State Creative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of China Digital Times, a news site collecting info and news about China.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We needed them to update our main site to improve its appearance and user navigation and highlight older content that was otherwise hidden. We also have two other websites, and we wanted State Creative to connect and integrate them with our main site to make the connection more obvious from a visual perspective.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started by providing us with a questionnaire about our goals and targets for the project, and they then gave us an estimate and an outline of what they could do. We met with them in person and went over our current website, discussing what we wanted to change and how we wanted to change it, and then they went back and worked on it.

Two of our sites were on WordPress, but one site was on MediaWiki, and we wanted to keep that platform. They were not as familiar with MediaWiki, but they did a lot of research and figured out enough to keep it on that platform while keeping the WordPress sites on their platform.

They created front page demos for each site and all of the interior pages. We reviewed them and made changes through three rounds of revisions before they presented the final design. They then worked on coding and development. They recently migrated all the content over and we launched the new sites.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was Garrett (Managing Partner, State Creative). They had two or three developers with whom we were in touch during the migration.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

We needed a partner with extensive WordPress experience. We update our site multiple times per day, and not every vendor can handle that. In addition, we wanted someone who felt comfortable working with MediaWiki.

We asked around for references and read online reviews. After selecting some companies that we liked, we conducted interviews, and we were most impressed with State Creative. They seemed confident in handling our project and we liked that they were local.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from Feb.–Sept. 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from our readers. We don’t have the exact numbers yet, but it’s definitely been successful from our perspective. The new websites feel cleaner and more modern and they’re easier to navigate.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve managed the project well. We’ve had two in-person meetings, but we communicate mostly through phone calls and emails. We were in touch about once a week on average, but there were times when it was every day or every other day, and on the other hand, we sometimes went a couple of weeks without contact.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very responsive whenever we had a question or wanted something to change. They did their research quickly and got back to us. They found solutions to any problems that came up.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This was a big project that may have been larger and more complicated than what they were used to. There were some little details at the end which we had to ask them to change because they had been overlooked during the process. But I think that's inevitable in any project like this and it’s not necessarily a criticism.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re very open to communication, so if there are any issues or questions or problems that come up, just speak to them directly about it. They will work with you to resolve it as best they can.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a client manager for Kos Read Group, a public affairs and communications firm. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We’d been working with our client Educate78. After auditing their materials and public communications, we decided that their website needed an update. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

State Creative took the lead on coding and developing the WordPress website. They helped create the initial design based on Educate78’s specifications, including their desired color schemes and look and feel. As a designer, I then changed up the designs using their original plans.

The State Creative team also helped train me and my team on how to use WordPress, such as updating modules and making edits. They taught us best practices about how to manage a non-profit website and retain people.

What is the team composition?

I directly worked with Garrett (Managing Partner, State Creative), but he had a full development team behind the scenes that we’d submit bug reports to. 

How did you come to work with State Creative?

I wasn’t involved in the search process. I believe that my boss was aware of Garrett and State Creative and that their proximity to our offices was a factor in our choice.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from November 2018 until August 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched the site publicly yet, but our client’s board members really love the new website. It makes Educate78’s services and impact on the community that much clearer. The new site is also more user-friendly and has seen more traffic. State Creative helped integrate Google Analytics into the backend so that we can track visitors and our bounce rate. Overall, we’ve received nothing but positive feedback and haven’t seen any errors so far.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated with Garrett all the time. He was always quick to respond whenever we had an urgent question or needed updates. He claimed a 24-hour turnaround, but I never had to wait longer than 12 hours to hear back from him. He also made every deadline, even when we’ve had to move some timelines up to meet our client’s needs. Garrett’s also always had a great attitude about handling any changes.

In the beginning, I talked to him about five times a week. Sometimes, when things got really hectic, we spoke twice a day. We received weekly updates, monthly maintenance reports, and heads-up if there’s anything that needs fixing. Even after the soft launch, Garrett has stuck around to help us optimize the site.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

State Creative’s level of detail and professionalism have made it so easy to work with them. We’ve had so many frustrating moments, and Garrett’s patience and diligence in working with us as we went through periods were much appreciated. 

