Here at Dc, we rock everything through as a team. Everything we do starts with a huddle at my desk, where the big ideas happen, with major ‘yaying’ or ‘naying’ from whichever of our all-star cast we decide to bring in on the creative opportunity du jour. Speaking of members of our team, Alisha and Sean can be a real power couple when they cross paths, so I asked them to talk about the process of coming up with some of our ideas:
All the love … from Sean
Not too long ago we added Alisha to our team as senior copywriter. She quickly showed us the ways of the copy ninja; write, edit, repeat. We’ve been working together ever since. There’s something magical about well-written copy and some deadly visuals, whether it’s Greg or Sid (my brothers in design) or myself, working with Alisha is always a treat.
Right back at ya
Sean sits on the other side of the room, but sometimes I think our brains are connected.
Sean and I are the trouble-makers at the holiday party, We both love minimal design and white space, and alliteration. Oh, and hats!
When Sean appears next to my desk with a notepad in hand, I know we’re going to have a fun half hour coming up with some silly ideas, pop culture references, and plans for some great art.
I’m an artist – outside of work – and that may be why we get along, ’cause Sean is an artist everywhere; at home, work, in the community … he breathes great design.
I have so much respect for this guy and the work he’s done.
Polishing a … gem
D’awwww ain’t she the best? With that said, Alisha is really a dream to work with. I’m not a writer at all, but every now and then a gem slips out. With Alisha there to catch those gems and polish them, magical things happen. We feed off each other so well, and after ten minutes of shouting ideas at each other, usually something has a bit of weight at that point.
Here’s a few collaborations we’ve worked on with Dc:
Ches’s Fish and Chips
When Ches’s wanted a new name for a Monday special – a great deal going on after the holidays – we sat down and started with the basics; Let’s just call it the Monday Special.
We thought maybe we can do better.
We bandied about Mondays and how people hate them. We searched songs about Monday, but Manic and Rainy Days just don’t scream tasty fish and chips. Then we got it … Mmmmmonday.
Nickel Independent Film Festival
Last year for the Nickel Independent Film Festival we created these wonderful minimalist posters featuring a quote about the film and two word headline. They all had a single descriptor word followed by Independent. An example is the Pulp Fiction poster (a film both of us enjoy thoroughly) we went with “Shocking. Independent”.
There were five posters in the series, so after a some solid collaboration we nailed down the other four headlines. The challenge here was that we had to choose a single word to describe complex films. Not an easy feat, but extremely fun.
NLCA
So we wrote a manual for a course the NLCA created. It was in an area Alisha already had personal expertise in; the Generational Gap and how to successfully navigate it in your company.
Well, it took days to write when most of our writing projects are a day, or half-day most times.
We slaved over every word, every sidebar, every statistic.
But as good as the copy was, it was nothing without Sean’s brilliant typography and layout.
He made it readable and not just pages and pages of text. It was the perfect collaboration of words and design.
Noseworthy Chapman
For the Noseworthy Chapman brand standards. We wrote the first draft of copy and rationales, since he was tasked with creating the new branding. The brand’s icon was a huge focal point for this project, as it symbolizes Noseworthy Chapman’s relationships; internal and external. Together, we all made the brand story sing! In the end, the client was very happy with this piece, and truly felt a connection with their new branding. #sweet
In conclusion, collaboration is key!
Sean’s not a copywriter, and Alisha’s not a designer, but they’re learning so much from each other. At Dc, we don’t just collaborate with each other – we pride ourselves on bringing our clients in on the excitement – though more and more, they’re tossing us the keys and saying, “Wow me!” – and we do.
Got an idea you want to bring to life? Get in touch.
We brand better.
Looking forward,
Dc
