Small is big.

Shouting out to our small biz clients.

By Marissa Loper

Let’s be real—being the boss is a tall order.

Sure, leading the charge usually comes with some perks, but being the boss is also often exhausting and crazy stressful—from recruiting and retaining top talent and juggling expenses to sourcing and delighting clients and solving big-picture problems— all while searching from some semblance of a work/life balance in between.

Under normal circumstances, leadership is a challenging gig, and under the current still-grappling-with-COVID circumstances, leadership is not for the faint-hearted or uninspired.

So I’ll say it again for my boss friends in the back:

Your job is tough, and Team Thinkwell salutes you.

And it just so happens that one of our very favorite pastimes here at Thinkwell (don’t judge us: we’ve got a bunch) is to work with badass bosses and make them and their amazing businesses shine.

Thankfully, we have no shortage of awe-inspiring leaders in our client pool, and we thank our lucky (creative, hard-working) stars every day for the chance to tell our clients’ stories powerfully, efficiently and accentuated with gorgeous design.

And while we love working with ALL our clients—from gigantic companies we’ve partnered with for years (we’re looking at you, Hilton, AutoZone and Focus Brands) to the just-born businesses that need our help to launch—we must admit, small businesses hold a special place in our hearts.

Why do small businesses make our hearts skip a beat?

Well, for starters, it’s in our DNA. Thinkwell is a female-led, small business, and we know precisely how much power it takes to launch and lead a company.

We understand all too well some of the challenges small businesses face, and we take great pride in the countless joys that are woven into the fabric of small shop ownership.

At Thinkwell, we love our smallish size because it means all our clients are our “big clients,” so everyone receives our best effort. We delight in offering exemplary service at a reasonable rate, and we enjoy some flexibility and freedoms that larger organizations just don’t (see also: using the word badass on our blog).

And since it’s National Small Business Week, we thought it was the perfect time to sing the praises of some of our favorite small business heroes near and far.

Take, for example, Becca Gaines.

Becca is an interior designer, philanthropist, dreamer and the owner of B. Gaines Interior Design and Hey Rube design shop and showroom.

Becca’s full-service interior design firm and companion shop are elevating the game when it comes to curating sophisticated residences and commercial spaces from concept to completion. As the poster child for humble elegance and artistic livability, Becca has our heart; as a client, she has us hooked.

Last year, Becca reached out to Thinkwell for a possible brand refresh assist, and soon we were off to the races. We relished the opportunity to tackle a total brand refresh for Becca’s businesses, particularly when presented with the challenge to incorporate a philodendron plant (a special bloom that’s been in Becca’s family for generations and sits on display in her showroom) into her company logos. Our design team did a beautiful job seamlessly blending this nostalgic nod into clean, simple and high-end logos for both brands, and we had a blast working with Becca to co-create new business cards, in-shop pieces, mailing materials and more.

In addition, we were happy to give BGID a digital boost, including a complete website overhaul with fresh content, a new user-friendly platform for easy edits and updates and a clean, professional look reflecting Becca’s blend of charming utility and traditional modernity. Thinkwell also spruced up the B. Gaines/Hey Rube social media presence by infusing online posts with personality and pizzazz, à la Becca herself.

Becca is a brilliant, sophisticated and savvy small business owner, and Thinkwell loves every opportunity to help tell the B. Gaines story.

 

Then, of course, there’s Katie Crago.

We can’t prove it, but we’re pretty sure “crago” is a synonym for “courageous.” Katie has been a professional travel advisor for years, and when the travel world turned on its ear in 2020, she didn’t turn tail and run—she turned lemons into lemonade with the launch of her own travel agency, KHC Grand Travel.

Katie’s personal mantra is, “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us,” and she charts the course for KHC Grand Travel based on this guiding philosophy. As a former Walt Disney World Cast Member with a background in finance, Katie routinely amazes clients not just by their KHC-curated travel excursions, but also by Katie’s attention to detail, extensive wealth of travel planning knowledge and impeccable guest service (after all, she did work for Disney).

When Katie contacted Thinkwell last year, she already had some of the core components of her newly formed business in place, including a logo, website and company name emblematic of the goal she sets for each client’s vacation. What she needed was some help communicating her new, heavily referral-based business venture to everyone from previous and potential clients to her family and friends.

As storytellers, helping to jumpstart new brands is one of our greatest joys, and we absolutely loved shouting out this shero start-up story from emails and text messages to social media posts. Thinkwell’s team collaborated with Katie to make sure no stone was left unturned when announcing the advent of her new company, coupled with key details such as contact info and a snapshot of services. Soon Katie’s contacts far and wide were receiving messages through various platforms including email, text and social announcing the launch of KHC Grand Travel.

We honestly couldn’t be prouder of Katie for making the brave leap to hang her own shingle as a travel advisor while the travel chips were down, and Thinkwell was honored to play a role helping Katie launch her business. When travel returned, Katie was ready, and her leap into small business ownership has already paid off in a big way. She’s added two people to her team and has already landed on top travel advisor lists. We are zero percent surprised.

 

And last but never least, we love us some Carla Loper.

Now those of you following along at home might have noticed a family tie here, as Carla shares a last name and is in fact the sister-in-law of Thinkwell founder Marissa Loper. 2020 was a crucial year in terms of leaning on our loved ones and growing even closer with family, and we can’t think of a better way to wine-down (wait for it!) our small business shoutouts than by celebrating Carla Bass Loper, absolute all-star and partner at Kessick Wine Storage Systems in Greenville, SC.

