Opus Design

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Associate Director of Advancement Communications at Westover School, an all-girls, independent, college preparatory school in Middlebury, Connecticut. In addition to coordinating external media communications, I also coordinate the design of various internal printed materials, assist in providing some news-related content for our website, and provide support for school-sponsored events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Westover hired Opus Design as our principal print designers. We worked with them to develop the style guide for our printed materials, the redesign of our wordmark, logo, and branding elements, and the overall design of several major print pieces, primarily our twice-a-year Westover Magazine, which is distributed to alumnae, parents, and other constituencies of the School.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to develop a fresh look for our Magazine that would be appealing and accessible to alumnae ranging from the classes of the 1930s through our current decade, as well as parents of alumnae and current students, prospective students and their families, and other constituencies.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Representatives of our Administrative Team (primarily our Director of Advancement Communications, Director of Alumnae Relations, and our Director of Admissions) worked with an outside consultant to select and meet with several design firms that had extensive experience working with independent schools on marketing and design projects.

Opus was selected based on their innovative, fresh approaches to a range of printed materials, as well as their ability to tailor their design work to fit the individual brands of their clients.

Describe the project in detail.

Westover Magazine is a twice-a-year print publication ranging from 60 to 96 pages in size. Each issue is built around a theme reflected in its lead content. Working over time with our team at Opus, we have created sections (a "cover story" section, news from school, news about alumnae, class notes) that allow for the Magazine to be assembled in sections over the course of several months.

Content (photography, stories) are supplied by the School’s Advancement Communications team, working with the Alumnae Office, other departments, and outside professionals (such as photographers for special events, etc.). The content is then supplied to Opus, which creates the look of each section.

The production of each Magazine actually begins with special attention to the issue's cover content – how best to convey that issue's theme (photography, graphic art, etc.) and Opus's team will then often use elements of the cover treatment throughout the various sections to support and reinforce them theme throughout the publication.

While the school's team is responsible for the overall content, our Opus counterparts give us a lot of guidance, suggestions, and requests regarding the details of the content – especially images, pull-quotes, etc.

What was the team composition?

While I am the primary contact for our team of four content suppliers from within the school (in terms of written content, proofing, photography), we work with primarily two members of the Opus staff – an art director and a designer – who create the layouts for our review and proofing. We also use an outside professional editor to review all written content who also serves as an additional set of eyes for proofing layout, etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Over the last several years since Opus has been responsible for our Magazine design, we have received an increasingly favorable response from our alumnae and other constituencies to both the content and design of the publication. The response from our readers have been that the Magazine's look and content has included such phrases as exciting, vibrant, accessible, eye-catching, etc.

The response is a marked enhancement to the responses from our readers to our previous designer's publications, which, while overall positive, elicited more frequent complaints about readability and the "busy-ness" and dullness of the Magazine's design.

While the school's current communications team has had a hand in that enhanced perception of the magazine, the talents and vision of our colleagues at Opus Design have to be credited with the physical transformation of our Magazine. To put it simply, they have worked hard to "get" us – our School's culture, our mission, our brand – and they use their design ingenuity to capture it all in our Magazine.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have developed a close working relationship – a true sense of teamwork – that enables us to develop a good routine in terms of deadlines, work flow issues, etc.

When occasional problems of meeting deadlines or content quality arise, as they inevitably will, we can feel comfortable addressing the problems the moment they arise and look for solutions in a collegial way. We look together for suitable "plan b" options, adjust accordingly, and – for the most part – are able to find solutions and stay on task to meet deadline targets.

The key is to come up with a deadline schedule and content ladder that is reasonable and doable as the first order of business. This is reviewed, revised, and agreed upon before anything else is undertaken. That all but eliminates major problems from cropping up as the project proceeds.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team always manages to elicit a delighted "Oh wow!" response from us when we see their design work, even when we have had an active role in shaping the content and the direction of the design. That's a sign of their creative vision, their sparkling design sense, and their out-of-the-box imaginations.

