Finn & Gray

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the creator of Lolo Home Kitchen, a food blog where I share simple and delicious recipes for busy families. I provide food photography and content creation for brands. I also have digital cookbooks, a baking subscription box currently.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Finn & Gray, and what were your goals?

New name of my company, logo, colors plus a new website design and transfer to a new platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select Finn & Gray?

From word of mouth through a friend.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

We started with an initial meeting to go over the process and timeline then through conversations and written questions about my business and what feel and message I was looking to send, they created several mood boards.

From there, I selected one and they moved into the renaming and logo design. It was very seamless and I was able to choose the logo I liked at the end. Then the web design was the same type of steps, lots of communication. They kept me up to date on the timeline and I am absolutely in love with the final products.

How many people from the Finn & Gray team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Ami, Amanda and Jenny

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Amanda and Ami (and Jenny) are the absolute BEST! They are so talented and creative. From the initial meeting, they asked the relevant questions that helped me dive into what I wanted my brand to feel like and reflect. They nailed it. My logo, brand colors and new website are better than I could have dreamed of. I get compliments often on my logo and how easy it is to navigate my website.

They outlined the entire process thoroughly and kept me in the loop the whole time. I loved working with Finn & Gray, I cannot recommend them enough!

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They are very easy going but professional, I felt comfortable sharing my insights or opinions. I enjoyed that they had a written outline they shared with me of the timeline, each step and what to expect. They communicated any changes to this and kept me up to date. Most communication was through email and zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are super talented. The thing that I loved the most was how they were able to understand the feeling I wanted for my brand. They got me and were able to express that through the creative process. That can be a hard thing to convey but they asked the right questions to get information to give me the exact feeling I wanted.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing, I would recommend them to anyone and hope to work with them again in the future.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive coach and principal of Lewis Rambo PhD. I work with high-level individuals in corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies all around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Finn & Gray?

I wanted to upgrade my website and had moved from Boston to the Twin Cities area. After a long search for someone to take over the upgrading and improvement of my website, I engaged with Finn & Gray.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After deciding that an upgrade wasn’t appropriate, we moved to a complete redesign and repositioning of the website. They were helpful and knowledgeable about what improvements could be made and why the existing website was probably best scrapped.

The new website is on WordPress, but they used the fundamental structure of my original website. These efforts included greatly enhancing it and changing the messaging. The website is intended to explain and educate potential users about my services. We went through a meaningful process of helping them understand the difference between a professional services website versus a marketing and product website.

What is the team composition?

I worked primarily with Amanda (Co-Founder) but I also worked with Ami (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with Finn & Gray?

One of my associates recommended Finn & Gray. We had an extensive preliminary discussion, and they provided me with examples of their work and a proposal. I thought about it for a bit and decided to give them a shot.

How much have you invested with them?

I invested under $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from June–September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their team helped to greatly improve the visual appeal, text, and structure of the website. I was more than satisfied with the work they did. I’ve asked 15 people, individuals who I have and haven't worked with, to look at my website and tell me what they think of it. They were all laudatory, impressed, and complimentary.

How did Finn & Gray perform from a project management standpoint?

Given the project and their busy work schedules, there was never a time I couldn’t get in touch with them. I have no complaints. They were more than cooperative given the challenges we faced.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Finn & Gray listens. Which is something very few people in the technology field do. They were respectfully aggressive in urging me to think outside the box. Their team gave me solutions that were consistent with the direction I wanted to move toward. Although selling professional services was somewhat new to them, they adapted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any areas that need improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Pay careful attention to their questionnaire and think carefully about what you want. There are limitations to WordPress and the number of images you can get and have to pay for. Pay attention to all of the technical aspects of putting a website together. Know what you want so you can ask Finn & Gray accordingly rather than spinning their wheels and wasting time trying to figure it out.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and owner of Made Right Productions. I have been doing professional video production under that umbrella since 2014, working with commercial clients big and small, as well as shooting wedding films.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Finn & Gray?

I recently made the decision to dedicate Made Right solely to creating wedding films while starting a new company to focus on commercial work. I wanted Made Right to have the look of a company that focuses only on weddings - a new logo, a clean new website and branding to help attract the wedding clientele to help the business grow.

What were your goals for this project?

When couples are seeking a vendor to create their wedding films, they don't want to see a company that is also focused to commercial clients. When commercial clients are looking for a company to help sell their brand, they don't want to see wedding content.

So my goal was to create two distinct brands, one focusing on weddings and one on commercial work. I wanted a fresh website that was strictly dedicated to weddings. The other brand is still in development, mostly due to hang ups on my end, but the Made Right brand is complete.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had worked with Finn & Gray in the past on other projects and had a fantastic working relationship with them. They were my first consult with this project idea and they sold me on utilizing their services.

Describe the project in detail.

We first started out by researching competition and their websites. We scoured the local market to find sites both good and bad. We made notes of what we liked, what worked, what didn't work. We sat down for an initial meeting to discuss the goals of the project, the timeline and the steps to reach these objectives.

After each milestone was reached, we again discussed on what needed to change and else needed to be completed. Amanda took photos of my family for the About Us section as well as my team to feature high quality photos for the site. The site rolled out in time for me to be ready for bookings in the 2020 wedding season.

What was the team composition?

I worked mostly with Amanda who led this project, but Ami consulted at all the crossroads we faced in this project. They were both involved at every step and contributed their creativity, personality and hours of their time to get this project completed on schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Aside from a new, chic looking logo, the website is second to none in the Minnesota wedding industry. I have seen increased traffic on my new website compared to its predecessor, which has greatly increased the volume of leads and bookings.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was seamless between our teams - as they made creative decisions or checked off milestones, they checked in and made sure we were all on the same page. If issues arose, I got an email. If progress was made, I got an email. If they needed me to weigh in, I got an email with options. They made sure I was involved in their workflow to ensure we didn't have any missteps.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their knowledge of graphic design and website building was extremely impressive. But most impressive, was the time they took to understand my needs, my competitors and all that was needed to make this project go off without a hitch.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I cannot think of anything I would recommend improving.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Moss Optical, a family-owned optical business in downtown Minneapolis. We sell eyeglasses, contact lenses, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Finn & Gray?

I needed to rebrand my business and update my legacy website. I hadn’t rebranded in several years, and I was looking for a company that could offer both branding and web services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They updated the existing WordPress website to make it mobile-friendly. They added our retail offerings to the site and gave it a completely new look and feel. Much of their work involved content creation, where they incorporated photographs and videos into the layout.

While their rebranding efforts were pretty comprehensive (they gave us a variety of collateral materials), we kept our logo since our business has been around for four generations.

What is the team composition?

I worked with my main point of contact, Amanda (Co-Founder, Finn & Gray), and another designer.

How did you come to work with Finn & Gray?

Amanda had developed my previous website, years before. When I reached out to her, she was now at Finn & Gray.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little under $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They worked from January 2019 and wrapped up in May.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Business has improved since the launch of the new website. The site looks significantly refreshed, and the redesign has definitely brought more people into my shop. 

We ultimately became friends since they were so great to work with. While we have a long history and unique clientele, they were diligent in trying to understand our business.

How did Finn & Gray perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very easy to communicate with. They’d respond to all texts and emails, and they were also flexible about photoshoots and walking me through different options. On top of that, they were super friendly and personable.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their photography skills are fantastic, and they’re very nimble with WordPress to boot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t really think of anything. They’re a small business but they can tackle the requests of bigger firms.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a relatively young company, so it’s good to be flexible. They’ve always delivered.