Authentic Form & Function

Please describe your company and your position there.

For nearly 60 years, OZ has augmented the urban experience and crafted transformative spaces and buildings. We have made it our mission to design environments that thrive and think beyond the site perimeters or constraints. We believe in tying the community together and infusing each new development with a pulse of life. As a Principal, I lead the design conceptualization and management of a number of our projects found around the US.

For what projects/services did your company hire Authentic Form & Function?

Our website needed a full redo both in look and operation. With a number of Owners, stakeholders, and opinions, we enlisted the creative services of AFF to help guide us through the process of giving a critical component of our public face contemporary and effective new life.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Bryant, Chris, and team bring refreshing insights and expert opinions to their why and how of all things. This proved critical to enabling our decision making. Their exposures to numerous markets and sectors gave us confidence that our website would be unique but not trendy.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We initially asked AFF to show us why we need a new website and to very simply present what it might look like if we did. After this very successful exercise, we committed to doing a full website redesign. That went from format/look/feel to full execution. At each point, we had several opportunities to iterate and thoroughly review/provide input. This ultimately led to a more unified acceptance of the site amongst all firm leaders.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I believe we worked with a total of four people. To the credit of AFF, there were talents covering all aspects of their business and there was very effective communication of their concepts and execution.

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

We have gotten wonderful feedback on the freshness of the look and feel, as well as the messaging. We are getting more traffic to the site to the tune of hundreds more visits per month and are showing our work in far more effective and efficient ways.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They used Asana to help communicate schedule and expectations, track progress, and take notes. This was my first exposure to the platform, and I found it quite effective.

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

Their positive energy, zeal to please, flexibility to adapt to changes, and commitment were impressive.

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

If there was any room for improvement, my suggestion would be to bring the team into the office or figure out a way to overcome the COVID response of being in the virtual world somehow. Designing virtually is nowhere near as successful as in-person.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based real estate brokerage firm. We provide leasing services to developers, property management companies, and owners of multifamily construction projects throughout the Twin Cities area. Our company has been offering these services for about four years now. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Authentic Form & Function?

Prior to engaging Authentic Form, I didn’t have a brand for my business, though I already offered services. As a result, it was crucial to hire a company that would build my brand, take care of my website, and provide additional marketing services for me. That was how we built our connection with Authentic Form. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our engagement started with building up my brand. Authentic Form brought together our teams to dive deep into what our business did. In other words, the first step was for them to understand the nitty-gritty of our company, including the high- and low-level view of it and everything in between. From there, they put together all the puzzle pieces for the brand. We started with the logo and then moved on to the mood board and the color scheme of the brand. After that, we worked on the copy of my brand’s positioning statement. 

That eventually brought us to the website, which they fully designed and developed. Until that point, I didn’t have an existing website, so they created it from scratch. They used Amplify for web development. Throughout the process, the team collaborated with me to make sure that the website functioned correctly and that its design matched our organization. 

It took us multiple rounds of back and forth revisions to set the site and branding straight. However, slowly but surely, they worked to help us get to where I wanted to go.

What is the team composition?

Three people worked with us on this project, and our main point of contact was Sarah (Senior Designer). 

How did you come to work with Authentic Form & Function?

Authentic Form and our company previously worked together on a multifamily residential leasing project. They took care of the marketing and branding aspects of the project, and we took care of the lease-up. That was how I knew them. 

How much have you invested with them?

The value of the project was about $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project lasted from January–April 2021. However, we started working together on projects in October 2020. 

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

We went from being a nameless, brandless, and website-less company to being a beautiful and powerful brand with a stellar website. This helped legitimize my business and bring a lot of fun to my team while rolling out the website and brand. Our team members were truly excited to be a part of this campaign. Overall, their work created so much momentum for our business in many areas. I couldn’t quantify that, but it truly had a huge impact on our business; it laid foundations for my company that I never had before, and this would take the business and me to new places. 

