Concentric Design

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at The Harris Poll, a global research consultancy.

What challenge were you trying to address with Concentric Design?

Our old website was a little dated and wasn’t very solution-centric. We were looking to do a complete website overhaul to bring our solution to the center of the homepage and make the whole site a little more problem-solving for consumers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Concentric Design redesigned our new WordPress website, and they outsourced the development work. First, they got to know our business. They interviewed us to know the pages we needed to build, the kind of content that needed to live on the site, and our priorities. 

From there, they created a couple of design mock-up versions of the site as options. We chose a theme and requested tweaks, so it was a collaborative process. They were also in charge of the UI/UX design.

They built out 14–15 pages and a similar amount of section types so that we would be able to take the site and populate it going forward. We also used them for copywriting; they helped write the copy for the pages they created. 

What is the team composition?

Blair (Founder & Managing Partner) was our main point of contact and managed the entire project, while Jeff (Founder & Creative Director) was our point of contact on anything design-specific. In total, we worked with three people from Concentric Design, including the copywriter. 

How did you come to work with Concentric Design?

My colleague found them on Clutch. We interviewed a couple of different firms and quickly decided to go with Concentric Design.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2021–March 2022.

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

We launched the site yesterday, and this morning I noticed that we’d gotten 20 completed newsletter signup forms; we were previously getting one hit a week. I anticipate seeing improved metrics, and it looks like the site is trending that way based on just one day. 

Concentric Design did a wonderful job of making the site user-friendly so that we can maintain it from now on. If something came up or we needed to add to the site in the future, I would absolutely reach out to them. Overall, I was 100% satisfied with Concentric Design’s work – it was a pleasure working with them.

How did Concentric Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a fantastic job of sticking to timelines and budgets. We had an aggressive timeline, and they managed it well. They also did a great job of staying within the scope whenever possible. When we decided to add an extra thing, they did very reasonable charge orders.

We used Basecamp for project management with Concentric Design and their outsourced developers. They communicated very well. I had a weekly call with Blair throughout the population phase of the website, and he was always super helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Concentric Design did such a good job end-to-end that it’s hard to pick one thing to be their strong point. I appreciate them getting a real understanding of our needs at the start instead of jumping right in and making assumptions. They did a great job interpreting our needs and creating a website that addressed them.

Additionally, they were super responsive. They stuck out the timeline so well, and they were quick to help with anything we needed — Concentric Design was fantastic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there isn’t anything I can think of that they needed to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to work with Concentric Design! One of their strong suits is that beginning stage when they’re getting to understand your business and needs, so take advantage of that.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of Marketing & Communications at Teach For America Chicago-Northwest Indiana. Teach For America is a national nonprofit, and Chicago-Northwest Indiana is one of its largest regions. I oversee all site content, social media, email communications, and media relations for our region.

For what projects/services did your company hire Concentric Design?

Our 20th anniversary was approaching, and we wanted both a distinctive, branded campaign to celebrate this milestone, and a regional slogan and visual identity that would live beyond the anniversary.

What were your goals for this project?

Though Teach For America is a well-known national brand, the Chicago-Northwest Indiana region did not have a clear identity unto itself. We wanted to clearly communicate who we were as a regional community through a compelling slogan and visual identity, and to have various pieces of branded collateral that could be used for the events and communications we'd be hosting/sharing to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

How did you select this vendor?

I interviewed several different Chicago-based design firms. We chose Concentric because of their incredible, polished portfolio. In discussing our project, they were professional and really accommodating of all our different needs, and were very reasonably priced. They also had previous clients that felt relevant to our project, so we felt confident they'd do a great job.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After spending a lot of time reviewing our site and various internal comms docs, Concentric hosted a workshop with a group of staff members to help develop our brand architecture.

They helped us describe and define who we are and what makes our community unique, and what we really wanted to communicate to various stakeholders. This led to the development of our key messages, slogan, and value proposition, and the visual identities that would accompany both our 20th campaign and our ongoing regional communications.

As part of this work, they created the slogan treatment, social media materials, email templates, letterhead, t-shirt and sticker designs, PowerPoint templates, signage - you name it, they designed it.

What was the team composition?

I worked with both team members, Blair and Jeff.

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

Concentric completely overhauled our regional brand in a way that felt very true to our existing identity and spirit, allowing us to communicate that clearly in all emails, social posts, site copy, and events.

Their development of our regional slogan has given us a real rallying cry for all stakeholders, and all of the different collateral that's accompanied it has allowed us to present a much more polished, cohesive face to the world.