State Creative is also excellent at turning around urgent changes very quickly—such as when we sent out a marketing email and find out one of the blogs isn’t updating or the links aren’t working—even though they’re not a 24-hour service.

Lastly, their team has never had to redo any part of the project. Their work is error-free every time. I’ve always been impressed with their ability to take our requirements over the phone and turn them into something beautiful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can think of off the top of my head. It’s always good to give constructive feedback, but I can’t think of anything I’d want to be done differently.

Any advice for potential customers?

State Creative regularly gave us all these tips and tricks, but they often got buried in our email threads. I’d recommend taking notes on the information State Creative gives you. They also created a guide page for us to solve specific problems later, which we found immensely helpful.

Also, don’t be afraid to get on the phone with them to communicate something as quickly as possible. Garrett was always happy to answer our calls.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the social media marketing manager for Brown & Brown Insurance. We’re an independent insurance intermediary that through its licensed subsidiaries provides a variety of insurance products and services to corporate, public entity, institutional, trade, professional, association, and individual clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We needed a development firm to redesign our outdated website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Once the engagement began, we went over how their input could align with our goals. After several rounds of feedback, we finalized a design layout. State Creative successfully implemented the redesign in WordPress. They included features that tied our culture and branding to social media accounts. For example, they put a widget on our careers page that links to our Instagram. Part of our service package with them included a two-hour WordPress training seminar that taught us how to edit the site independently. Additionally, they incorporated SEO and relevant plugins to the site’s backend. Now, they provide ongoing maintenance and support.

What is the team composition?

Garrett (Managing Partner, State Creative) was our primary our point of contact, but they also had a team of people working on the project.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

We started looking at other websites within our industry to get an idea of how we wanted to update ours. State Creative happened to have made one site that impressed us. I googled them and called their office. I quickly got in touch with a project manager and we had a conversation regarding the general design we were looking for. They emailed me more information and a sort of proposal. After some internal deliberation, we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The web redesign cost $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The main project took place from April–August 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the reasons we wanted to update our website was to increase lead generation. We don’t sell insurance online, but we want to share our story, products, and services to potential clients. We’ve seen measurable success with new business reliably coming in through the website. Within the first four months of its launch, we closed 50% of the leads it produced.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Web design isn’t my area of expertise, so I had trouble articulating the exact design aspects we were looking for. State Creative asked the right questions to lead us to the verbiage we were trying communicate. A few changes had to be made throughout the process, but that didn’t throw them off track. They stuck to the schedule they’d given us and accommodated our edits. They’re great partners and Garrett was especially excellent to work with. He contacted me on his wedding day to let me know he was out of the office.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Customer service is their best quality. We like the website, but working with a company that asks questions to accurately address our issues was great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to make sure that State Creative includes the WordPress training package with the project. I’ve never used WordPress on a large-scale and found the training extremely helpful. Not having to rely on someone else to edit your website is incredibly convenient.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is a financial planning and investment management firm that manages assets for roughly 750,000 clients. I work as the client services administrator, and I also manage internal technology related tasks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

I liked to refer to our old site as a time capsule from the 1990s. It was old-fashioned and used a very basic HTML. We wanted to modernize the site in order to attract younger, tech-savvy clients, and add analytics software to measure where our referrals come from. An updated site would help us quantify data in order to make better business decisions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

State Creative used WordPress to revamp the site in a number of ways. It's now much easier to update page links, a process we used to outsource, costing us time and money. They also installed a visual overlay that makes it easier for visual-based learners in our office to add new posts. It’s much more intuitive than a regular text editor and saves our company the trouble of having to funnel new web content through a single website manager.

They also added a number of key features, including a left-hand column widget that helps draw users to other parts of the site. The widget is present on almost every page, and works as a convenient way to provide information to users. In addition, the site is now optimized for mobile devices.

They currently perform monthly site maintenance, primarily updating their custom widgets and plugins.