Moreover, I’ve worked with marketing companies and web developers pretty closely across the Twin Cities. For comparison, Authentic Form took a different approach to the whole brand-building and web development process. They worked more authentically by being excited and passionate about diving deeper into what we did and offered. They also dug deep into how they could best display our offers throughout the whole brand and website. 

In other words, the depth and level of their services felt not only more authentic; they also felt more real than I had felt with other marketing companies. As a result, their team produced a better product, better brand, and better website. 

How did Authentic Form & Function perform from a project management standpoint?

They used project management tools, but I didn’t. They spent a lot of time and energy to keep me up to date in using such tools. However, learning how to use their software felt overwhelming since I had so much going on in my days. To be fair, it was probably easy to learn. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Authentic Form had a small team, and this allowed them to be more nimble and personable. We were able to know the whole team better, and they got to know us, too. As a result, they not only understood our business but also who we were as people. This helped them better tailor their outputs to our requirements behind the scenes. 

Other marketing companies might know the company and their business, but they might not truly know the owner. Given that, those companies could only go so far in terms of the quality of their work. By contrast, Authentic Form did a comprehensive job of knowing not only the company but also me. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

While they probably had a great project management tool, the communication would have been simpler and quicker through emails. They could email me our project’s status and the estimated timeline of the deliverables; it didn’t need to be so in-depth and drawn out. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hire them. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of The Development Tracker. We're a news and media website that focuses on real estate and recording different real estate projects throughout three cities Minnesota, specifically Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth. 

Our main focus is tracking those developments, sharing them out with the city and its netizens — doing so in a way that is pitched for the average citizen, not a developer or real estate individual. Our purpose is to let people have a true understanding of how their city is growing and developing.

What challenge were you trying to address with Authentic Form & Function?

For a number of years, we were using Squarespace to facilitate our online presence. As a result, we were looking to create a custom-built site that would allow us to step into the next set of growth for our company and access a few key areas that we were looking to develop. As such, we hired Authentic to further our growth and vision for our online presence and enhance the features we offer to our stakeholders.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Authentic developed a custom-built Craft site for our company. Their work involved integrating a number of assets that we had from our previous website. Another huge deliverable that we asked for was the creation of a complex development map that tracks all our projects across all of our cities.

In terms of building the map into a platform, it was all done by Authentic. However, in terms of brand identity, we conveyed it clearly to them. We knew from the start that we’d have a buttoned-up brand identity for the development tracker.

We also had a long-term launch of the website in terms of the pieces that were included within it. At first, our company focused on encouraging amount of users to visit our website. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with six people from Authentic, including Bryant (Partner) and Chris (Partner). We also worked with their designers and developers. 

How did you come to work with Authentic Form & Function?

Authentic found us, and the relationship started as a "get-to-know-you" phase. At that time, they were working on their growth and entering the Minneapolis market, since they were previously focused on Denver. When we connected, it was a perfect fit in many ways because they were the missing component that we needed to move forward. 

We also gained an understanding of not only the work we needed to complete but how our future might impact us as we move forward. It wasn’t until a few months later that we began to learn more about Authentic and how they could help us. Moreover, we knew their team could help us since we were working in a similar industry, doing marketing and design work.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from January–November 2020.

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

We were extremely thankful for the work that Authentic did. A massive component that they undertook and produced stunningly was the development map. Moreover, the team perfectly conveyed our authenticity on our website. The platform was also informative and positively received by stakeholders. The biggest thing for us was the fact that we had some days of spikes with over 5,000 people coming to our platform.

Apart from that, we were impressed that our end users were able to figure their way to the website, and the platform itself was amazing because it could handle that amount of traffic. Overall, we were encouraged by the traffic that we received. 

How did Authentic Form & Function perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was instrumental in guiding us on how to move quickly into our next step. Everything was organized and we constantly knew milestones that were coming up, as well as their deliverable dates. We did the tracking through Asana, and each employee had access to the milestones, dates, and key figures. Moreover, we used it to communicate feedback and other information.

