What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Their work on the architecture reposition was profiled by an industry-leading trade publication, who said the way they presented the client's work had never been done before. Regarding UCLA, they were able to create a coherent identity that also captured the individual departments' essences. We’ve gotten positive feedback on the logo system, and Use All Five presented their work at a Google conference, which caused others to take note. They get all the credit for faculty, students and prospective students, and the public appreciating our website.
How did Use All Five perform from a project management standpoint?
Depending on the project, we schedule regular meetings, and Levi puts together critical paths and schedules, which are shared as Google Docs. They use InVision to process all the design iterations and show us concepts, but don’t use tools like Asana. I don’t personally work in that space.
We’ve hit some bumps in the road when we lost a few people, but that’s one of the challenges of working with a growing firm. Overall, they have a consistent crew that keeps working until everything’s right. While some companies will ask for more and more money to keep improving something, Use All Five works beyond the finish line without complaint.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They do an amazing job from both an intellectual and conceptual point of view and a pragmatic and aesthetic one. Less apparent is their support for their community. They engage with the broader community of designer, artists, and thinkers, bringing people together in events to showcase their work. Finally, they’re just good people. I started a petition after the Sandy Hook shooting, and Levi made the website for me in 24 hours as a personal favor.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I would advise having an overall traffic manager. Troy is an amazing designer, but he’s not a project manager, and Levi, as the CEO, can’t do everything. Levi’s looking into bringing someone on to manage the process and do QA for all his teams. They’re in a good place as a growing firm, but they haven’t built the infrastructure yet to handle bigger and bigger projects. That being said, this hasn’t impeded my work with them.
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
Come ready with clear parameters. Engagements are complicated when the client isn’t clear with their briefs and objectives and can’t provide the designers with the structure they need. Having clear parameters will empower the designers to respond and react and fill in any remaining blanks.
Use All Five provides thorough guidance to determine practical branding elements. They are receptive of feedback and take great care to implement it into new iterations of projects. The team communicates well across time zones, and they provide a comfortable atmosphere at a competitive price.