What is the team dynamic?

Our main contact was Garrett Goldman, who served as project manager. He worked with a small team of developers and designers to build the site’s backend.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

They were recommended to us by another financial planning firm. We had already gone through the project proposal process with four other companies, but found their solutions to be a little uncreative. Since those developers couldn’t offer the kind of flexibility that we wanted, we reached out to State Creative and were very impressed with their proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent about $50,000-$55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We accepted their proposal in August 2017 and launched the website in early September. They currently spend about one hour each month on site maintenance. While their standard package is two hours of maintenance each month, they were willing to work with us to meet our needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s difficult to measure growth since we didn’t have site analytics beforehand, but we have received a lot of positive feedback from our clients who really enjoy the modern look. Mobile optimization has also made it easier for us to direct clients to the site.

The data we’ve analyzed so far has provided a firmer understanding of how our clients come to us, which gives us a clearer idea of how to market our company.

While our target demographic is people in their 50s and older, the new polished design is already attracting younger clients interested in financial planning and asset management.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We had very specific desires, and Garrett did an excellent job managing our demands and meeting expectations, sometimes even going above and beyond.

We communicated primarily through Envision. They understand they're working with people who don't necessarily speak tech industry language, and they do an excellent job of explaining their process. Too many developers think in terms of numbers, but State Creative was able to break things down for us clearly. This, in turn, improves communication and keeps the project moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Garrett was very upfront with us. We adjusted the scope midway through the project and he was very clear about the new costs and what effect this had on our timeline. He remained realistic, which is important for projects like this in order to manage expectations.

They were also receptive to feedback. We made a few small requests, like enlarging the website text, and State Creative accepted that feedback without pushback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While we initially intended for State Creative to redesign our logo, we ultimately decided to hire a third party for that aspect. There was a bit of a disconnect in understanding how people in our industry think, which meant their logo design wasn’t entirely in line with our expectations. It was difficult for me to mediate, but I'm sure State Creative will learn more as they take on more clients from the financial field.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TForce Logistics is a provider of third-party logistics services for final mile activity to our clients. I’m the general manager and vice president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We had an old website that was outdated. We had also been purchased in the last couple of years and had gone through a name change, so we needed to update our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them an idea of what we wanted to portray to our customers. State Creative assisted with everything from the design, suggestions for content, revisions, completion, and the built out of the website. They also gave us training on how we can maintain certain aspects of the site ourselves. They completely rebuilt the website on WordPress. The site is pretty straightforward in terms of detailing what we do for anyone that is researching us as a function of direct sales opportunities or seeing our name come across through various marketing channels. We have functionalities associated with the ability for low volume clients to use the site for tracking and tracing of orders. The site links through to our operating system, and also has functionality that has potential partners for us to go on the site, register, and communicate with us. There’s also communication capabilities for someone wanting to reach out to us with general questions or sales opportunities. State Creative had two primary resources working on the project as well as a development team.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

They’re located in the same building as us. I had referred them previously to other folks in the industry. We are owned by a conglomerate that owns 55 companies and they did some work for some of those other companies. We didn’t put it out to a competitive bid but I did verify those costs against both our previous provider as well as folks that had an idea of what the cost should be for that type of site.

How much have you invested with State Creative?

We spent between $20,000 and $25,000 for the site.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the fall of 2016, and the site was completed and launched late in quarter one of 2017. I continue to ask questions if I need help. It helps that they’re so close.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We track site views, but I don’t know where we are right now. I’ve received positive feedback from folks within our organization and folks that deal with our organization from a partner perspective. We’re very pleased with the outcome.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They did great. For any organization that provides that kind of service, they need to teach the client to maintain it as well. They were extremely flexible and responsive throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about State Creative?

I would have a difficult time comparing them to anyone else because I haven’t gone through the web development process before. I’ve dealt with a lot of tech companies and my perception is that State Creative is small relative to some other agencies. They were extremely engaged all the way through from learning about the business and understanding what we were trying to accomplish, our target market, to helping us develop the site. I’m not an expert in social media or website development and they were able to accommodate, listen to, and respond to what I anticipated we needed.

