Studio
Why we keep the studio at four people
Written by
Anna Reyes
Published
Reading time
4 min
A small studio with a lot of room
Share
We are four people in one room at 68 Jay Street, in DUMBO. Clients and friends often ask when we plan to grow. We did the math a few years ago, and four is the size where the work stays good and the days stay calm.
This is how the studio works at that size, with the numbers we actually use. If you run a small studio, or you are about to hire one, some of it may help.
Who does what
Each of us leads one kind of work and helps on the rest. Every project has one lead, and that is the person you talk to from the first call to the last file.
Anna Reyes: creative direction, briefs, and art direction on shoots.
Emily Ward: identity systems, from first sketch to brand guide.
Marcus Hill: type, packaging and the files that go to press.
Jake Moreno: websites in Framer, and the training after launch.
Anna Reyes, founder and creative director, and Emily Ward, design director.
Marcus Hill, lead designer, and Jake Moreno, web lead.
Everyone sees every project at least once a week. That is the main reason we stay small. At four, nobody has to explain a job to someone who has never seen it.
How four people price a job
We work at a fixed price, agreed before we start. To set it, we count the weeks each of us will spend on the job. Then we add outside costs, such as print or a photographer, at what they cost us. An identity takes about six weeks and starts at $18,000. A website in Framer takes four to eight weeks and starts at $14,000.
Four people can run about three projects at once and still do each one well. That gives us 12 to 15 projects a year. We plan the year around that number.
Why a fixed price works for us
A fixed price makes us careful at the start. We ask more questions in the brief, because a vague scope costs us, not the client. It also means nobody watches a clock during a review. If a layout needs a third try, it gets one.
Why we say no so often
We turn down about half the work we are offered. Most often the reason is time. If we cannot start within six weeks, we say so and suggest a studio that can. Sometimes the budget fits a good template better than a studio, and we say that too.
We also say no when nobody on the client side can decide. A project with four bosses and no owner runs long, and the work gets weaker with each round. So in the first call we ask who will sign off.
Who we bring in
Some work needs skills we do not keep in the room. We have a short list of people we trust, and we bring them in by name. The client meets them, and their cost sits on the quote as its own line.
A printer
Print jobs go to one of three printers we know well, in Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. We choose by the job: a short run on uncoated stock, a long run, or a special finish. One of us stands at the press for every run.
They tell us early what the job needs on press, so the run goes right the first time.
Tom Brooks, pressman, Long Island City
A photographer
For shoots, we hire a photographer whose work fits the brief, and I direct on the day. A one-day shoot with a photographer and an assistant usually costs $3,500 to $6,000 before retouching.
A developer
Jake builds every site in Framer himself. Some sites need more: a custom booking system, a large store or a link to another database. Then we bring in a developer for that part only. On Northwind that was the link to the ticket system, about four days of work.
A week in the studio
Our week has a fixed shape. It keeps four people in step without many meetings.
Monday, 9:30: we walk the wall. Every live project is pinned up, and each lead says what ships this week.
Tuesday to Thursday mornings: quiet making time, with no calls before one.
Wednesday, 4:00: review. Each of us shows work in progress to the other three.
Friday morning: proofs, files and invoices go out.
Friday, 3:00: the studio closes, and once a month we write Studio notes, our newsletter.
Our week on one sheet. The Wednesday review is the one meeting nobody moves.
Clients sometimes join a Wednesday review. They see their work next to everything else on the wall, and their feedback is often better for it.
If you want to work with us
Write to us with what you need and when you need it. We reply within one working day, and we tell you straight away if we have room. If we do not, we will point you to someone good. You can see what each service includes, with a starting price, on our services page.
Studio notes, once a month. Work in progress, books we like, no sales pitches.
