Year in
Review
Year in
Review
Year in
Review
Three years in our little shipping container.
Lessons Learned
2023 was a whirlwind. We started slow and steady, then moved into extremely slow and not very steady, and then the minute Jesse headed off for paternity leave in June, we moved directly into way-too-much way-too-fast, and never really left it. It was a year where we said yes to everything, sometimes out of financial necessity, sometimes out of fear that this was the last client we would ever get, and sometimes out of a fear of disappointing someone. There was a lot of fear! In the end, we worked our butts off, we made some great stuff and met some great people, but that’s not how we want to run our business or live our lives.
Moving into 2024, we wanted to take all of the lessons of 2023 and find a new, better way to do what we do. Here were our goals:
Be an Adobe Live guest
Be an Adobe Live guest
And guess what... it worked!
We didn’t have nearly as many new clients this year, but we got to spend more time with great friends we already had, and expand and express ourselves in bigger projects with bigger scopes and new challenges. We were profitable without being overworked or overwhelmed. We also fully synthesized our roles and our process and leveled up creatively.
Adobe Live
Adobe was kind enough to invite us onto their Youtube channel for a Creator Spotlight in August. Not even a case of covid could keep us from joining to talk about Trust, our process, and how we cover so much creative ground as a small, two-person team. It was such an incredible experience, our first public appearance as a studio and the first time either of us have spoken to an audience like this as professional creatives. Check out the full video if you're not sick of hearing us talk!
Highlights from our work
By the Millers
Last year we branded Forte Film Studio, the commercial production studio of Aaron and Andrea Miller. Later in the year they came back to us, looking to rebrand their wedding film company, By the Millers. Most of the branding work took place in late 2023, but the launch was early 2024 so it goes on the list!
We landed on the concept of wedding films as heirlooms, beautiful works of art that could be passed down and enjoyed with children and grandchildren, and built a brand that was classy and warm, with a flashy website to match!
bythemillers.co
Hometeam
Hometeam was one of our first clients, they trusted us when we were just getting our feet under us, before we even had a logo. Our relationship has grown every year, and this year all that time and energy was combined into something beautiful, a fully realized, fully featured brand. We combined branding work from last year with new ideas and new initiatives to make something that serves all corners of their business (a business that serves all corners of the world!) A lot of heart, sweat, and strategy went into this project, and we can’t wait to see how it grows along with Hometeam from here.
wearehometeam.com
Radish Counseling
Abbi and Becca came to us early this year with an exciting project. They were building their very own counseling practice and wanted our help from the ground up with the brand. They had already come up with the name Radish, referencing radishes' role as companion plants that help other plants in a garden grow. That was more than enough of a concept for us to build an earthy, warm, approachable brand full of illustrations, textures, and a few clever gardening puns.
radishcounseling.com
Datalily
If you know anything about the design world, then you know Hoodzpah. They create work that constantly inspires us for companies like SeatGeek, Red Bull, and ILM. They also produce incredible resources for designers that have helped us so much in the first few years of our studio. This year we had the opportunity to collaborate with them to develop the website for Datalily, an awesome marketing company that they were wrapping up a brand for. And as a bonus, our good friend Ethan from Bad Lucky Studio did all the awesome animation!
It was honestly a dream come true, we (mostly) played it cool and moved seamlessly from fans to collaborators. The website came out great and we learned so much from the experience.
datalily.com
In Conclusion
This was another great year of Trust. An empowering, validating year that filled us with confidence and excitement heading into 2025. We aim to build off of that energy, continuing to foster deep relationships, learn new skills, and make great work while staying healthy mentally and financially. We will make more content, write more, post more work, and try to get more involved in design and local community. More than anything, we want to do more of what we do best, building brands from the ground up. If you or anyone you know is looking for a quality design team to bring their brand to life, send them our way. Thanks for reading.
Special Thanks
We worked our butts off this year, but we couldn't have done it without a ton of support from our clients, collaborators, friends, and awesome designers that provide inspiration, education, and support (often for free).
Thank you to our spouses and our families, to Matt Lucas, Brandon, Taissa, and Harley at Hometeam, Jen and Amy Hood, Ethan Silva, Austin Saylor, Kameron Davis, Ryan Selvy and Kieron Lewis at Adobe, Jon Chapman, Paul Sirmon and Justin Miller at Monsters of Type, and so many other people that we'd be here all day trying to type them all.
