State Creative

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am on the Digital Marketing team for my organization and worked on our website redesign project from start to finish with State Creative. I knew from the first call with Garrett that they would be great partners. Garrett and I worked very closely throughout the entire project and I cannot say enough good things about him and the team! They met every deadline we discussed at the start of the project and managed our revisions, delays and feedback with ease and professionalism. They also worked closely with our existing SEO company throughout the project to make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone. I am so excited about the final product and know that it will make such a huge impact on our business!

For what projects/services did your company hire State Creative?

Redesigning an outdated Wordpress website

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

I looked for vendors on Clutch, Google and more. Interviewed/met with and reviewed proposals from 4 different agencies. The deciding factors were that Garrett was thorough, asked important questions about our needs, was able to work with our timeline and kept the project within our budget.

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

We provided a sitemap, details about our business, target demographic, integrations, needs, wants, etc. From there, they began with a homepage mockup that we gave feedback on and they revised from there. We worked our way through the inner pages of the website with that same process until the end of the project. We set deadlines for both teams (content/imagery on my end and designs and development on their end). They gave us training on how to use the site, and moved into the launch phase.

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

We worked only with our Project Manager, Garrett.

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

The overall look and feel is much more clean and modern. The backend of the site is also much more user friendly and easy to navigate and update.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were always extremely responsive, and we worked well together. Garret provided updates without having to be asked, and I always felt that I knew where we were in the process.

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

I really appreciated that Garrett was understanding and helpful, even when all of the input from our team was affecting the overall project timeline. There were times when we had to revisit previously approved details and rework them because of feedback from company leadership— not once did Garett or the team make us feel like it was a burden or inconvenience to them.

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

No, we felt that it was a very smooth project overall. State Creative worked us into their project calendar much later than expected because of unexpected delays on our end. A more concrete deadline for finalized web content on our end was the only hiccup throughout the whole project, and even that that was very minor.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Western Mixers & Nuts, Inc. is a wholesale distributor. The majority of our business is retailers across the US.

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

Our old website was deteriorating; it was built on the Magento 1 platform. There weren’t patches to keep up with the new Magento platforms, and PayPal stopped working with it. We needed a new website that would allow users to find products, make purchases, and make returns.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After we showed them examples of things we liked, State Creative built a new e-commerce website for us, based on the WooCommerce platform.  They added modules and provided training on some of the new features.

What is the team composition?

Garrett (Client Services) was the main point of contact. He had an entire team working with him.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

Garrett had built a website for our parent company. We liked his work and wanted to partner with him again when this project came up.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $23,000–$28,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2019 – July 2020.

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

The website has more flexibility and user-friendliness, strengthening our online store. It only launched 16 days ago, and we’ve already seen a tremendous increase of “will call” orders and impulse buys. 

Additionally, it offers more flexible sizing options for purchase. We have also had great feedback from customers who love how easy it is to navigate the website. We are very excited about the results.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They did well. We were in constant communication via phone calls, email, or UberConference. We were able to share screens, and talk through ideas, problems, and resolutions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

State Creative made it so easy to learn and understand. Garrett is calm and self-assuring, and he explains everything in common terms. They gave us guides for everything we needed to do, and how to look up guide pages with detailed instructions to refresh our memory, as needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would’ve been good if they had had an order checklist so nothing got overlooked. There were a few times where our expectations were different than what was delivered and corrections had to be made. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear list of your must-haves. That allows them to face those challenges upfront, as well as assist in choosing the right platform with the capabilities you require.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is a financial planning and investment management firm that manages assets for roughly 750,000 clients. I work as the client services administrator, and I also manage internal technology related tasks.

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

I liked to refer to our old site as a time capsule from the 1990s. It was old-fashioned and used a very basic HTML. We wanted to modernize the site in order to attract younger, tech-savvy clients, and add analytics software to measure where our referrals come from. An updated site would help us quantify data in order to make better business decisions.

What was the scope of their involvement?

