge dinosaur being painted or a giant blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling makes us feel like kids again.

Mashery
The great thing about working with a client who believes so strongly in his product is that he pushes you to become an evangelist as well. As a result, we created some award-winning work for Mashery and Oren. He’s been a long time client ever since and a source of new connections for Plumbline.

DriverSide.com
Jad and Trevor at DriverSide have been long time contacts/clients. They started CompareNet in 1995 and hired us to create their brand and website. Once that was purchased by Microsoft and Jad moved to Peet’s Coffee, where he hired Plumbline to re-design the Website. After Peets, we worked with Jad at StepUp.com which was picked up by Intuit. Now Jad and Trevor and Adam have started yet another sure-fire winner called DriverSide.com and of course, brought Plumbline along with them. 

And there are more…
We could practically list them all – we’ve been that fortunate. There have been a few clunkers of course and we’ve learned our share of lessons along the way but overall its been a good ride. We’ve worked with companies helping the environment like The League to Save Lake Tahoe (the Keep Tahoe Blue people). Companies helping the world like Inveneo; changing lives like The Blende Dental Group and Crestwood Behavioral Health; and changing the face of technology like Webroot and WYSE. We’ve worked with tiny companies like Portalupi Wines and big names like Ann Getty and George Lucas.

We’ve learned a lot along the way, visited cool places, seen things that made our jaws drop. We’ve met incredible people and heard wonderful stories. More importantly though, we’ve had fun – actual fun – at work. How great is that?