We didn’t have to worry about the execution and the nitty-gritty of developing everything. Most importantly, we sat back and relaxed because we knew that our project was going to come to fruition. Overall, from a project management standpoint, they did an excellent job and showed us that they could handle the type of work we gave them. Furthermore, they were able to produce our project in a concise timeframe and delivered what they set out to do in the beginning. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team immensely helped us enhance our brand identity in a way that they knew would be beneficial for us, whether that was navigation or other certain items that were helping us set up our future growth. Above all, they understood our business and our market, and that was truly a major win for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was thoroughly impressed with Authentic’s work, and we were positively encouraged by the results that we had seen on this project. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Our ideas were already intact when we started our engagement, and that helped us a lot. However, I’m not saying that a company and business need to have everything figured out, they only need to have a concise list of the deliverables and timeframes they’re expecting. Once Authentic has everything, they can run with it. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide architecture, engineering and construction services to clients in the commercial, industrial and public sectors. I am the director of business development and marketing.

For what projects/services did your company hire Authentic Form & Function?

Our current website had a number of inefficiencies or deficiencies that needed to be addressed, things like poor SEO, embedded video limitations and ineffective visuals.

We engaged Authentic Form & Function to develop strategies, plans and designs to achieve these improvements/upgrades.

What were your goals for this project?

As a full-service design, engineering and construction firm we really need our website to help tell our story to a wide variety of professionals and clients. Therefore, our main goal for this project was to improve our connections/recruiting of architects, engineers & construction professionals as well as to better help tell our story to potential clients in all of our various market sectors.

How did you select this vendor?

Authentic Form & Function came to my attention from a recommendation and after a couple phone calls and then in person meetings, I felt that they best understood our needs & our industry and could deliver the improvements we wanted to see in our website.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Authentic Form & Function performed in-house interviews with representatives of all of our professional disciplines, business market sector leaders and senior leadership to help understand the various website needs of our organization. They then took this information and put together a strategic outline for achieving these goals which was presented to our firm.

Refinements were made to this outline which was then converted into web design concepts. Once again these concepts were discussed and refined. We then gave approval to these concepts which were developed into a upgraded and vastly improved website.

What was the team composition?

Authentic Form & Function was led by two individuals and supported by an in-house staff of designers and programmers. On our end we had a core team of two people working on feeding raw data/graphics to Authentic Form & Function.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our new & improved website will be launched in March of 2020, therefore I don't have any metrics on web traffic improvements, increased recruiting efforts or sales increases, but I can say from discussions from our internal team there is significant excitement about the new abilities and improvements to our site & its potential with helping improve our overall operations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Authentic Form & Function handled the management of the process which used the Asana tool to track progress/responsibilities/deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Authentic Form & Function is incredibly easy to work with. They are good listeners, responsive consultants and very talented designers/programmers. They have made a project that can cause extreme headaches and stress, relatively easy going and best of all enjoyable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

One thing that would have helped is that I brought on a branding consultant (midway through this web project) to help with my overall communications standards, and having that entity on board before hiring Authentic Form & Function would have made this project much easier on all parties.

The branding consultant used the graphic direction Authentic Form & Function developed for our communications materials, but we all discovered ways of improving the graphics of the website in the process which set us back with some redo to improve the overall experience and navigation.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of BridgeWorks, and for 20 years we’ve delivered generational insights into the workplace to solve issues like knowledge transfer and recruiting, retaining, and so on. We do keynote speeches, consulting, and things of that sort.

What challenge were you trying to address with Authentic Form & Function?

On behalf of one client, our team went into high schools to let students know that the trades and manufacturing career route is a viable and fulfilling alternative to the traditional four-year college path. We decided to develop a website to help us with that called Trades Hub, and we needed a partner to design it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a kickoff meeting, where they walked us through a really well-designed path laying out the various stages of the design and the decisions we would need to make throughout the process. It set a great standard in terms of helping us think about the site and prepping us for the rest of the project.