State Creative used WordPress to revamp the site in a number of ways. It's now much easier to update page links, a process we used to outsource, costing us time and money. They also installed a visual overlay that makes it easier for visual-based learners in our office to add new posts. It’s much more intuitive than a regular text editor and saves our company the trouble of having to funnel new web content through a single website manager.

They also added a number of key features, including a left-hand column widget that helps draw users to other parts of the site. The widget is present on almost every page, and works as a convenient way to provide information to users. In addition, the site is now optimized for mobile devices.

They currently perform monthly site maintenance, primarily updating their custom widgets and plugins.

What is the team dynamic?

Our main contact was Garrett Goldman, who served as project manager. He worked with a small team of developers and designers to build the site’s backend.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

They were recommended to us by another financial planning firm. We had already gone through the project proposal process with four other companies, but found their solutions to be a little uncreative. Since those developers couldn’t offer the kind of flexibility that we wanted, we reached out to State Creative and were very impressed with their proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent about $50,000-$55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We accepted their proposal in August 2017 and launched the website in early September. They currently spend about one hour each month on site maintenance. While their standard package is two hours of maintenance each month, they were willing to work with us to meet our needs.

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

It’s difficult to measure growth since we didn’t have site analytics beforehand, but we have received a lot of positive feedback from our clients who really enjoy the modern look. Mobile optimization has also made it easier for us to direct clients to the site.

The data we’ve analyzed so far has provided a firmer understanding of how our clients come to us, which gives us a clearer idea of how to market our company.

While our target demographic is people in their 50s and older, the new polished design is already attracting younger clients interested in financial planning and asset management.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We had very specific desires, and Garrett did an excellent job managing our demands and meeting expectations, sometimes even going above and beyond.

We communicated primarily through Envision. They understand they're working with people who don't necessarily speak tech industry language, and they do an excellent job of explaining their process. Too many developers think in terms of numbers, but State Creative was able to break things down for us clearly. This, in turn, improves communication and keeps the project moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Garrett was very upfront with us. We adjusted the scope midway through the project and he was very clear about the new costs and what effect this had on our timeline. He remained realistic, which is important for projects like this in order to manage expectations.

They were also receptive to feedback. We made a few small requests, like enlarging the website text, and State Creative accepted that feedback without pushback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While we initially intended for State Creative to redesign our logo, we ultimately decided to hire a third party for that aspect. There was a bit of a disconnect in understanding how people in our industry think, which meant their logo design wasn’t entirely in line with our expectations. It was difficult for me to mediate, but I'm sure State Creative will learn more as they take on more clients from the financial field.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TForce Logistics is a provider of third-party logistics services for final mile activity to our clients. I’m the general manager and vice president.

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We had an old website that was outdated. We had also been purchased in the last couple of years and had gone through a name change, so we needed to update our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them an idea of what we wanted to portray to our customers. State Creative assisted with everything from the design, suggestions for content, revisions, completion, and the built out of the website. They also gave us training on how we can maintain certain aspects of the site ourselves. They completely rebuilt the website on WordPress. The site is pretty straightforward in terms of detailing what we do for anyone that is researching us as a function of direct sales opportunities or seeing our name come across through various marketing channels. We have functionalities associated with the ability for low volume clients to use the site for tracking and tracing of orders. The site links through to our operating system, and also has functionality that has potential partners for us to go on the site, register, and communicate with us. There’s also communication capabilities for someone wanting to reach out to us with general questions or sales opportunities. State Creative had two primary resources working on the project as well as a development team.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

They’re located in the same building as us. I had referred them previously to other folks in the industry. We are owned by a conglomerate that owns 55 companies and they did some work for some of those other companies. We didn’t put it out to a competitive bid but I did verify those costs against both our previous provider as well as folks that had an idea of what the cost should be for that type of site.

How much have you invested with State Creative?

We spent between $20,000 and $25,000 for the site.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the fall of 2016, and the site was completed and launched late in quarter one of 2017. I continue to ask questions if I need help. It helps that they’re so close.

