Max Goodwin Design

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Synergize Business Solutions. We help small businesses optimize and grow further by introducing ways to streamline their processes, as well as bring creative solutions and marketing ideas into their companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Max Goodwin Design?

We originally got our branding done from an entirely different organization, but we weren’t really happy with how everything flowed. Our branding looked okay, but it didn’t look as professional or as streamlined as we wanted it to be — it didn’t have that wow factor. Therefore, we commissioned Max Goodwin Design to come in and work through the process of reviewing what we had. We didn’t want to stray too far away from certain elements because we were heavily involved in the building of our initial logo.

We wanted a balance between refreshing and expanding our brand and having it go the next mile.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The scope of our project was mainly focused on the image and design of our brand. Max (Creative Director) provided us with a full brand guide with all of the pieces and elements we needed to move things forward. We were given a bunch of sample graphics and sample layouts that we would be able to use in marketing, advertising, or social media.

Basically, they provided the framework for us to make the decisions that we needed, to get to where we needed to go.

What is the team composition?

We just worked directly with Max.

How did you come to work with Max Goodwin Design?

We had previous knowledge of Max’s work and we specifically enjoyed some of the work he had done with other brands.

How much have you invested with them?

Categorically, we spent under $5,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2020–April 2021.

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

As of the moment, we can’t really provide any metrics, but I would say we were 100% satisfied with their work. We’ve shown the graphics and outcomes to several individuals and some of our clients, and had a really strong reception and positive response from them. In their own words, our branding looked more grown-up, more professional, and sleeker.

How did Max Goodwin Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Max was great in managing the meeting, the flow of the process, and communicated clearly what our next steps were. We interacted mostly through phone, email, and Team meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would say their biggest strong suit was their design capabilities and flexibility. We were also impressed with ability to bring their creative process to get all our wants and needs, and find the balance in those dichotomous areas. Additionally, what I absolutely admired about them was their ability to create so many glowing elements within our brand. I feel like we have so many elements now that can give us the versatility to have fun with all the different design opportunities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Max was super eager to improve his process, so the homework we had suggested was to tailor back the document we had to fill out, because it felt a little bit long. He was very responsive, and I think he’s been actively working on improving on the areas he needed to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The only thing I would suggest is to have a description of your needs up front. Max’s process is designed to get clarity on people’s wants and I think he can do what's required for him to do. Being upfront with the mood, feeling, and direction you want to go to is always helpful.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the VPs of operations for a brewery that’s dedicated to serving beer in central Alberta.

What challenge were you trying to address with Max Goodwin Design?

Max (Creative Director) was involved in setting up our website, as well as our initial and second run at can designs. He also provided brand marketing, online support, and web design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Max Goodwin supported and facilitated some online designs and set up our website. He then did the backend work to set up the infrastructure for our emails, as well as the web analytics we can look into. He provided us with working boards and wireframes on the website for us to review and make design decisions. He also developed a little bit of content for us, but he was mainly focused on graphic design.

In addition, he helped optimized our search functions to drive traffic to our website early on — he also got some photography done for that as well. Moreover, we worked with him to develop the can designs of what we call our signature series, a line of four different styles of beer. He helped us through the process to really represent our brand by facilitating some of our graphics and images.

Additionally, Max also consulted us regarding our social media marketing, but we mostly kept that in-house.

What is the team composition?

Max was our primary designer, and his goal was to provide us with a really good brand identity, as well as some really concrete products and marketing materials.

How did you come to work with Max Goodwin Design?

We were looking for a younger business to help support and grow our young business. As a newer designer, Max had a really good price point for the work we did with him — it helped us move ahead when he bundled some design packages together. He also understood the clientele we were advertising to because he’s originally from the central Alberta area.

How much have you invested with them?

We probably invested around $10,000–$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2018–January 2020.

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

The design of our cans has gotten great reviews from our partners or liquor agents. The team efficiently pulled together five different ideas that met all our needs, and made us a distinct brand that all of us can get behind and be proud of. He gave us support and helped get our brand and identity off the ground.

How did Max Goodwin Design perform from a project management standpoint?

He did really well to lay the best direction for us to go. That being said, we did have to come back to a couple of things to make sure we were clearly communicating throughout the project. However, they had a definitive process of understanding, discovery, presentation, and feedback, that allowed us to get the work done.

Most of our communications were done through email or phone, with a couple of face-to-face meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One thing that we liked about working with them was the ongoing appreciation for the quality at the end of the product and process. They always made sure we had the best brand, and they worked diligently to complete that for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Both our companies were really new at the time so it was probably more about needing to get out and get some experience over time, to help generate ideas. In hindsight, it was good to work with a new designer at the time, but having a little bit more experience, which I believe Max has worked on now, would’ve been really beneficial for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It would be really beneficial to have a good idea of what you want to achieve from a brand identity perspective. This will really help you understand your core values, so make sure you bring those to the designer.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of a small business strategic growth consulting firm co- owned with my business partner Sarah.

For what projects/services did your company hire Max Goodwin Design, and what were your goals?

We hired Max to refresh and revamp our brand image and assets. Our main goal was to have a more diversified visual portfolio for our brand.

How did you select Max Goodwin Design?

We seen Max's work with some other local businesses in our area and were impressed.

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

 Discovery During this phase, we will be getting “Clarity and Alignment”. Here, we begin to understand your business, customers, interaction points, competition, and short and long term goals. Refine Stylescapes are presented to establish the direction of what the brand can look and feel like. At this point, we have fully developed the mission, vision and message of the business.

Creation At this point, we understand almost every space in which your brand may operate. Let's create and present your brand to the world. 04 Evaluation Did we hit our Key Performance Indicators? We review what was successful and what we can improve upon.

How many people from the Max Goodwin Design team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with Max.

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

We have been absolutely thrilled with the visual improvement to our brand image and the assets we now have to work with.

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

Max stayed in constant communication with us and kept us up to date with the process.

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

The quality and quantity of custom assets.

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

We were very impressed with their creativity and skills. We would use him again.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a mens sexual health company that focus on mens sex products/

For what projects/services did your company hire Max Goodwin Design, and what were your goals?

We are a start up and needed help with branding, marketing and narrow down our target market. As well as discussing business strategies.

How did you select this vendor?

I knew Max personally and have seen projects that he had previously been apart of and was very happy with his work.

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

To start, we went through a brand exploration process where we created a brand identify and indentified our targent market. From there we when through a creative process to generate a company name and our brand that would resonate with our target market.

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

We worked directly with Max himself.

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

Because of the product, we were able to create our company brand identity, all of the branding and graphic design and as well help us a brand strategy to get our company of the ground.

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

We had weekly video meetings where we would go through a creative process and review any progress made over the previous week. We also had a chat were we had direct contact with Max.

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

Their commitment to the process was impressive. Max guided us through every step the way and we felt as though he took the the project one as if he were a member of or team. He listened and provided much needed advice along the entire process. As well Max has a very unique create design style which work perfectly with our project.

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

The project could not have gone an more smoothly.