Rare Design Group

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the artistic and executive director at Dance House, a nonprofit organization based in Vancouver, B.C. We have a mandate of bringing international performing organizations and companies to Vancouver to present their work on a formal stage.

What challenge were you trying to address with Rare Design Group?

Rare Design was involved in our organization even in our preliminary days. We turned to them to help us define our brand from the get-go.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a number of discussions about what we were trying to do in terms of our value-based proposition and artistic or culture-based proposition. Vancouver has a rich and complex cultural community, and though we didn’t want to look at the other arts organizations as competitors, we had to think of ways to make ourselves stand out in the crowd. Rare design helped us find and establish that competitive edge.

Their team designed our logo and creative assets. They built out the general look and aesthetic feel of the visual elements of our brand. We wanted something that would endure, so they made sure to create something that was timeless and strayed from trends and fashions of the moment. 

What is the team composition?

Both of our organizations have grown, but back in the beginning, we were just working with Keith (Principal & Senior Designer).

How did you come to work with Rare Design Group?

We came to know them by word of mouth. Rare Design was one of the three companies that were referred to us, but we ultimately engaged them because they had all of the key elements for a great relationship. They just seemed to be a good fit in terms of their communication and approach to the project.

How much have you invested with them?

At this point in time, we’ve invested just shy of $100,000 CAD (approximately $78,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged them back in January 2008, and our collaboration is still very much alive and present at this time. 

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

Fifteen years later, the brand that Rare Design delivered is still solid. We’ve never felt the need to change, correct, or refresh it ever since. It has resulted specifically in us being able to sell tickets and generate revenue. In fact, when we started out, we were just servicing somewhere in the order of 3,000 clients. Now, we’re in the process of servicing an excess of 10,000 clients. 

How did Rare Design Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Rare Design has been very flexible towards changing timelines. For the duration of our partnership, we’ve never encountered any reason or challenge that would cause us to miss a deadline. 

We’ve moved into the Slack realm in the past couple of years, but we continue to correspond over the phone or via email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Even though both of our organizations have changed and grown over time, we still receive the same amount of attention from Keith as we did in the beginning. I’ve never felt like we’re being shuffled along as just another client on a growing roster. They’re very keen to make sure we’re satisfied, and they always seek our feedback or input. I greatly value that they don’t take our long-time partnership for granted. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they could improve on. They’ve provided nothing but top-notch services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Working with Rare Design has been such an easy experience that my only advice is to be your authentic self. Speak clearly and directly with them to get the best work out of them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Parkgate Society is a not-for-profit community services agency that provides child care, youth programs, and seniors programs and services to people living mostly East of the Seymour River in the District of North Vancouver. I am the Community Engagement Manager.

For what projects/services did your company hire Rare Design Group, and what were your goals?

We initially hired Rare Design to build us a new website to go along with our new branding. However, shortly after starting the project, we came to terms with the fact that we didn't like our new branding. We asked Rare Design if they could provide a branding solution for us - something that would reflect the spirit of our organization and differentiate us from North Vancouver Recreation and Culture (NVRC) with whom we share a building.

How did you select this vendor?

We put out an RFP. We received quite a few responses and selected 5 to interview, including Rare Design. At the interview, it was clear that they "got us". They did not wow us with donuts or glossy pamphlets; instead, they listened carefully and were quickly able to articulate a very good understanding of who we are and what services we provide. For this reason, it was an easy decision to choose them for the job.

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

Originally, we hired Rare Design to design us an updated website. We meet with them and spent half a day discussing the organization, our old website, what we wanted to keep and what new elements we wanted to be added to the new website. The took our notes turned it into a website architecture. It was at this point, we realized we wanted to relook at our branding and asked Rare Design if they could come up with a solution.

Within 2 weeks, they presented us with our new look and we loved it! Rare Design provided us with a Brand Kit and all the brand assets we needed as well as a meeting to go over all the details. Once this was done, we went back to the website design planning using the new branding. Rare Design provided us with a Wireframe and then we worked together to create the website and time it with the launch of the new brand.

All of this happened in the early days of the pandemic yet we still got it done successfully! We launched the new website and introduced the community to our new brand at our Annual General Meeting in early June 2020.

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

• Keith - he was the lead person and with whom I had most of my conversations. He also is the person who designed our new brand.
• Mira - leading the development of the website
• Adam - some of the website work
• Clayton - website development and any questions/issues that arise (We have our website maintenance and security with Rare Design.)

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

Our new branding and the new website have successfully differentiated us from NVRC. We are getting brand recognition and we have only had positive feedback about our branding and our website. Our staff really like its vibrancy and how it lends itself to being creative. I find the website very easy to maintain.

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

Keith took the lead on managing communication on their end and I took the lead from our end. At first, we met in person supplemented by regular phone calls and email. However, then the pandemic hit so we switched to virtual meetings using Zoom. We also used Google docs for content sharing. The original timelines were not met because first, we decided to change our branding (and this wasn't in the original plan) and second, the pandemic.

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

What I like best about Rare Design Group is the way they listened to understand our objectives. Instead of trying to sell us something fancy, they first listened very carefully to what we had to say. Consequently, I felt they really "got us". I also think Keith is an exceptionally good designer - we are so happy with the new look he created for Parkgate Society.

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

At the time, we discovered some areas where communication could be improved. However, Rare Design was very responsive to this - we talked about it and the improvements were made. (Also, this was at a time early on in the pandemic so we were all learning new ways to communicate.)