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

We track site views, but I don’t know where we are right now. I’ve received positive feedback from folks within our organization and folks that deal with our organization from a partner perspective. We’re very pleased with the outcome.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They did great. For any organization that provides that kind of service, they need to teach the client to maintain it as well. They were extremely flexible and responsive throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about State Creative?

I would have a difficult time comparing them to anyone else because I haven’t gone through the web development process before. I’ve dealt with a lot of tech companies and my perception is that State Creative is small relative to some other agencies. They were extremely engaged all the way through from learning about the business and understanding what we were trying to accomplish, our target market, to helping us develop the site. I’m not an expert in social media or website development and they were able to accommodate, listen to, and respond to what I anticipated we needed.

Are there any areas State Creative could improve?

I had no issues with them. They were very responsive and executed to what I had hoped and expected.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at an asset management firm in Northern California; we have several branches. We have an asset management business, a family of mutual funds, and a research publishing business, which allows us to leverage our own models and research to help other financial advisors run their own business.

I came in as a research consultant and ended up serving primarily as the project manager on a website overhaul for our research business. My job was to work closely with our entire team here, and also to find a web development agency we could partner with to build a new site. I’ve been focused on that for the past two years now.

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

Our research website hadn’t been updated in eight years. Everything on the site was hard-coded and highly customized, which meant that it was very clunky and cumbersome to make any updates or changes. We were constantly leaning on our old web developer to make updates, and it became costly to manage the site. Our site had not emphasized our subscribers experience so UX become a major focus as well. There were a number of issues we wanted to tackle. We wanted to redesign and rethink the way we were presenting content. It was important that we found an agency that would be willing to give us full ownership of the content management system so we could make changes and adjustments ourselves and avoid issues that we ran into previously.

What was the scope of their involvement?

State Creative has a solid discovery process, involving detailed and thoughtful questions about our business, market, subscribers, target market, and the way we want to utilize the site. Then they provided a detailed document outlining exactly what the functions were going to be, including wireframes and a process for the design and development phases.

The design process was very thorough. Garrett Goldman, our primary contact, asked us to synthesize our team’s voice into comprehensive feedback about the design, to ensure things were as clear as possible. We used InDesign to provide feedback.

Once the design was complete, they worked on the development process using Laravel as our content management system. We weren’t familiar with Laravel, but given what we needed from a functionality standpoint, Laravel was the best choice according to State Creative. It fit our needs and didn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles that we weren’t going to utilize. It also made for a clean, easy to use interface on the admin panel. A number of people in our company can go in and make updates and they don’t need a background in programming to be able to do so.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

We threw out a pretty wide net and looked at about 20 companies as part of our vendor search. We reviewed online information and portfolios to narrow the list down to ten. We set up phone calls to discuss the project, then selected five firms to whom we would put out an RFP.

One of the differentiators that made State Creative stand out is that they’re a very process-driven firm. They have a tried and true method for building a website the right way. They were the only firm that asked for more information to help guarantee they could build us something great. They’re experts in what they do, and they’re not afraid to push back in a way that will be better for us in the long run. Another big differentiator was that we had one project manager throughout the life of the project.

How much have you invested with State Creative?

We’ve invested between $75,000 and $115,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in December of 2015, and our relationship is ongoing. We launched the site in March of this year and are now in maintenance mode. We hope to engage in Phase II to help polish the site after we learn more about how our users are making the most of the new platform.

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

We are thrilled with work they’ve done. It’s still early, but we’ve gotten glowing feedback on how easy it is to use the site. Our user base is not the most technologically savvy group, so we wanted a site that was intuitive, easy to use, and very clean. It was important that we distilled the real value that we bring to the table. The feedback from subscribers has been great so far, and it’s also been positive across the firm internally. It looks like we spent twice as much as we did. I’m optimistic that this will translate in a quantitative sense, and I’m excited to see how that impacts our business.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I didn’t know it was possible to have such a positive experience going through a web development project. Garrett is excellent. I’ve worked on projects in the past, and almost always, there’s some big sticking point. State Creative sticks to a method that has worked for them, and I think we both positioned ourselves for success when we agreed to trust one another. State Creative is an excellent design shop and web development agency and we know our clients best. Things got a little intense leading up to the launch date, but that is to be expected. Having a consistent project manager was a big differentiator. Garrett was our advocate throughout the life of the project and ultimately helped us launch a successful new site.

