01-06-2012

Dojo Design Studio appear in Advanced Photoshop Magazine and offer advice on how to run a successful Studio.

Appearing in issue 96, we advised on building a team that suits your needs...

What in your opinion is the key to making a studio successful?

In our opinion, a successful studio is down to three things.

1. Hiring the best people
2. Building long-lasting relationships with our clients
3. Making the studio a fun, creative environment

If you wish to build a successful studio, leave your ego at the door. Always hire people better than yourself for the position you need to fill. There is no point bringing in people at the same level as the business will not grow and develop. Yes at some point you may need to hire a junior designer who will need nurturing, but having people in place to help carry the business forward will make your life as the business owner a lot easier.

Client relationships are equally important. A client, as far as we’re concerned, is part of our team and we are part of their team. In our studio, we believe very much in a one-to-one working relationship. Our project manager will oversee all projects are running smoothly and to schedule, while our designers will talk first-hand with the client, not through an account handler, as this helps build the team aspect with the client, and builds trust.

Keeping your designers happy will only help the creative process. We have a separate room in our studio were you can sit down, read one of the design books from our extensive library, play pool, or just chill. We cannot stress enough how essential this area has been in helping our team's creative juices flow. A place you can go to have a quiet moment to think, or relax and let your mind wander freely; all contribute to the welfare of the designers and studio as a whole. 

How important is it to work with like minded people in a creative environment or does diversity in thinking get better results?

Diversity wins every time. You don't want your studio to become stale and boring; it needs to constantly evolve and grow. Dojo have the philosophy that a client's return on investment and the trust they hold in us as designers, is equally as important as the creative solutions we produce. We are a results-driven design studio and all our designers strive towards that end. How you get there is always a challenge we relish and the diversity of our team helps to create the solution to fit a particular client's need.

Do you have any tips/tricks to keep the studio constantly on the same creative page?

We have a wipeable 'white-board' wall. We draw, sketch, stick and hang print-outs of project ideas and plans on this 6 meter wide creative space and welcome comments from other team members. Another designer may suggest something you never thought of, or come up with a better way of implementing a solution. It helps drive debate and keeps everyone in the loop of the projects currently in development. It's also fun to draw on the wall too!

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