It's been particularly exciting to see how much staff have embraced the new slogan and visual identity - it's obvious this is something they were really hungry for, and we couldn't have done work like this on our own.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Depending on where we were in the project, we'd have weekly or bi-weekly calls with Concentric. They shared a very clear project timeline that we could revisit if we were ever wondering about what was due when, and always got back to us within a day if we had any questions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by the amount of time they spent really getting to deeply understand our story and our stakeholders. It was obvious they had a real investment in our work.

As a result, I was also impressed by how true to our mission and spirit the design work felt, and the quality of the several options they presented us with. And finally - they project management. I was always very clearly on where we were in the process, what they needed from me, etc.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, none come to mind. I highly recommend.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a wellness brand that sells CBD-infused products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Concentric Design?

We needed to bring our idea to life through design. That included our labels, web design, and our products.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with ideas for what our brand should look like. From there, they helped us with everything from our logo to website design. We started out with an introductory call to discuss our brand and what it represented. Then, they used an app to help us select words that accurately described our intended look and feel. 

They also did discovery on color Pantone. After that, they presented us with multiple design options to help us determine exactly what we were looking for, meeting the overall scope of the project. We’ll likely continue to work with them on different project rollouts in the future.

What is the team composition?

I interface directly with three people on their team, but they likely have a bigger group working on our account behind the scenes. Their founders are very engaged in working with us. 

How did you come to work with Concentric Design?

My brother, who’s another founder of this business, first heard about them while doing online research. We’re based on New York, and they’re in Chicago. Despite not being local, they seemed like they’d be the best for the job. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

There are tons of steps required to launch a successful, and a pivotal aspect of that is the design. Everyone here has been very happy with their ideas and deliverables. They were able to help us see the potential for our brand in a new way. The team has been helpful since day one, so I was excited about leaving a review for them. 

How did Concentric Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated over email and phone. Their communication skills were of high quality, giving us the comfort we needed to move forward. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve worked with multiple companies, and they’re the easiest and smoothest option. They were great about hearing us out and bringing our vision to life. Their team truly listens to us, using the information to execute effectively. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re great. I don’t have anything for them to improve upon.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take an introductory call with them and hear them out. The best way to establish a relationship is to start communicating with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Burwood Group is an IT consulting and integration firm. We do technology consulting and operations work, specifically in the areas of communication and collaboration, cloud and automation, and security. I’m the director of marketing communications.

What challenge were you trying to address with Concentric Design?

Initially, I needed some relatively minor graphic design assistance because we don’t have an in-house graphic designer. We later needed help with rebranding and new website design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they did some graphic design using Adobe Suite. It had been about five years since we’d done any color or graphic updates. We were looking for a modern twist on our brand colors and identity. It was a large project involving a brand refresh and uplift. They put together a new brand guide and a short style guide with a total uplift of our brand’s fonts, design features, and colors.

More recently, they designed a completely new website for us in the Squarespace platform. The website is promotional and content-focused. It was a great, inexpensive option for us. They added a layer of customization to a Squarespace site that I wasn’t capable of. They guaranteed it’d look as customized, if not better, than the site we had at the time. We still have an open block of hours, so they help us with little jobs regularly.

What is the team composition?

The two designers and managing partners, Blair (Founder/Managing Partner, Concentric Design) and Jeff (Founder/Creative Director, Concentric Design), were my primary contacts.

How did you come to work with Concentric Design?

Blair used to work at our company. I was very familiar with him as a graphic designer. We had a legacy relationship with another design firm who was more focused on web design, but it wasn’t working out. They weren’t very responsive or proactive. I knew Blair had recently started his own firm and that I liked his work, so I reached out to him.

For the web, we found out a year into working on the new site that the developer we had engaged didn’t do a great job. There was a lot on the backend that we uncovered several months into working in the new site. It was coded wrong and didn’t meet best practice or standards. By this time, I was engaged with Blair on other projects. He suggested using Squarespace because it was an easy platform for non-designers to use.

How much have you invested with them?

$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2017 and the work is ongoing.

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

The rebrand has been very positive. A number of employees have remarked on how nice and fresh it looks. They really like the new graphic elements they introduced into our style, our collateral, and content. It not only involves new design elements, but it gave us a whole new standard set of templates. It’s now a lot easier for us to do design things internally.

We’re very happy with the website. The main change has been backend management of the website. It’s easy for us to manage the site internally. With the old one, we had to engage a developer we had on retainer even for small changes. Now that we’ve moved over to the Squarespace platform, we can do many changes ourselves. We still engage Concentric when there’s a bigger question, but the improvement is so significant compared to the last site. We’re very happy.

