2014 has been a busy year for IYBI. We've been working on some amazing and challenging projects for our clients, while simultaneously maintaining a strong focus on internal work. We completed our latest infographic on Creative Processes and as you may have noticed we re-branded the studio and launched our new website in February and have been working hard on perfecting it ever since.
For a creative team a website is never completely finished - there are always things that we could do better, images which could have more wow-factor and copy which could be written more eloquently. The site is constantly evolving and improving for this reason.
We wanted our online presence to reflect the shift to the ever growing number of digital projects we've been undertaking as a studio. We've been pushing the boundaries of our knowledge in order to be at the forefront of the digital realm whilst maintaining the aesthetic and vibe of the branding and print work that we've always been known for.
With a strong initial focus on functionality, it was clear we needed to inject a little more human feeling into the site. We are after all a small, hard working team who do a lot of work with other small, hardworking businesses and start ups. Our profession is all about people – connecting people to brands, information and websites (and vice versa). So we re-introducted two of our favourite features from the old site - our Studio Stats and the footer illustration.
The Studio Stats got a visual overhaul and are back better than ever, giving visitors a little insight as to what we're doing each week. They can be about anything from projects we're working on to our deep love of coconut water (or the beers chilling in the fridge for Friday).
The illustration was harder to get right. We spend so much time in our space and with our team that we find it hard to be objective. We also decided that we wanted an outsiders perspective, so we invited Elin Andersson round for a chat.
Elin Andersson is a very talented illustrator from Sydney who caught our attention through her work for the music blog Happy. To differentiate themselves from the crowd, Happy accompanies their artist interviews not with photos, but with illustrations by emerging local artists.
We did the first one for their interview with North Arm's Rod Smith, and since then they have attracted a pool of amazing young talent to source from. Andersson's first Happy piece was to accompany their interview with Melbourne party band The Pretty Littles, and she did such a good job that they invited her to do a second piece, this time for pop quartet Major Leagues.
Elin visited us in our sunny Enmore studio, and returned two weeks later with something that blew us all away. She captured all of the elements of our space and process in her sweet and quirky style. A multitude of figures demonstrate the flurry of activity that happens in the studio on a daily basis including sketching, mapping, mockups, photography, research and of course the all important coffee break. She even included Sammy the cat and the ukulele which hangs on the wall.
Andersson's illustration really captures the feeling of our studio, and is the perfect addition to the IYBI home page. It gives the viewer a real sense of who we are and how we work, a crucial factor when choosing a creative team.
