November 7, 2018
A Branding & Web Design Agency: The People
7 min readFirst in our behind-the-scenes series about our branding and web design agency. Who we are, what we do and what makes us weird (in a good way). To get things kicked off, we’d like to introduce our team. The Drift Crew. Let’s meet some folks. Oh! And if you haven’t read our core values – that’s a good place to start in this gettin’ to know us series.
Martin helped get this Drift show on the road.
Co-Founder/Creative Director
Life Motto: “Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.” -Voltaire
What makes a successful business partnership?
Successful partnerships are built on transparency, open communication, and support. I think our partnership has survived and flourished because we’ve always been able to be honest with one another. It also doesn’t hurt to be great friends and share some laughs along the way.
Favorite Life Moment:
My wedding day was pretty fantastic, but I feel like that is a cookie cutter answer. Here are a few others that really stick out; getting my first eagle at Traditions golf course, crowd surfing while people sing my lyrics as the frontman for Myth and Legend in college, DJing to a packed house on Halloween, hitting a buzzer beater my junior year in basketball over our rivals, and helping my dad build wheelchair ramps for senior citizens that couldn’t leave their house.
Best Candy Bar:
Reeses
Pet-Peeve:
Small acts of laziness. Ex: someone throwing trash beside an empty trash can or not putting their cart away at the grocery store.
Favorite Project?
I think All The Kings Men is my favorite front to back. Loved the logo and design system we created. We put a lot of detail into the interior graphics of the restaurant that I think truly help make it a unique and memorable space. We also designed the menu, coasters, and shot and directed the food photography. There are parts of every project I enjoy working on, but I loved every minute and detail of this one.
Lauren is a tennis champion (probably of the world).
Graphic designer
Life Motto:
Simplicity is the essence of happiness.
(It applies to so many things! Eliminating the unnecessary, learning to love all the little everyday things, etc. Leonardo da Vinci said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”)
What role does consistency play in branding and why does it matter?
It’s all about trust. Clearly communicating your message largely determines the success of a project, presentation, advertisement, etc. If a brand is unclear and inconsistent in their messaging and visual communication, their audience will be left confused and hesitant to place their trust in that brand.
If you weren’t a designer, what would be a back-up profession?
Before focusing on design in school, I majored in International Business. Growing up my dad was a businessman, always traveling for work, and I wanted to be just like him.
Favorite quote from a movie or book:
“Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”
-Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice
Favorite Drift Project?
My favorite project is the Drift Welcome Package we’re finishing up. We created a custom deck of cards based on our core values, a set of note books, AND custom socks!
Why does being a graphic designer make you happy?
My favorite thing about design is that you solve problems. I love that we can be presented with a real business challenge and with research, strategy and creativity we can find solutions. That makes me happy.
Spencer is addicted to learning new things.
Partner/Creative Director
Life Motto:
Do something creative every single day.
How does photography play a role in Branding & Marketing?
Photography plays a critical role in the visual brand for any business. It can be the thing that sets a business apart, makes a customer trust you, or even conveys a feeling that words just can’t get across. In an ever growing visual society, littered with stock photography, it’s a wonderful challenge for us to create work that stands out. An impactful image can break through all the visual noise and truly connect with a customer.
Why is your spirit animal a squirrel?
We made a Christmas card years ago and I ever so foolishly composited a squirrel sitting on my shoulder (we were in the woods, so it made sense to put a squirrel there) and ever since then Gavin and Martin decided that a squirrel would be my spirit animal.
Best scene in a movie:
Raiders of the lost ark: When Indiana Jones is face to face with a sword-wielding man and decides that is just too much work and shoots him. I’m pretty sure that was unscripted and amazing.
Favorite word:
kerfuffle
Favorite Project?
Stella Southern Cafe – It was great to come in early on this project and work with someone that’s incredibly passionate about making good food and who likes to have a good time doing it. We helped create a unique dining experience through the visual branding, and we handle all of the brand’s online marketing where we’ve seen incredible engagement.
Bailey is an RPG gamer and photographer.
Graphic Designer
Life Motto:
Do whatever you want, just don’t hurt people.