What did you find most impressive about State Creative?

A high level of integrity and authenticity. We are not designers or programmers, and sometimes we may not completely comprehend the implications for a particular request, or something might get lost in translation. I felt that State Creative really cared about making sure we were confident, comfortable, and happy with the end result and the process to get there. They genuinely cared about doing a great job, and it really showed. The entire team went above and beyond to ensure we could all be collectively proud of the final product.

Are there any areas State Creative could improve?

There could be some improvement in the process around launching the actual site. Having a process around that which is just a dialed-in as everything else would have made it the launch even more seamless and solid. It would also have instilled confidence at a time that can be very nerve-wracking.

I would also suggest offering additional support after beta testing, once new users are adopting a new system. We can only plan so much before the human element highlights areas that can use some tending to/refining. Perhaps there is a Phase II project in our future.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and attorney at a law firm. 

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We were aiming to gain visibility for the firm after starting the business.  

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a website as well as branding assets for my firm. Their branding deliverables included the color scheme and fonts that could be applied to stationery, logos, business cards, and other design work. They created the website using WordPress.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Garrett (Managing Partner) as my main point of contact.  

How did you come to work with State Creative?

I worked with them while at a previous law firm, and they did very well in that role. Because we were pleased with their work in the past, I was happy to hire them again.  

How much have you invested with them?

I put about $11,500 into the website build and marketing assets. Additionally, they’re on retainer for $2,000 to maintain the site through 2021.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–September 2020.  

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

We just launched the site, so we don’t have hard metrics yet. However, I’ve received positive reviews and comments about the website by users who are blown away by the logo and color scheme. People really like the brand, myself included.  

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I never had an issue with them because they were transparent and kept me updated. If I ever had an urgent request, they made it their highest priority. It helped to have one, central point of contact. Garrett was great to work with as a project manager. We communicated through phone, email, and Zoom.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creativity helped them deliver a user-friendly site that aligned with my goals. They had familiarity with the latest tools and technologies, so the process was seamless. It was easy to talk about my requirements, and they integrated my requests with ease. I was thrilled with the final product. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. I wish that I got the final website a bit earlier, but delays were on my end or due to COVID-19. They were very responsive and urgent.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re creative, open-minded people. If you have wild ideas, share them because they don’t come in with limitations or predispositions as to what is possible. They’ll provide feedback and be open to exploring solutions options.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the social media marketing manager for Brown & Brown Insurance. We’re an independent insurance intermediary that through its licensed subsidiaries provides a variety of insurance products and services to corporate, public entity, institutional, trade, professional, association, and individual clients.

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We needed a development firm to redesign our outdated website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Once the engagement began, we went over how their input could align with our goals. After several rounds of feedback, we finalized a design layout. State Creative successfully implemented the redesign in WordPress. They included features that tied our culture and branding to social media accounts. For example, they put a widget on our careers page that links to our Instagram. Part of our service package with them included a two-hour WordPress training seminar that taught us how to edit the site independently. Additionally, they incorporated SEO and relevant plugins to the site’s backend. Now, they provide ongoing maintenance and support.

What is the team composition?

Garrett (Managing Partner, State Creative) was our primary our point of contact, but they also had a team of people working on the project.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

We started looking at other websites within our industry to get an idea of how we wanted to update ours. State Creative happened to have made one site that impressed us. I googled them and called their office. I quickly got in touch with a project manager and we had a conversation regarding the general design we were looking for. They emailed me more information and a sort of proposal. After some internal deliberation, we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The web redesign cost $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The main project took place from April–August 2017.

