If HUB Were an Animal
When we ask clients to tell us about their brands, they often struggle with how to start. To help, I tend to go back to a set of tricks my art school professor shared. These questions help people who don’t know design language to talk about their brands through metaphor. Communicating in metaphors is disarming, accessible, and interesting. The questions always embarrassed me a little, but they never failed to yield good insights about what people were thinking. One of the questions: If your brand were an animal, what would it be, and why?
When HUB started in 2004, we answered that question with: a well-trained black lab: high energy, intelligent, eager to please, a good partner. When our clients asked us to jump, we asked how high? We listened well; we helped them communicate in the most efficient way possible. We stayed within their brand guidelines. We always wanted to outperform the last task. We responded quickly, and we knew how to have fun while we did it.
In March 2020, the world stopped, and reevaluated everything. HUB reevaluated itself, too. 16 years in, we had survived the 2008 recession, walked away from a client that was 75% of our business, and completely flipped our business model away from production design towards strategy, creative problem-solving, branding, and marketing.
The team displayed different characteristics. We were no longer a high-energy lab. We were chameleons. Chameleons transform to match their environment, their eyes move independently from each other, their tongues can be up to twice their body length, their feet are specialized to move on many different surfaces, and they grow their entire life, shedding as necessary. Here’s what that means for HUB:
Transform to match the environment: We match our clients’ energy and method of communication rather than asking them to match ours. This makes others feel comfortable. Our clients trust us, talk to us, and listen to us.
Their eyes move independently: We identify who on our team best fills specific roles for specific segments of projects. We see challenges as opportunities to bring the team together and to stretch into new areas that, in the past, we might have avoided for fear of failure. We are unafraid to test uncharted territory because we know we have each other’s support, and that we can rely on each person’s unique strengths.
Their tongues can be twice their body length: We develop deep relationships with our clients, trusting relationships that begin with long conversations. We lead with research, curiosity, and exploration, using our listening skills to adapt to where our clients are and understand things from their perspective while not setting aside our expertise.
Their feet are specialized to move on many different surfaces: When we look at our body of work, we can’t identify a studio style. Our designs are not rooted in fads, gimmicks, the limitations of personal ability, or our brand story. It’s our goal to unearth the needs of our clients and discover the style that matches.
They grow their entire life, shedding as necessary: This can apply to the team, and it can apply to any project. Projects grow and evolve. We come up with good ideas - great ideas, that turn out not to be the right idea for the particular situation. So we have to put them away and move to the next thing. That forward movement is the kind of mature growth that gets good, lasting results.
Our approach as the chameleon is accessible, simple, and fun. Communication can be complicated and challenging, and by checking for understanding, we have the honor of experiencing success with our clients. We slow down, meet people where they are and help them get where they want to be. I hear that’s how you win the race.