We explained to them that our ultimate goal was to take students through a series of pages, from a landing page through a few informational videos, and hopefully to either a job board or a technical school page. From there, they helped us decide on what kind of images and messaging to use, what functionality we needed, and what order to present it in.

They developed parent portals, a unique job board, and an entire system of organization, but the biggest step was tying it all together to create a cohesive journey that will really draw the student in and help them see this as a potential option for them.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Bryant (Partner, Authentic Form & Function) and Chris (Partner, Authentic Form & Function). Bryant was our main contact in Minneapolis and worked more on the design side of things, and Chris was in Denver doing the development. They also had Kelcey (Project Manager, Authentic Form & Function) interfacing with us on a weekly basis via email.

How did you come to work with Authentic Form & Function?

Our president got connected with Bryant, but I’m not sure exactly how we found them. We talked to a few references from them and looked at their previous work and decided it fit well with what we were going for.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the project from May–October 2019.

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

We’ve received an awful lot of feedback on the program so far. I’ve met with people coming into the program from all sides, whether as schools, students, or employers posting jobs; they all really love the flow of the site. That was the most important goal for us, so we’re very pleased.

In fact, the biggest challenge we have now is scaling the job posting process because we’ve gained so much traction and interest from those parties.

How did Authentic Form & Function perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Asana to communicate, and that took a little while for us to adjust to, but beyond that the project management was great. They were really on top of all of the project milestones and always had our final goals in mind.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had some really creative design ideas when developing the look and feel of the site. We spent a lot of time looking at what our competitors were doing, and they were able to incorporate a lot of what we learned from that and make everything look fantastic at the same time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I had to do it again, the only thing we’d do differently is take a little more time to get established with Asana. Even just 20 minutes spent walking through the most important aspects of how to use it would have saved us a lot of miscommunication because of our unfamiliarity.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust their expertise to get the job done.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Cohere, and we are a branding agency focused on real estate design and development that was founded in 2009. We do a lot of built environments based around branding, design, and marketing, so we see ourselves as a creative agency at our core. I’m a partner in the firm and the director of business development.

What challenge were you trying to address with Authentic Form & Function?

We were looking to add to our capacity to deliver web solutions to our clients and decided the best way to do that would be to develop a strategic partner for digital design and development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we came across Authentic Form & Function, the fit seemed like a no brainer. They help us with streamlined website design and development for a variety of clients. To a large extent, they work with us on clients requiring complex web development that we don’t have the in-house resources to deliver.

In the cases of projects that don’t support a larger budget for custom design and development, they have a proprietary platform that enables a turnkey approach. It allows them to be efficient about the design process while still producing a product that is worthy of celebrating.

What is the team composition?

For most projects, we deal with two main contacts from their team, one on the development side and one on the creative and strategy side, as well as a project manager.

How did you come to work with Authentic Form & Function?

They work in the same industry as we do so we had encountered them before, but we realized recently that we could both benefit from a strategic partner to help serve some of our clients.

How much have you invested with them?

I think we’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first engaged with them in October 2018 and are continuing to work together as we bring on more projects.

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

There was a very significant impact as soon as we started working with the Authentic Form & Function team, in that we had a reliable partner to count on and to present to our clients. We knew that we could speak to their process and take ownership of their role really well, and they blended into our agency operations almost seamlessly.

Not only that, but their expertise adds authority to the conversation when we talk about the more digital aspects of our process and what the client can expect.  They are able to amplify our point of view when it comes to design and back it up with the technical perspective as well so that the client gets a more confident prediction of what we’ll be able to deliver.