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

One of the reasons we wanted to update our website was to increase lead generation. We don’t sell insurance online, but we want to share our story, products, and services to potential clients. We’ve seen measurable success with new business reliably coming in through the website. Within the first four months of its launch, we closed 50% of the leads it produced.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Web design isn’t my area of expertise, so I had trouble articulating the exact design aspects we were looking for. State Creative asked the right questions to lead us to the verbiage we were trying communicate. A few changes had to be made throughout the process, but that didn’t throw them off track. They stuck to the schedule they’d given us and accommodated our edits. They’re great partners and Garrett was especially excellent to work with. He contacted me on his wedding day to let me know he was out of the office.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Customer service is their best quality. We like the website, but working with a company that asks questions to accurately address our issues was great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to make sure that State Creative includes the WordPress training package with the project. I’ve never used WordPress on a large-scale and found the training extremely helpful. Not having to rely on someone else to edit your website is incredibly convenient.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital communications manager for Alluma, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California. We develop solutions for integrated eligibility systems.

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

We had recently changed our name and were going through a rebranding process. We needed to replace our outdated website with one that was mobile-friendly and aesthetically relevant. We hoped that a new website would generate leads and promote our newsletter.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our previous agency, who had overseen our name change, had provided us with some technographic information and brand guidelines, which we passed over to State Creative. State Creative then gave us a questionnaire so that they could discern our exact goals.

They then created a sitemap for the Drupal platform. They focused on creating a site that was intuitive and user-friendly to navigate for our target demographics: our clients, as well as policymakers and other non-profit entities. We also had high security requirements, since our platform deals with financial records.

Now, they provide ongoing maintenance services for the website.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Garrett Goldman, who served as a project manager. He managed the team working on web development.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

I wanted to work with a local company, based in Oakland, to support my community. With that being the requirement, I found State Creative through a Google search. Security was their strong suit, and they were also familiar with Drupal development. Finally, they were experienced in working with mission-driven partners like ourselves.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The website, from start to launch, lasted between April­–September 2019. We have an ongoing relationship with site updates.

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

While I don’t have exact numbers, yet, I’ve seen a measurable increase in newsletter sign-up. We’ve also seen a boost in our web traffic—both from referrals, and organically. Those numbers have definitively gone up, which we’re happy about.  

While we had high security standards, they succeeded in creating an engaging and visually modern website while abiding by stringent requirements.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Garrett was extremely responsive and flexible. The turnaround times for tasks were very quick. Although we can be high-maintenance, they were great at handling our requests and demands.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were flexible—they agreed to develop our Drupal site, although Drupal isn’t the most flexible CMS. And, they managed to create something visually captivating, within the CMS’s boundaries. I was impressed by how they managed to make our website look. They were also flexible in terms of how much content we could provide them with. We found their adaptability to be incredibly valuable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. I really had a great experience with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared to know your audience. It’s key to share as much information as possible with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a law firm that specializes in trust and estate issues, particularly estate litigation. I’m the firm’s administrator. 

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

Our firm had a very outdated website that lacked a modern design, like drill-down features and links. We knew that we needed to change it, but we didn’t have the resources or time to do so. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

State Creative built a new WordPress website from the ground up. First, they met with us and explained how they typically work, forecasting what the process would look like and what parts they would take care of. They identified a timeline. The team also educated us on modern-day web design and what consumers expect a website to do. 

State Creative helped us with a lot of branding. They taught us how to promote articles. They also helped us with print, photos, and the wording of presentations and lectures. The team educated us on how to describe events on our website. Besides making sure our website was current, State Creative also helped us with social media. 

Once the website launched, State Creative established a maintenance relationship. They told us about the services they’d continue to provide and how we should communicate with them. Now, we can call them whenever we need to and ask them to make a change or add something to the site. 

What is the team composition?

My only contact was Garrett (Client Services, State Creative). I know there was a bigger team because whatever the issue was, he distributed it to the right person. We didn’t have to navigate who did what, and Garrett always responded immediately whenever we reached out to him.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

My company formed a committee that interviewed quite a few website developers. They came to our office and pitched their ideas. State Creative came to us through a referral, but only one person on our committee knew that referral, so the rest of us were indifferent. We were really open to all of the presenters.