How did Concentric Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been fantastic. They’re very responsive with problem resolution or issues. We’ve never had any issues getting hold of them in an emergency situation. With the website project, we had a little miscalculation around the scope and its duration which resulted in it being a bit more expensive than we anticipated. It’s nothing that I was upset about, but they didn’t estimate how long the project would take accurately.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really good at providing different design options at the start of any project. No matter what it is, they get back to me with three or four different takes on the design. They’re very receptive to feedback—there have been times when I’ve told them I didn’t like anything. If I give them constructive direction, they’re very accommodating to that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to voice your opinions on the work that they’re producing. They’re really open minded. Their goal is for you to be happy. Be honest with them to contribute to an honest working relationship.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing and communications manager for a synthetic rubber component manufacturer, Q Holding Company. We make components for automotive, industrial, and medical devices.

What challenge were you trying to address with Concentric Design?

We didn’t have an up-to-date website and wanted to totally revamp our existing websites. The challenge was not only to create something new, but that would also reflect on the leadership position of the company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They revamped our two existing websites and added two new websites; the first was an Umbrella site for the company and the other for another division of ours. It was essential the websites feature a responsive design, which was something they did very well.

The main audience is composed of engineers and we wanted the structure, navigation, and information we’re providing to be of use to them. Concentric Design learned about both our company and our audience and then translated that into a dynamic website which helped us reach those objectives.

We used the website design as the foundation for building other marketing collateral. They helped us design trade show displays that complement the website and continue to build our brand in the marketplace.

 What is the team composition?

I generally work with Blair Hannah [Founder & Managing Partner, Concentric Design].

How did you come to work with Concentric Design?

We had already been working with them when I joined the company in November 2015. It was my decision; however, if they would be the right partner to revamp our websites. I met with Blair and had the opportunity to learn more about their capabilities and what their approach would be. Afterwards, I felt comfortable hiring them for the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $75,000–$80,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the middle of 2014, and engagement is ongoing.

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

We’re very happy with the quality of their work. The members of our sales team think it’s awesome that we have a website that really tells the story about our company, the products we manufacture, and how we make them. It walks the engineers on the user-side through all of our capabilities and has helped tremendously in sales.

How did Concentric Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. We were communicating on a near-daily basis during the web design process when there was excess to review. We used several different tools including Asana. They also developed a Gantt chart to track our progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Whenever we have a conversation, they always increase the value of the discussion. They don’t return to their office and regurgitate what we spoke about but instead give it a lot of thought. They come up with their best suggestion and offer advice, even if it’s contradictory to something that I might believe we need to do or the way we need to do something. Their consulting has helped tremendously and sets them apart from a lot of other companies who just do exactly what you tell them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything, to be honest.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them to be honest and be open to listening to their recommendations because most of the time it's really valuable. Take full advantage of their consulting capabilities.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was previously the marketing director of Netrix, as well as a partner in the organization, but I currently work in end-user adoption. Netrix is an IT consulting organization that covers many different practices across business technology, ranging from network infrastructure to collaboration conference room design, and everything in between.

What challenge were you trying to address with Concentric Design?

We needed some outside assistance as it pertained to high-level design. We had people internally who could manage, edit, and come up with really clean and simple designs and have engaged Concentric on a few projects. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

One project we worked together on was an international organizational wide kick-off in Chicago, which we do yearly. We invite all of our national employees, as well as our international employees. We had Concentric build out the brand and persona of that event. They designed all of the brand assets that we need from a signage perspective, as well as the logo identification process.

Another project we have kept them on retainer for is assisting with additional sub-brand identification. Netrix has a few different sub-brands that are part of the organization but might have their own sales group, identity, and book of business so-to-speak. They deviate slightly from the Netrix corporate brand, and we have had Concentric on hand to help come up with a brand identification for those groups.

For both projects, we did a block hour agreement based on what we thought would be an estimated amount of time to complete. For the open-ended project, it is a standard yearly block hour, but for our yearly kickoff, building design concepts from the ground up and working with the Netrix team to finalize those what was really in the scope. They build out what the mood boards and brand logo should look like for the event and create the components associated with that. This included the final decal design, the pop-up signage design, and PowerPoint.

For the rest of the projects, there wasn’t a formalized scope as it was a block hour retainer fee. Typically, if we know we have a new project coming up, we would engage the team, set expectations, and goals, and then they would come back with timelines, mood boards, and recommendations for completion to final design.