How do you stay inspired?
For me it’s just constantly keeping creative and positive things in front of me on the daily. I always try and keep up with other designers and artists that I love so that I am constantly seeing incredible work. Surrounding myself with creative and positive people also helps keep me inspired.
Best Video Game of All time:
Pretty much anything by Bethesda. It is cruel to make me choose!
Best Candy Bar:
Ever had a Snicker/Dr.Pepper combo? That’s heaven right there.
Favorite word:
Dude. If I start a sentence off to you with dude it means I am about to tell you something crazy, I am super excited, or I think you’re a pretty cool person.
Favorite Project?
Goodness, for me it’s anything web related. I love being able to step out of the grid and not only design something that is visually pleasing, but also get into the minds of the users and figure out how they are going to interact with what I am creating. My most recent favorite project is Polar Bear Pools. You would never think that designing a website for a pool company would be fun, but I had such a blast during the entire process.
Cody Robinson is a music making machine.
Web Developer
How many pairs of shoes do you own?
10 pairs of shoes. I’m a huge fan of the GOAT app.
The perfect day:
Eat biscuits for breakfast with Post Malone. Make music for a few hours. Hang out with my boo thang Kendall. Once she falls asleep, hop on the Xbox and play games until my eyes hurt.
Life Motto:
Don’t ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone for any reason ever, no matter what, no matter where, or who, or who you are with, or where you are going, or where you’ve been… ever, for any reason whatsoever…
Web design Predictions:
Full screen background videos will soon be a thing of the past (hopefully), unless internet speeds get crazy fast and load times aren’t an issue.
Best Video Game of All time:
I’ve put more hours into Destiny than any other game, but Red Dead 2 probably has the best gameplay of any game I’ve ever played.
Who do you look up to:
RiFF RAFF
Nick knows something about everything. Try him.
Marketing/Sales
What’s a perfect day look like?
Workout, meditate, work, leisurely workout, study, relax and then sleep.
What’s one SEO trick/tip you can share?
Still using Adwords to determine keywords for your site content? Don’t. My favorite method is a combination between Google Search Suggest and Google Trends
Best Video Game:
Either Mx vs ATV or Jak and daxter
Hardest thing you’ve ever done:
Fought fires: adrenaline, chain saws, dead of summer in Arizona, full gear, 21 days with rotating night and day shifts – just brutal.
Favorite word:
100% (any variation of giving a number a percentage)
Favorite project:
Eagle Metal – We’ve seen some very positive growth in their search rankings. It’s so rewarding to see how hard work increases SEO results which in turn increases leads, and ultimately conversions.
Gavin also helped get this show on the road.
Co-Founder/Creative Director
What’s a perfect day look like?
Wake around 8am to someone playing the Chinese zither. Breakfast and some weird healthy juice smoothie is waiting for me next to a table that overlooks the ocean. It’s 72 degrees outside with a light wind. Hang out with the fam on the beach for a few hours. Do some snorkeling and meet a sea turtle that lets me ride on it’s back while we telepathically chat. Teleport to Maine for a lobster lunch. After lunch spend an hour writing while riding a train. Get off the train, zip line through some skyscrapers to my family. From there we teleport to a world class spa in Switzerland where we all get mud baths and Swedish massages (the kids just hang out and make fun of our muddy faces). Then dinner in Seoul, Korea (my birthplace) where we are served a 10 course meal from a chef that specializes in classic Korean dishes that have a modern twist. We end the day watching a show in Vegas and eating cheese cake from Paris.
Favorite word:
Awesome
What is Branding?
Branding is a gut feeling. It’s a response you have to a company/organization based on the sum of all your experiences with it. It’s a million different moments that all come together and tell you that you trust a brand or don’t. Some of those moments can be engineered or shaped, like the logo or visual design or the messaging and how you communicate with your audience. We help businesses engineer moments that create positive brand recognition. Or – we help people like and trust you so much that they want to tell their friends about you.
Favorite Board Game
Cthulhu Wars
Life Moto
Journey before Destination.
You made it all the way through all that? Very impressed. Next up in our series is: The Office.
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