How did Authentic Form & Function perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really religious about using Asana as their project management tool. They do all project updates through that, and while the downside is that not all clients are totally interested in getting that far into the details, the upside is that it’s an incredibly open and efficient way to communicate. They also use Slack to communicate with us, which helps create a more collegial experience all around.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to think beyond the technology they’re designing is incredibly helpful. They’re never just thinking in ones and zeros, and they’re not working in a bubble. The whole team has a great grasp on design and bring thought leadership in our industry to the table.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think a little bit more flexibility in their process, especially when it comes to communication, could help a little bit. It’s not really a negative thing because their style definitely keeps things under control, but I think different client types would appreciate a little bit of leeway when it comes to that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would suggest everyone take advantage of their network and the opportunity for thought leadership. Use them to amplify your project to their own audience, because it can help bring a lot of expert attention to what you’re doing.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of leading commercial real estate developer

For what projects/services did your company hire Authentic Form & Function?

Develop website for 3 separate commercial real estate developments that required unique, elevated design and features like AR

What were your goals for this project?

Best in class website that allows potential tenants to see quality of the buildings and the park, as well as options for buildout of their space

How did you select this vendor?

Interview and demonstrations of their past work were head and shoulders above typical canned website in commercial real estate industry

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Interviewed us and understood our goals vs. competition Developed state of the area websites that are superior to canned website products incorporated AR into websites and mobile apps Easy to modify and bolt on new photos, articles etc

What was the team composition?

Chris was the designer, Bryant built the website. Their team also included a great photographer (incl. drone) that is vital to a great site.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Favorable reviews from commercial real estate brokerage community (in fact they are trying to copy our sites) Trying to hire our photographers Most importantly our prospective tenants get to see the buildings and how their space might look before making a commitment

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Weekly updates Master schedule Set budget, not exceeded

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They cared, and the listened. Moreover they have more than one design, we used them for 3 different real estate developments and each site was unique and reflects the qualities of that project

Are there any areas for improvement?

My only suggestion is that their services are more turnkey. In our case we were initially tasked with developing the language for the websites. Ultimately, they took this task in house, which was much easier for us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

J.S. Held is a global consulting firm specializing in construction, forensic engineering, environmental/health/safety, forensic accounting, and equipment expertise. I am the Chief Marketing Officer for the organization.

For what projects/services did your company hire Authentic Form & Function?

AFF helped us redesign our website.

What were your goals for this project?

Our organization is constantly evolving into new services lines and verticals. Our website needed to comprehensively tell our story and help reposition us in the market.

How did you select this vendor?

We have been working with AFF for several years and decided to continue working with them on our new website.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Project kick off included a thorough discussion on who we are as an organization today and how we want to be perceived in the market. Robust discovery through web development.

What was the team composition?

Several members of the AFF assisted with this project although Chris and Bryant were our key contact. At J.S. Held, Cliff Craig (Marketing Manager) lead the project with support from CMO and Marketing Coordinators.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Wonderful feedback from internal colleagues, as well as kudos from clients and prospects alike on how dynamic the new site is.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project was managed through Asana and regular status update meetings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We had a direct line of communication with lead partners at AFF. They were patient with the frequent changes in pace and direction. Their responsiveness and agility with changing business needs set them apart.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We had to navigate expectations around change of scope and increased budgets but once we had the conversation, we were better aligned.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Dakota Pacific Real Estate is a real estate acquisition and development company. My role is Director of Real Estate Development

For what projects/services did your company hire Authentic Form & Function?

Branding and website design for our mixed use development in the City of South Salt Lake

What were your goals for this project?

A dynamic brand and a quality website to communicate our vision

How did you select this vendor?

We considered two companies. Both introductions came from references. We selected this vendor based on previous work product and reasonable pricing.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Brand and logo design along with website creation

What was the team composition?

Four people were involved in the project. Two senior execs led the project, one admin was involved and a branding consultant was included. The size of the team did not change over time.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our project is under construction and a work in progress. The website has not launched yet, but we have received very favorable comments on our branding and logo design.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There was a lead project manager who was extremely effective at keeping the project on schedule and budget. Communication was excellent.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have a talented team and a fantastic end product at an affordable price.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No