Blake Stewart - Stewart Design
Blake Stewart’s interest in art prompted him to apply to WVU’s graphic design program, where he chose web design as a discipline. After a senior year internship, he found that there was little actual design involved, but “a lot of tedious coding!”
Knowing that he wanted to do something different, he founded Stewart Design in 2006, as a print design company with a focus on logo creation and brand identity. “I saw opportunity in that space, because there were a lot of great companies but their logos and other visuals weren’t great. I knew I could help them.”
Today, Stewart Design is one of the most highly awarded small design firms in the country. I asked Blake about how he grew his company and about the creation process they use to produce some incredible logos…
You told me your business started growing through word-of-mouth. What were things like in the beginning?
I called a few business owners that I knew and offered to help them, and I’d make suggestions on how to improve their logo or print piece. Once a few people started taking my suggestions - and seeing the results - they’d tell their friends and then more and more people starting calling us. That’s really how we built the business. Logo design and branding our now our main services, about 70% of our overall business. We really have a passion for great design.
Do you have niche, any certain industries you try to work with?
We don’t focus on a specific industry, but we do have customers from almost every U.S. state and we do some work internationally. I also get speaking gigs from time to time at conferences and symposiums, so we’ve seen spikes in certain industries. For instance, I’ve spoken at legal symposiums and because of that, we’ve done a lot of work for law firms.
We’ve also seen business increases from certain sectors after we produce a logo for someone in that industry, especially if it’s a competitive industry or an industry with a community. So if we do a logo for a chiropractor, we’ll get more calls from chiropractic offices, or if we do a logo for a reptile breeder, we’ll see more breeders reaching out to us.
Is it ever difficult to design for one industry then another? How does that fit in to your creative process?
Well, we do a lot of research once we get a request. We do our homework. We research the industry, the company, their service, their differentiators, and their competitors. We want to get the full picture of what’s going on with them. But our first step before working with any client is a free consultation. The purpose of that meeting is to find out if we’re a good fit for them, and vice versa.
And once that’s established, what happens?
We create from the ground up, so typically we don’t take an old design or something that’s given to us. We have a specific process, an overall strategy, and we stick to that to build a customer avatar.
So the second step in our process is a brand strategy session where we do a deep dive into their business goals. This helps our clients think about their business in new ways and gives us a direction to head towards. The answers to those questions will influence the next step, which is the concept stage, where we produce and narrow down ideas to two or three concepts that we build out into full presentations.
That’s when they can literally see what the visuals will look like on paper, in print, on t-shirts, or on different objects. But most importantly, we explain why we chose the particular look, color, or design elements. We explain what it can do for them.
After a decision is made on the design, the next steps are setting up files and putting together branding guidelines. And after that, we help with any other branding decisions, printing, etc.
How long does that process take?
It varies of course, but I’d say generally speaking it takes 8 to 12 weeks.
So a lot more goes into the process than sketching up a logo, which may be how some people envision it.
Yeah, that’s why that first consultation is so important. You can get a logo made for five bucks on Fiverr, you can pay big agencies hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then there’s everything inbetween. We say it on our site, “your logo is the single most visible and memorable aspect of your company. A professionally designed, meaningful logo enhances your company’s credibility, making you more likely to gain people’s trust, and ultimately their business.” Our clients have big problems to solve and that’s why they hire us.
We’ve talked about branding for clients - but how do you attract new customers?
Generally, we don’t do a lot of marketing. But we are launching our new web site soon and we post on Facebook and Instagram fairly often. We’ve been fortunate enough not to need a ton of marketing ourselves. One of the reasons is that we’re selective about our clients and who we work with.
“Our clients have
big problems to solve
and that’s why
they hire us.”
Maybe that’s a marketing strategy in and of itself?
Maybe, but I will say that referrals are almost our sole way of getting business right now.
We’ve talked about the design aspect of the business, but you guys do more.
Yes, logo design and branding is definitely are focus area, but we also work on the design and production of printed materials. Typically that means three things - mass-produced materials (like business cards, brochures, and stationery), apparel (screen printing or embroidery), and non-permanent signage (moveable or temporary signage for events and trade shows). We don’t do much digital stuff, but we do quite a bit of printed material.
So what should people look for when hiring a professional designer?
There’s a Jim Rohn quote that says something along the lines of “you don’t want to invest too much time and money into a small problem or too little into a big problem.”
It depends on your needs of course, but you want someone that understands what makes an effective brand. You want a professional - not someone who will take a piece of clip art and add your logo. You want someone that is willing to take time to understand your goals and come up with ways to achieve them. And you also want to take a good look at their portfolio - look at their clients, their cases studies, and testimonials. That should tell you all you need to know.
Make an Impression with Stewart Design:
Email: Blake@stewartdesignllc.com
Phone: 855-SD-LOGOS (855-735-6467)
Website: https://stewartdesignllc.com
Facbook: https://www.facebook.com/stewartdesignllc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stewartdesignllc