1. Make sure you like our style. Designers come in an infinite variety of flavors, ours is just one. Some designers use heavily patterned backgrounds or have a gothic tone. Our style is colorful, modern, and streamlined. Take a look at our portfolio first. Do you overall like the look of the work? Is there particular logo you are drawn to? If so, don’t be shy about sharing your preferences. The more we understand your preferences, the easier it will be for us to come to an understanding about the final solution. While the final solution should be independent of personal preference, the truth is: in the end you should love what you’ve paid for.
2. Make sure you like the designer. The designer-client relationship is an intimate business bind: we are part company shrink, part corporate stylist, part business partner. Be ready to share your hopes and dreams, as well as the more mundane details of your business. The more we know, the better solution we’ll come to — maybe beyond what you imagined you even needed.
3. Understand the scope of your project. Be clear about what you’re hiring us to do. Many projects begin as as “simple” website redesign but quickly snowball into a complete overhaul. A frank pre-proposal conversation about your hopes and dreams (see #2 above) can enable us to help you understand what the scope really needs to be in order for us to help you make the hopes and dreams a reality. Not that we’d ever complain about gaining the additional work, but the timeline and budget need to be adjusted to accommodate scope creep once it begins.
4. Let’s talk money. Speaking of budget, know how much you can spend before we start. Do we need to do this project in phases? Are we being realistic with the scope?  The last thing we want to do is run over your budget, so let’s determine what you need when, and how much you can spend over time.
5. When in doubt, ask questions — lots of them. Don’t hesitate if you’re unclear about what’s included or what the process will be like. We’ll always do our best to get as  specific as possible. Occasionally we have to throw the timeline out the window due to unforeseen circumstance, but in general we can clearly map the project out for you.

Gretchen Tatge at her desk, extracting scissors from 2-year old Melissa.

Since I can remember anything, I remember my mom working. She was a photographer and a graphic designer for 30 years. When I was little, she converted one small bedroom into her office, then later built a full-on dark room off the side of the house. My mother worked constantly — at night while we all watched TV together, all day on Saturdays photographing weddings, staying up late into the night processing film and photos in her new ‘modern’ dark room. She and my father — a writer and editor — produced the annual report for the Town of Greenwich for seven years straight in the 1970s.

I don’t remember my mom teaching me a stitch about design or how to do it, but I guess when you’re around something all the time it sort seeps in under the skin…or something. Here I am, decades later, doing exactly what she did and grateful to have gotten the design gene rather than the photography bug. Thankfully, my sister got that one.

Welcome, and Happy New Year! What I love about each new year — and I’m sure most of you’ll agree — is that feeling of fresh start and limitless possibilities. I wake up on Jan 1 dreaming of a blank slate to fill up with work, and fun, (and good food of course). I felt so inspired this year that I decided to finally get this blog — and my thoughts — off the desktop and into cyberspace.

The fact that the calendar has turned 2010 means that I’ve made it five years in business. Five years of working with numerous clients in all types of industries. The main thing you all have in common are: 1) me; and 2) you don’t do what I do! Which is why you hire me, of course. I become especially aware of this when you say things like: “I don’t understand what you just said, but I trust you!” There’s never enough time in the 9-to-5 to do the work and explain it, so it occurred to me that establishing a place where we can discuss these questions virtually would be a great way to go. Business is based on relationships; relationships are based on communication; communication includes words as well as images; thus this blog. I plan on explaining how we work, why we ask you for certain things, perhaps even go into detail on how we figure stuff out. I will also keep you updated on what’s going on at the studio. Hopefully this bridges the gap to bring us to a closer understanding of doing our work ever better. There’s space for commenting at the bottom of each post, feel free to share thoughts, ask questions, or clarify anything I’ve written. I think this online space could be a great spot to get some things straight.

Here we are at the dawn of a new decade — the whole year stretching out before us. What do you want to do?