At the same time, working with them doesn't have the usual "client/vendor" dynamic ... essentially, we feel we are working more as colleagues. That makes for a very satisfying working relationship.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As with much of today's working environment, for awhile virtually all of our communications were being done via email communications. That sometimes led to back-and-forth discussions that took more time and effort than I found necessary.

In the last year, I have been delighted to discover that they really are completely open to my occasional request for more frequent one-on-one phone conversations to resolve questions or concerns. In looking back, I think I was mistaking their use of email communications as their not being open to verbal communications. That misunderstanding is on me, not Opus.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Communications and Marketing Coordinator at BlueHub Capital, formerly Boston Community Capital, a nationally recognized nonprofit community development finance organization. I help manage and oversee all external and internal communications and marketing efforts for the organization, including branding and media relations. I helped manage and execute BlueHub's 2018 formal rebranding campaign.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

In recent years, it had become clear that our national work was no longer best served by our placed-based name, which was firmly planted in Boston. In 2017, we decided to undergo a formal rebranding campaign to change our name and freshen our identity to better reflect the breadth and depth of our work. This included everything from naming through strategic messaging materials, a new logo, and a reskinning of our website to match the new identity.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed an external vendor who could help guide us strategically through the process of revisiting our brand identity and bringing freshness to it after 30+ years. We needed a talented, forward-thinking group of strategic partners who could help us stay true to BlueHub's deep roots and values while reflecting our nimbleness and ability to innovate. We found that in OPUS.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our CEO and CCO selected OPUS based on their portfolio and their personal warmth. It became clear after meeting them that they were the right team for our work.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The process began with a series of discovery sessions involving our CEO, CCO, and other senior leaders. There were many key stakeholders for us, both internally and externally, so it was crucial that OPUS team members were willing and able to truly listen and learn about our company’s history as well as its vision for the future. This rebranding campaign was as much a strategy exercise as much as anything else the company has ever undergone, and OPUS’s thoughtful approach to landing on our key brand attributes and the right name was crucial. It set the tone for the rest of the work. Once we landed on the name, they worked with us to develop a logo that truly reflected our best qualities, and expertly put a plan in place to quickly execute a website refresh process to match the new brand. Strategic brand messaging materials and redesigned collateral (ads, internal documents, slide decks, etc.) were accomplished right alongside a revamped brand presence and website. Thanks to OPUS’s expertise and project management, we were armed and ready to launch right on time—less than 7 months from landing on the new name.

What was the team composition?

I worked primarily with OPUS's two Creative Directors, along with their UX/Digital Director on the website refresh. I also had the great fortune to work with two of their senior graphic designers on branding, collateral, and the website. As our project's needs evolved, the OPUS team always directed us to the right person on their staff for the job. Across the board I was blown away by the depth of knowledge and the thoughtfulness that each of them brought to our campaign.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our rollout was timed so that we could attend two national conferences to promote our new identity. Our peers there had nothing but warm compliments for the new brand's look and feel, and the logo in particular was admired by all. Key stakeholders wrote back and returned our calls during the rollout and beyond with praise for the name, logo, and the professionalism of the rollout. Crucially, staff enthusiasm for the new brand was extremely high. I could sense so much pride in this new phase we were entering as an organization.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

OPUS was there with us every step of the way. All of the OPUS team members we worked with were unbelievably talented and effective in their roles, and they project managed this undertaking flawlessly. I don't believe we would have been able to achieve such a strong result and smooth rollout in the timeframe allotted without their efficiency and expertise.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have a complicated business with multiple business lines and many stakeholders. We asked OPUS to walk a tricky tightrope of refreshing our brand without allowing our mission or core values to get lost along the way. And, to top it off, we asked them to do it in a very, very short time. Their ability to help us thread that needle so carefully, so that we could land on a brand identity that felt right for the next 30 years, was truly remarkable. I could not have asked for more professional or talented partners in this journey.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Opus Design is a group of fine-tooth-comb, detail-oriented professionals. They are conscientious and self-reflective. I know they will always look to improve--and they will, wherever they feel it necessary. From my perspective, the experience of working with them together on our rebrand process was one of the best I've ever had at work.