Are there any areas State Creative could improve?

I had no issues with them. They were very responsive and executed to what I had hoped and expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at an asset management firm in Northern California; we have several branches. We have an asset management business, a family of mutual funds, and a research publishing business, which allows us to leverage our own models and research to help other financial advisors run their own business.

I came in as a research consultant and ended up serving primarily as the project manager on a website overhaul for our research business. My job was to work closely with our entire team here, and also to find a web development agency we could partner with to build a new site. I’ve been focused on that for the past two years now.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

Our research website hadn’t been updated in eight years. Everything on the site was hard-coded and highly customized, which meant that it was very clunky and cumbersome to make any updates or changes. We were constantly leaning on our old web developer to make updates, and it became costly to manage the site. Our site had not emphasized our subscribers experience so UX become a major focus as well. There were a number of issues we wanted to tackle. We wanted to redesign and rethink the way we were presenting content. It was important that we found an agency that would be willing to give us full ownership of the content management system so we could make changes and adjustments ourselves and avoid issues that we ran into previously.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

State Creative has a solid discovery process, involving detailed and thoughtful questions about our business, market, subscribers, target market, and the way we want to utilize the site. Then they provided a detailed document outlining exactly what the functions were going to be, including wireframes and a process for the design and development phases.

The design process was very thorough. Garrett Goldman, our primary contact, asked us to synthesize our team’s voice into comprehensive feedback about the design, to ensure things were as clear as possible. We used InDesign to provide feedback.

Once the design was complete, they worked on the development process using Laravel as our content management system. We weren’t familiar with Laravel, but given what we needed from a functionality standpoint, Laravel was the best choice according to State Creative. It fit our needs and didn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles that we weren’t going to utilize. It also made for a clean, easy to use interface on the admin panel. A number of people in our company can go in and make updates and they don’t need a background in programming to be able to do so.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

We threw out a pretty wide net and looked at about 20 companies as part of our vendor search. We reviewed online information and portfolios to narrow the list down to ten. We set up phone calls to discuss the project, then selected five firms to whom we would put out an RFP.

One of the differentiators that made State Creative stand out is that they’re a very process-driven firm. They have a tried and true method for building a website the right way. They were the only firm that asked for more information to help guarantee they could build us something great. They’re experts in what they do, and they’re not afraid to push back in a way that will be better for us in the long run. Another big differentiator was that we had one project manager throughout the life of the project.

How much have you invested with State Creative?

We’ve invested between $75,000 and $115,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in December of 2015, and our relationship is ongoing. We launched the site in March of this year and are now in maintenance mode. We hope to engage in Phase II to help polish the site after we learn more about how our users are making the most of the new platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We are thrilled with work they’ve done. It’s still early, but we’ve gotten glowing feedback on how easy it is to use the site. Our user base is not the most technologically savvy group, so we wanted a site that was intuitive, easy to use, and very clean. It was important that we distilled the real value that we bring to the table. The feedback from subscribers has been great so far, and it’s also been positive across the firm internally. It looks like we spent twice as much as we did. I’m optimistic that this will translate in a quantitative sense, and I’m excited to see how that impacts our business.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I didn’t know it was possible to have such a positive experience going through a web development project. Garrett is excellent. I’ve worked on projects in the past, and almost always, there’s some big sticking point. State Creative sticks to a method that has worked for them, and I think we both positioned ourselves for success when we agreed to trust one another. State Creative is an excellent design shop and web development agency and we know our clients best. Things got a little intense leading up to the launch date, but that is to be expected. Having a consistent project manager was a big differentiator. Garrett was our advocate throughout the life of the project and ultimately helped us launch a successful new site.

What did you find most impressive about State Creative?