State Creative had an easiness about them; they made us feel comfortable. We were stepping into an area we didn’t know much about, and they really carried us through the process. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $15,000–$25,000. My company paid a set amount to launch the site, and now we pay an annual fee for maintenance. What you want drives the price. I was amazed at what could be done for such low prices.  

What is the status of this engagement?

State Creative worked on the site from January¬–September 2019. They probably could’ve done so in six weeks, but my team wasn’t helpful. They continue to provide maintenance. 

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

It’s changed everything for us. Our old website was affecting our recruiting; when we tried to hire new attorneys, they looked at our website and were not impressed. Now, they are, and we’re actively recruiting.

We’ve received lots of praise from candidates and clients about the website. In our email signature block, we’ve even included a line encouraging people to check out our new site, and that’s prompted a lot of response; people really like it.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

When they were doing web design and helping us with marketing, communication was constant. There was a period when we spoke almost daily. Sometimes, we sent long emails detailing what we wanted, and almost immediately, we’d get a response from State Creative letting us know what they’d completed. They were very efficient via email; I never had to figure out who to call.

State Creative kept the whole process moving. They looked at the old site and created a shell of a new website to prompt us along; if they hadn’t, we would’ve been stuck. They not only prompted us every step of the way; they also carried us across the threshold. The team was good about doing the work in stages so that we weren’t overwhelmed.  

Garrett was very approachable. He emphasized that we should be okay with what we didn’t know, which was why they were there to help us. He was also encouraging and kept coming back to us with new ideas. He really drove the ship. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did whatever they could to keep us moving forward. We also got immediate responses from them, no matter what the issue was. If they couldn’t make things clear in an email, they quickly set up a call to have a lengthier conversation. So much of what they had to do was educate us. They were incredibly helpful and calming; they knew how to speak to an audience that lacked their technical expertise. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. They’re fantastic.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you’re building a whole new website, stick to the timeline. When you’re not sure of something, call them; they will help you. They don’t hesitate to tell you if something may not look good or isn’t really industry-standard. State Creative pointed us in the right direction. They know this business, so be open to their insights.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a local organization in Redwood City, California that awards scholarships to high school seniors who demonstrate extraordinary levels of community volunteerism. Our criteria's simple. Students have to reside in Redwood City and demonstrate levels of volunteerism above and beyond what’s required by their schools.

What challenge were you trying to address with State Creative?

Our website was old and limited in functionality. Students specifically expect to be able to apply online. To have a healthy, robust organization that actually serves students, we needed to do a better job with our website and application process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

State Creative completely redesigned and rebuilt our website. They also added a custom e-commerce function. Usually, we have an annual awards dinner that’s attended by 400–500 people and each honoree. We wanted an e-commerce function for people to buy tickets to the event or enter a coupon code to zero-out the price. The e-commerce function essentially automated ticket attribution and table assignment.

Their team also build an online application process. Users could upload documents and fill out an application form on our website.

What is the team composition?

I had one point of contact.

How did you come to work with State Creative?

I searched online and asked five agencies for quotes. We found two agencies through referrals from board members. We found the other three from services such as Clutch. We had initial calls, looked at samples, and invited three agencies to give us a hard bid. We made our decision based on their track record, understanding of the project, and price.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $15,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our contract with them in April, and the project finished in September 2020.

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

Anecdotally, everyone thinks the website’s wonderful. It looks better, and it’s easier to navigate. However, we haven’t entered our application or ticket buying seasons. We haven’t had a chance to test the functionalities in real life yet.

How did State Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

State Creative communicated deadlines, expectations, and milestones. I worked on many websites with one company. As we repeatedly collaborated, we developed a shorthand. During this engagement, I had to learn a different system, so it was a learning curve.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There was no drama during the project. We didn't argue about what was or wasn’t in the scope. I wasn’t surprised by the directions their team took. State Creative made everything clear, so the project moved forward linearly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a few moments when we couldn’t access our PayPal account because State Creative was linking it to our site. It would’ve been helpful if they told us when we wouldn’t have access to the account.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you want. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.