About Us
Hand-crafted design made right here in San Francisco
We're a graphic arts studio that specializes in digital and print work for local businesses and more.
We can join your team or create one for your next project.
The products and services we offer
Recommendations Received (6)
"I have known John for many years. He does a fantastic job of listening to what you are looking..."
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"I have known John for many years. He does a fantastic job of listening to what you are looking for and turning it into reality. When I opened my company, I knew that he would be the person I would reach out to for this job. I was thrilled with his design. Not only is he a talented designer, but a fantastic person & artist. I absolutely recommend John."
"An artistic eye. And able to bring that vision into the view of others."
Products & Services
We design, build and maintian dozens of WordPress websites for local businesses and startups. We specialize in customizing sites to not be cookie c...
From business cards and mailers to full publication design, we love designing for print production. Our team includes photographers, copy writers a...
MP3 may be king, but there's still a lot of people pressing CD's and vinyl, and we love designing for print and packaging. Contact us for a quote t...
Gallery
Recommendations Given (10)
"Doug is a master in the culinary arts and everything he creates is mouth wateringly delicious"
"The best, hardest working photographer I know. Great results every time."
Recent Activity
Ask a painter what their favorite color is. Ask a composer what their favorite piano key is. Ask a mother which is her favorite child. You can probably tell more about a designer by whether they have an immediate answer this than by what typeface (thanks for not saying "font") they list. OK,...
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Ask a painter what their favorite color is. Ask a composer what their favorite piano key is. Ask a mother which is her favorite child. You can probably tell more about a designer by whether they have an immediate answer this than by what typeface (thanks for not saying "font") they list. OK, snarky, but yes, still having fun. I actually had a client ask for Comic Sans the other day. He said it was his favorite. I wasn't sure how to begin the education. So much for favorites. Typefaces one likes is another subject alltogether, and I'm seeing some excellent choices here! ps.I have a lot of typefaces I realy like, but could never use on client projects. Just too much damn character for today's tastes. (I know, get better clients)
All of my websites and my clients websites are built using WordPress (the capitaliztion of the "P" is considere important). In the past year, I have added Beaver Builder and Beaver Themer to almost all of them. It makes customizing layouts a breeze, and does so in a way that is truly responsive...
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All of my websites and my clients websites are built using WordPress (the capitaliztion of the "P" is considere important). In the past year, I have added Beaver Builder and Beaver Themer to almost all of them. It makes customizing layouts a breeze, and does so in a way that is truly responsive and versatile.
In the new Guttenberg version of WP, a lot of this is baked in, but I haven't had a chance to try that out yet.
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Revealing observation: I had a client with an ecommerce shop that had a secure shop, but the home page and some other pages weren't secure. This was enough for them to get comments almost every week. When some customers see "not secure" in their browser (which Chrome and Safari now do) it greatly...
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Revealing observation: I had a client with an ecommerce shop that had a secure shop, but the home page and some other pages weren't secure. This was enough for them to get comments almost every week. When some customers see "not secure" in their browser (which Chrome and Safari now do) it greatly diminishes their trust. Even for sites where no data is collected.I'm moving all my clients to https. Personally, I have quite a few sites of my own, and am considering changing hosts so that I don't have to pay for the certificate (currently with GoDaddy, who charges a lot).Can't wait to find out what Google insists we need to have next year.
Depends on the kind of business. You'd have a hard time finding me with a simple search. "Web design San Francisco", good luck. So, that avenue isn't super important to me.If I was a niche business, like the only seaweed pet toy maker in California, then it would be extremely important.
The...
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Depends on the kind of business. You'd have a hard time finding me with a simple search. "Web design San Francisco", good luck. So, that avenue isn't super important to me.If I was a niche business, like the only seaweed pet toy maker in California, then it would be extremely important.
The other question everyone else seems to have answered is, yes, you absolutely have to have a website, a good looking one, a fast loading one, and responsive for mobile.Many businesses here in SF are turning to one page sites, with address, hours, phone and one nice photo. They know that nobody has the time to read anything more.
I think it's clear enough and on message. The only thing that threw me was the top nav. When I mouse over "Contact" I expect a behavior for that link, but what I'm seeing is a behavior displayed for the other links.
Instead, start with them all gray, and then highlight to black when moused...
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I think it's clear enough and on message. The only thing that threw me was the top nav. When I mouse over "Contact" I expect a behavior for that link, but what I'm seeing is a behavior displayed for the other links.
Instead, start with them all gray, and then highlight to black when moused over. Or just get rid of the effect alltogether.
If you can, get a bit more space between them while you're at it.
The same thing is going on with the social links, but there it seems more intuitive. Hmmm.
Nice site!
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Steer clear of Fiver. Is your business idently really worth so little? The mark that represents you on your website, social media, business cards and every product you make?A case study from last year. A startup used a cheap logo service and liked the results. The service had done no research. It...
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Steer clear of Fiver. Is your business idently really worth so little? The mark that represents you on your website, social media, business cards and every product you make?A case study from last year. A startup used a cheap logo service and liked the results. The service had done no research. It turns out the logo they came up with was exactly the same as one in use by an existing business, and after a few months the recieved a letter from their lawyers.
The had to start over again, and pay to redo all their print materials, website and delivery vans. Wound up costing a lot more than $5.
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Egads! Now I know why people cringe when I tell them I'm a graphic designer.
The entry threshold is low. Anyone can say they're a designer. However, if you do a more thorough vetting up front, you can steer clear of part-timers or people who are between jobs and find a dedicated designer or...
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Egads! Now I know why people cringe when I tell them I'm a graphic designer.
The entry threshold is low. Anyone can say they're a designer. However, if you do a more thorough vetting up front, you can steer clear of part-timers or people who are between jobs and find a dedicated designer or firm that has a proven track record of sticking with their clients over many years.
I pick up a lot of projects from clients who went through a stream of "designers" and "developers" and were always left in limbo when the contractors moved on.
If you call a few of the designer's clients and ask them what kind of long-term and ongoing service they receive and how happy they are with the results, you won't have to deal with fly-by-night con men.