A high level of integrity and authenticity. We are not designers or programmers, and sometimes we may not completely comprehend the implications for a particular request, or something might get lost in translation. I felt that State Creative really cared about making sure we were confident, comfortable, and happy with the end result and the process to get there. They genuinely cared about doing a great job, and it really showed. The entire team went above and beyond to ensure we could all be collectively proud of the final product.

Are there any areas State Creative could improve?

There could be some improvement in the process around launching the actual site. Having a process around that which is just a dialed-in as everything else would have made it the launch even more seamless and solid. It would also have instilled confidence at a time that can be very nerve-wracking.

I would also suggest offering additional support after beta testing, once new users are adopting a new system. We can only plan so much before the human element highlights areas that can use some tending to/refining. Perhaps there is a Phase II project in our future.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a family foundation located in Oakland, California. We focus on obtaining funding for educational improvement in the Oakland area, supporting science research in partnership with UC Berkeley, and helping Oakland institutions better serve our community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We were looking to refresh our website without undergoing a full rebranding. We wanted a website that reflected our work, and that was more modern and mobile-ready.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We paid for two designs. The first was a custom design that would take the site to the next level, one that would represent a considerable improvement over what we currently had. Second, however, to give us a point of comparison, we asked for a basic, out-of-the-box solution. Even though this was not the way State Creative usually worked, we had a good experience. It was great to be able to choose the page we felt most comfortable with.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

Our foundation is very modestly funded, and we had difficulty in finding a company that would just focus on revising our website, without engaging in a full-scale rebranding. We had a few references for both local and out of state companies. We ultimately decided that, since our funding comes from a local company and our focus is on Oakland, we should find someone in this area. We looked at State Creative online and were impressed with some of the websites they had created. The past clients we talked to had great experiences with State Creative, and their team seemed able to do the work we needed.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost of the project was $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with State Creative in March of 2015, and the website was launched last week [Mid-January, 2016]. The length of time the project took was our responsibility. Although the website was completed in October of 2015, we delayed its launch to give us time to focus on our strategic plan. We needed to add that new content to the completed site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from this engagement?

We’ve gotten excellent feedback from both our internal staff and our outside partners. Our previous website was very challenging to navigate. Right now on the revised site, a user can access the relevant information about what our institution does and find all the important areas easily. State Creative also ensured that the site would offer more intentionality in leading users to our information. This was something that we didn’t know how to ask for, but they built it into the site perfectly. This functionality will serve us for years to come.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

State Creative was excellent in finishing their work on time, their design process was very straightforward, and we were always able to give feedback on their work. They would almost always make the changes we requested. If there was ever a time when they couldn’t make those changes, they always gave us good reasons for whatever technical problems we were facing. We wanted the website to be functional on mobile devices, so this was a constant design consideration. The only delay we encountered in the project was to give us more time for our strategic planning.

What distinguishes State Creative from other providers?

I appreciated the ease of working with Garret Goldman. He was always responsive and found the answer to any questions I had. State Creative used their knowledge and expertise to ensure that any decision we made would be the right one.

I’ve had some experience working on websites in the past, and I appreciated the short-code page they created for us. It has all the relevant technical information for the site, from fonts to colors. In other projects I had been involved with, we were just handed developed pages without the information necessary for us to manage the site ourselves. It’s been helpful for me to have all that information when doing tasks like formatting our newsletter. From a user perspective, the way in which they packaged our site has been great.

Is there anything State Creative could have improved or done differently?

Since our site was relatively small, the project was very straightforward for them. I’ve been happy with how the collaboration went.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is called Interfaith Voices. We're a public radio show about religion. We air on a combination of National Public Radio stations and community radio, which total 86 stations. We're based in Washington DC.

What is your position?

I'm the Senior Producer of Interfaith Voices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We had a really old website built on Drupal that was out of touch with modern times.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

One of the great parts of working with them is that I don't know what's going on behind the scenes, and I don't need to know. They just make it work. They designed a content management system that was really easy for us to use. Being a weekly radio show, we update our website every single week. They made it really easy for us to do that.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

I'm not exactly sure, because our intern at the time found them. I think they had always been the main group that we were considering. We had seen the good work they had done on a website for another radio show. We thought their graphic design was really good and easy to use.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I think it was between $10,000 and $15,000. They gave us a nice deal.