In terms of the logo designs and brand identity, we always have a good idea of the direction we want to move forward with but are open to their expertise, and their help to bring it to life. Given our posture, in knowing Concentric as well as our team, it was probably a 50/50 working agreement.

How did you come to work with Concentric Design?

I had worked with Blair [Founder and Managing Partner] previously.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Concentric in May 2016, and the work is ongoing.

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

Our executive management team, our marketing team, and all of our leadership are really pleased with the work. From that perspective, that is a gold seal of approval in my opinion. The feedback we got on the new logo was great. When we do surveys from our big kick-off event, people feel like it is an impressive event and a big part of it is the branding and having that large-scale presence, which would have been difficult to achieve without Concentric’s help.

How did Concentric Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We receive reports on time usage, and I have never had any questions regarding how hours are being spent. I feel like there is a lot of trust and understanding in what they are working on, and is matching the hours that they are reporting to. From a project management perspective, I don’t have anything negative or neutral to say. We have always had a good working relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What makes them really stand out is their expertise that their team brings, as well as the backgrounds they have. They have interesting corporate backgrounds, but because they are a smaller shop, I think they take a lot more time to manage and understand the client versus being one of many, and just a number, as part of an agency.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we always keep them on a retainer. They do great work, and that is a big value-add to our organizational functions and needs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My name is Jeff Hughes, and I’m the chief experience officer at The Huestudio + Company. We are a luxury event planner offering exquisite services in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as destinations throughout the world. We handle any type of corporate, private, wedding, gala, for-profit, not-for-profit event, and have a great time doing it.

What challenge were you trying to address with Concentric Design?

We wanted to establish a definitive brand which was representative of our core values. We create and design event experiences which are colorful, utilizing circles of color, vibrancy and energy. We’re the nontraditional event-planning company in the Chicago land area, where we stretch the limits, and our goals for design, branding and the website were uniquely nontraditional, and distinctively different. When guests and clients would stumble and be directed to our website, they would immediately be filled with joy and happiness, knowing right away that we are not only a fun company, but we also celebrate and honor all color.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Blair Hannah and Jeff Meador from Concentric Design were incredibly instrumental in bringing our unique challenges and vision to life. What they ended up doing was to create a logo and full branding, after we went through two or three iterations. They hit the mark running, based on our specifics and scope. Not only did they take our branding, they expanded it to various partner logos and lockups. They also created print collateral in terms of personal and business stationery, business cards, and all the accessories and offerings which make up a luxury brand such as ours. They have created a spectacular website which is intuitive and informative, but also allows our team to manipulate and change spinner images, and the dynamic text on our spotlight pages.

We provided minimal frameworks for Concentric Design to base the work on. They are a full-service company which encapsulates the client’s vision. With creative clients like ourselves, it’s difficult to document and capture all of these nuances, in terms of color, typeface, design and imagery. For the investment we made, Concentric Design hit the ground running.

One of the platforms we use on a regular basis for changing the site and populating the blog is WordPress, but I don’t have information in terms of hosting and other elements.

Concentric Design has assisted with our SEO and pay-per-click advertising, during our initial launch as well as through several other campaigns.

We’ve increased our marketing, and are currently undergoing a new design of our logo and typeface, as well as a full marketing communication plan for us to launch during our 10-year anniversary.

How did you come to work with Concentric Design?

I’ve known Jeff, their graphic designer, through United Airlines. I retired from that company five years ago, after close to a 30-year career. I was responsible for the entire enterprise of recognition and appreciation of the 85,000–100,000 employees worldwide.

At that time, our small creative services department was tiny, and Jeff was a freelance graphic designer who was brought in specifically for the projects I and my team had going. For a large corporation such as United Airlines, the branding specifics and marketing aspects of the programs were immense, but he learned that quickly, and became our go-to person.

During this time, we engaged with Jeff separately, in order to start the branding and design for The Huestudio + Company. We had a small platform and presence, but, because of the work he did with us, specifically with my team at UA, he was a natural fit with our communication and style.

I’ve known Blair for five to seven years. Both of them are different, but they’re also uniquely collaborative. They offer a service which is unparalleled to other company in the Chicago area. Concentric Design is responsive, up on current trends and happenings and proactive in sending things to us for examination, in terms of new concepts and technologies. We’ve referred many of our friends and business partners to Concentric Design, in order for them to create similar looks to ours.

How much have you invested with Concentric Design?

