Standards
Some important ideas that guide my work
They’re the why behind my approach. They shape my process. If a portfolio is the reason you pick a designer, standards are the reason you hire a creative partner.
Use both brains.
Analytical brain or creative brain? I’ve always been dead set on using both. I love the way analysis challenges creativity, and creativity threatens analysis. Let them go at it and the work is smarter. Greater than the sum of its parts is a cheesy line, but cheese is delicious.
Every discipline is a tool that serves the brand.
I started in music production, took a turn in editorial writing, then advertising, all before finding typography and design. The common thread: it’s all branding.
My multidisciplinary approach is how I specialize. It starts with the position, builds the language, then executes the identity, the packaging, the environment, and the website your customer buys from. Consistency across every touchpoint matters more than how clever any one element is.
The range is the specialty. And nobody has to scrimp on clever.
Evanmade does:
Strategy and Writing
Positioning
Naming
Copy and narrative
Campaign concepts
Design and Identity
Typography and layout
Identity systems
Print and packaging
Web design
Environment design
Data visualization
Video and sound
Sound design
Video direction
Motion design
Use both hands.
I’m a maker. I have to make. Put me alone in a room with a sewing machine or a 3D printer, a four-track tape deck or a letterpress, and I won’t leave until I’ve made something. I’ve studied sign painting at New Bohemia Signs in San Francisco and hand lettering with Ken Barber.
Working by hand hones every part of the craft. It shows up in the questions asked, in the name of a file, in the spacing between letters, in the crease in a package, in the feeling your customer gets when they bring your product home. It carries through the whole process, start to finish.
Don’t overcomplicate the process. Never skip it.
Research
Uncovers the space the brand can own.
Positioning
The development of a clear strategy to defend the brand’s ownable space.
Language
Gives the brand a unique voice and the words to say.
Design
Gives the brand a consistent look, so each touchpoint reinforces the others.
Production
Builds it all and puts it out in the world.
This isn’t some special blend of herbs and process. It’s branding school 101. My standard is what I leave out: no steps that don’t pull their weight, no deck about the deck.
A good process is shaped like the challenge. What this looks like for you depends on your project.
Curiosity over certainty.
Certainty doesn’t ask questions. It’s a closed door, the end of the line. I’d rather stay curious. Curiosity is where trying turns into striving, and striving succeeds but never stops asking what if it could be better.
Am I certain I can do the work? I believe in my abilities and I trust my process. The only thing I’m certain of is that there’s always room to improve.
Never work alone.
I carry the creative load from kickoff to completion. I can think it through, design it, and build it. What I don’t have is your gut. So we make the plan together, and you go build the business while I build the brand. My job isn’t to give you more work. It’s to multiply what you’re already doing.
Tell me what you’re working on.
Let’s set up a call and talk about your brand. I’d love to help.