What is the status of this engagement?

We work with them all the time, on everything from problems with our podcast, to needing to redesign a part of our page because we have to add something new. We first got this new website in 2011. For the past four years, they have continued to support us and make updates to the website. They're always available, and I have nothing but good things to say. The last time they did a major overhaul of the site was six months ago. We love it, so we continue to work with them frequently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don't have the exact numbers of visitors of the old site vs. the new one because we weren't tracking the old site. I don't have any quantitative data, but the way I feel about the show has changed directly because of the website.

The show, compared to before, now feels more professional and more in-step with modern times. It even feels edgy. I feel that our website is our public face, our calling card. We have a lot of high-profile people who come on the show. Their first stop, when deciding if they want to accept, is always the website. When they visit it, and see such a professional-looking place, they know it’s a professional show.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I have nothing but overwhelmingly positive things to say about State Creative. Garrett, whom I've always worked with directly, in particular, is extremely professional. He's very responsive, and we're pleased with the work that he and his team did. The graphic design is beautiful, modern, and someone visiting our site would get a good impression of our show as being a professional radio show. One of my favorite things about working with Garrett is that they continue to be helpful.

What distinguishes State Creative from other providers?

I have much confidence in their ability to execute what we talk about. If we have a plan, they make it work exactly as we discussed. I have a lot of faith in their ability to take it from an idea, to executing the final product.

Is there anything State Creative could have improved or done differently?

It turned out that after they made the site, there were things that we didn't like, but it was because we hadn't made clear what we needed. What I always tell future clients who will be working with them is to make sure they understand what State Creative is making for them. Once they do it, it is hardcoded and hard to reverse. So, they should maybe use other websites as examples that State Creative can work off of. That's not really negative feedback, though; I don't think it was their fault.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our organization is dedicated to working with students, kindergarten through community college, low-income, first-generation students, mostly students from low-resource schools, to get them into college and help them gain access to higher education.

What is your role at the center?

I'm the chief of staff for the center.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal in working with State Creative?

We had a website that was outdated, not much to look at. Although we believe that our work on the ground is the most important thing that we do, in today's world that work needs help from marketing and branding. People need to know who we are and what we're about. We need to have an image that people can trust.

When we did our first site with them, I wanted a site that highlighted all the great work we do on the ground. So, I needed it to be vibrant, youth-oriented and easy to navigate for people who might not be that savvy with technology. It also needed to be something that the community could access and use easily as well as being accessible to multiple constituents. So, I need a student or a parent to come to that site and get what they need out of it, but I also needed potential donors or other educators to get what they needed out of it.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They did two sites for us. The main work that State Creative did for us was Web design and development for both websites. In addition, they updated our old logo. We didn't have a lot of options with the logo, because it's a state logo that other campuses use, but it was looking a little sad and dated. So, they touched it up, refreshed it, and made it look more exciting and kind of 2015. So, mostly, they did Web design and development, but a little bit of logo refresh.

What was your process for selecting State Creative?

I've known about State Creative for some time. But, because I'm part of a larger university, I did a RFP [request for proposal] process with five agencies. In the end, not only was State Creative's price competitive, but also their work appeared to be cleaner, crisper, exactly what I was looking for.

When did you begin working with them, and is the relationship ongoing?

I don't quite remember when we started. I'm working with them right now on the second website. I think we probably started the first one in 2013 and then completed it maybe last year. I'm not exactly sure. Then, we started working with them on the second site maybe two or three months ago.

Can you give a sense of the cost of their work?

I'm sorry, but that information is confidential.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics concerning their work?

We're not even using the site to the extent we should yet, because we always get bogged down with other things. I think State Creative was the spark for a larger change in organizational philosophy around what's important. Because we're dedicated to youth, to the community and to our low-income operation, I think people think that aesthetics and marketing aren't as important as they are. After people saw how remarkable the website looked, and this is an award-winning website. It started motivating people.