I would have to specifically go back and look at our business tax returns, but, as a ballpark, we’ve probably spent around $20,000 to $25,000. This is inclusive of not only the website design, but also the graphic design.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Concentric Design seven years ago. The relationship is ongoing. Concentric Design not only hosts our website, but are also working on our ten-year anniversary material and other items.

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

We are using a number of branded icons on a monthly basis. The website is substantial in its branding, and we’re actually looking to package an incredible gift for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is now on Broadway. Many of the designs made by their team are being shared with the two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle, as well as some of our other five lucky golden ticket winners.

We’ve been in business for a total of ten years, and, seven years ago, when we started working with Concentric Design and changed our brand, we saw not only a 35% uptick in clients, but our online presence on Instagram, Facebook and Google increased by anywhere between 40–55%. We started the website five years ago, and had a refresh to it two years ago.

How did Concentric Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re responsive, document everything, have exceptional contracts, and have presented no issues in terms of timelines or deliverables. We haven’t had any problems with their recommendations in terms of service partners, printers and so on. I can’t say enough about Concentric Design, and a part of this is because they’re so small, and can be responsive. We have had the opportunity to go with larger agencies at a much lower cost, but we’ve preferred to stay with Concentric Design because of their style, and the way in which they handle things. In terms of project management, they’ve handled the shifting of files over to our printer, delivered follow-ups on tracking numbers, and there were no missteps at all.

What did you find most impressive about Concentric Design?

Their immense imagination and creativity. We might have sudden thoughts and dreams about what we want some things to look like, or how they should be positioned. Concentric Design can take those thoughts and massage them into a visual identity, color, thought and so forth. Looking at our website and scrolling to the very bottom of the page, you can see how detailed we’ve been with our brand standards. I think that taking nothing and making it into something is an extraordinary feat, especially when done with minimal changes and direction.

Are there any areas Concentric Design could improve?

At first, it was a somewhat frustrating process, but Concentric Design pushed back on our crazy requests in terms of color, type treatment, fonts or style. They were coming at it from a consistency standpoint, and challenged us to see their point of view, but went about it in a way which would seem so interesting to us as to turn us around.

Rather than being a negative, it’s an incredible positive for them to push back. They’ve really encouraged us to think differently, and look at things from a very different, young, fresh perspective. It was off-putting at first, but Concentric Design offered alternatives which were extraordinarily brilliant, and actually better than our original ideas.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co-owner & operations manager at Gadget Salvation, an online electronics buyback service.

For what projects/services did your company hire Concentric Design?

Having been in business for close to 10 years, we found ourselves lacking a defined company image that would set us apart from the competition. Last year, we made a decision to bring someone on board to help us with our challenges, and after an extensive search, we are now happy to be working with the brilliant Concentric Design team.

What were your goals for this project?

Though we are an established site with a solid amount of traffic nationwide, we wanted to create a compelling and fun identity that would better communicate what we are about, appeal to younger audiences and stand out from mostly generic competitors.

How did you select Concentric Design?

After a number of interviews, both with local firms and overseas, we chose to work with Concentric because of their straightforward and direct approach, paired with the beautiful clean website & compelling portfolio.

They understood the specifics and challenges of our industry, had a lot of ideas and suggestions from the get go. They are small, but have the resources of a large agency, and like us, they are located in Chicago. This was a no-brainer decision for us.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The work began with market research. The guys analyzed our competition & value proposition, identified our target audience and built a data-driven strategy before diving into identity development and design portion of the project.

They built a strong visual identity portfolio for us (including color palette, typefaces, brand graphics), designed a new logo, social media treatments, developed a clear brand voice, as well as tailored other deliverables of the project based on the digitized nature of our industry.

What was the team composition?

We work directly with both managing members Blair Hannah and Jeff Meador. They are also great and very helpful with bringing expertise on board through the duration of our engagement.

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

Concentric Design completely revamped our whole look, while enhancing the brand name, values and existing achievements. Not even a year ago, we came to Blair and Jeff with this very vague idea about how we wanted our business to look like, and they were able to articulate and visualize it for us better than we ever could.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their communication is top-notch. Because we are local, we were able hold regular in-person meetings at the earlier stages of our project, but now that we are in the midst of the pandemic, the workflow is completely unaffected, as we continue to work via calls and emails, they address any questions we might have in a speedy manner and follow up with us regularly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their artistic vision and ability to incorporate feedback into a beautiful end product blew us away. Concentric brings in comprehensive expertise that extends far beyond branding in design, in one package. And above all, they are just great people to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly cannot think of anything.