So, I've been able to get the organization to paint its walls and start putting its logo on the walls. We're getting a more vibrant and colorful look, getting a sleeker look. I think we have better brand recognition. State Creative also designed business cards to go with the website. I just think we now have a better look, one that's more memorable. Now, I'm working on the second site with them, and it's going to look totally different. People are coming up with ways to find a little money to put some vibrancy into our marketing and branding, and State Creative was a kind of a catalyst for that because people saw that the product looked so good.

Is there anything unique or special about State Creative that really makes them stand out?

I think there are a couple of things. One, they know their stuff really well, and they're very competent and very good at what they do. Their project manager is good at telling us what's happening, but using language that's understandable for someone like me who is not all that technologically savvy. I was comfortable talking with him. I'm the guy who likes to know everything that I'm managing, so I could probably get a little annoying with a lot of questions, but he was patient, and he always answered my questions and re-answered them if I couldn't understand the first time. So, I think they're good at that interface with the client.

Second, for the price that we paid, they do very clean work. I think their designer's style is just very clean and crisp. That really works for me. I don't want something that looks cheap or tacky. I think clean and crisp is the way a website should look, and I think their design people have that on lock in a good way.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

Not really. The only thing they did that I felt weird about was my fault. I couldn't keep up. Their job is to build websites, my job is not to do anything with websites – it was an add-on to my normal work. It's not in my job description to do this. I think it was hard to keep up with them, and I felt bad just because of that. I have decided to work with them again, so that says a lot.

What advice would you give a future client of theirs?

I would say anyone that is going to work with them should ask for references and ask State Creative how they would go about putting together the client's team to work on this. For example, I watched another organization that I work with go with a different company to build a website. That organization had eight or nine people on their internal committee making decisions on the website. I think that's too many people.

It's not State Creative's place to tell a client how to operate, but if I were a client, I think I would ask about what other clients have done that's been successful. If someone asked me, I would say put two or three people in your website committee to work with State Creative, and then get ideas from the larger staff when needed. But, don't put an eight- or nine-person committee together because it will get too confusing. The process will be too tedious, take too long, and have to deal with too many opinions.

BACKGROUND

Please give a brief description of your company.

My website, hello, Wonderful, is an online creative site for kids featuring DIY projects, recipes, play ideas, and products for creative living with children.

What is your role at the company?

I am the founding editor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address when you approached State Creative?

The challenge was providing a beautiful custom design for my site that was visual and appealing within a tight budget. 

What were your company's business goals for the project?

I wanted a clean, modern, and visually attractive site that would encourage creative inspiration in parents and caretakers of children to promote imaginative learning and creating. The goal was beautiful UX [user experience] and design.

Can you talk about the scope of the project?

The scope was very much as I mentioned above. Finding a good mix of having a high-end, visual, and clean website design and UX within my limited budget.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting State Creative?

I wanted to work with a local team – they are in Oakland, as am I – to be well connected to them. I found them to be responsive right away and to be able to understand what I needed quickly. Although I felt small as a one-person team, I felt treated with the respect as if I was a larger company.

Can you give a sense of the size of the project?

The cost of the design was approximately $13,000. After a year, I added on about $7,000 worth of upgrades like category pages, visual search, shareable icons, and static ad banners.

When was the project completed?

I contacted State Creative in mid-July 2013 and the website launched in early October 2013. It was an aggressive deadline that they were able to meet with my satisfaction.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics on the project? 

The site is performing well. The first month, we had approximately 30,000 page views, which is great for a new site. A year and a half later, we are tracking at more than 400,000 monthly views.

How did State Creative perform?

They excelled in project management and often exceeded their deadlines.

Was there anything unique or special about State Creative that really makes them stand out?

They seem to care about their clients' success and are supportive of them. 

What advice would you give to a future client of theirs?

I would say that if you want a team that is going to be more of a partner than a contractor, State Creative is a great source. They are extremely detail oriented and will perform and execute as you need them to reach your business goals.