Originally founded by father-son duo Ralph and Robert Bass, Kessick is a family-owned, family-run business that continues to redefine industry standards as a national supplier of top-quality wine cabinetry and contemporary wine storage systems. Kessick also embodies the dream of owning and running a “made in America” company representing three generations of the Bass family, so when the time came to explore a brand refresh, it’s no surprise that Kessick turned to family for help with an image update.

Enter Thinkwell, whose crack design team couldn’t wait to help illustrate Kessick’s winning blend of aesthetics, function and sound building science with a new company logo. Thinkwell’s team ultimately created a new vintage of the Kessick logo featuring a racked wine bottle outline in the shape of the letter K, which gave the Kessick team a striking and practical emblem they could easily stamp onto their storage systems and use on social media platforms.

To introduce everyone at Kessick Wine Storage Systems to the new design elements and help preserve the brand’s image and integrity, Thinkwell also crafted a set of concise, clear and easy-to-follow visual branding guidelines for the company, as well as options to update their online web presence. Kessick later hired us to design logos for each of the styles of cabinetry and systems they offer.

Kessick’s unparalleled craftsmanship curating the perfect wine cellar experience is an achievement well worth toasting, and Thinkwell is gleefully raising a glass in celebration of these clients whom we love, well, like family.

Shine on and shine bright, my friends.

And to all small business owners out there, whether you are current clients, former clients, potential clients, friends or people who stumbled onto this blog post because you were due for an extra dose of cheer and championing today, our hats are seriously off to you as you put in the hours, call the tough shots and burn the midnight oil to make sure the lights stay on.

Thinkwell loves you, we’re proud of you, and we can’t wait to see—and celebrate—what you do next.

 

Glass or rubber?

Prioritizing when you feel completely overwhelmed.

By Marissa Loper

Lately when I check in on my friends, teammates and clients, and we talk about how we’re really doing, I’ve picked up on a common theme.

Right now many of us are utterly, completely overwhelmed.

Because sometimes life can feel altogether too much, can’t it?

Even if you’re not feeling that way today, I bet you’ve experienced those days … when the number of items on your to-do list adds up so fast it makes your head spin. Sometimes you can feel so swamped that you’re not sure how to even start what needs to be done. You can’t figure up from down.

My mother is no stranger to this feeling. She brought four children into this world and managed to keep us alive AND help us become (somewhat) respectable adults. And now she’s the beloved “Mimi” to eight grandchildren.

Throughout my life I’ve had a front-row seat in watching her juggle marriage and parenthood and careers. To the outside world, I’m sure it looked effortless.

But I know better.

All of these responsibilities require a tremendous amount of effort.

Can you really have it all?

My parents were fantastic cheerleaders for their children. We knew how much they loved us, and that kind of security is a rare blessing in this crazy world.

Mom and Dad applauded my talents and encouraged me, always. Even when I was a very young girl, they would tell me I could grow up to be anything I wanted to be. And I believed them because they believed in me.

Mama taught me that it was possible to “have it all”: a strong marriage, a house full of children and an impactful career.

But she also told me I would have to juggle. A lot.

And she warned me that it’s simply impossible to keep all of the proverbial balls in the air all the time.

Sometimes you have to let a ball or two drop.

My mama has laid a boatload of wisdom on me over the years. But the analogy she gave me years ago to help me think through my priorities is the one I’m leaning on the most these days.

It’s the story of the rubber and glass balls.

“Reesie-Mae,” she explained when I was a newlywed just entering my professional career, “feeling overwhelmed is normal. You’re going to feel that way a lot because you’ve chosen a very full life with a lot of responsibilities on your plate.”

Mama explained that managing all of those tasks is like juggling. As humans we try very hard to keep all balls in the air and to not let any of them drop. But sometimes that goal isn’t possible.

Sometimes you have to let a few fall.

Can we control which balls we drop?

Mama went on to clarify that if we don’t decide ourselves which balls to drop, all of the balls are likely to come crashing down. And then you have a gigantic mess to clean up.

So how do you decide which ones to drop?

When everything in your life seems critical, this question can be hard to answer.

So Mama gave me a stunningly easy mental exercise to help me sort through my responsibilities.

First, make a mental list of all the balls you have in the air right now.

Then pretend that each ball falls to the ground.

Does it bounce? If so, it’s a rubber ball.

If not, it’s a glass ball.

It’s all about the bounce.

Here are a few examples of rubber balls: making a home-cooked meal, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, scheduling a night out with friends, tackling yard work, finishing a book, painting the guest bedroom, getting a haircut, or cleaning out your email inbox. Sure, you want to do those things. But if you wait a week to do the laundry, it will be okay. If you don’t weed your flower beds for a month, the world won’t stop spinning. These are rubber balls.

Glass balls, on the other hand, shatter when dropped.

Your glass balls might include taking care of your health, focusing on your relationship with your spouse, spending quality time with your children, or checking on a friend in need. These responsibilities are your most important and your most fragile. You absolutely cannot let these balls drop.

It sounds simple, right?

It is.

Its simplicity is what makes this exercise so helpful. In the midst of feeling completely overwhelmed, you really can sort your responsibilities into the glass or rubber category.

And then you can look at the items that bounce and decide which of those you are willing to drop for now and pick back up later.

What does it like look like when you drop rubber balls?

The answer to that question is, in my experience, messy.

My home is quite often a wreck. Please do not open my office closet. My kitchen countertops are still white Formica. I haven’t finished writing thank-you notes to the wonderful people who’ve reached out over the last two months since my father passed away from cancer. Many nights I use pre-prepped ingredients and an air fryer to get dinner on the table quickly.

And guess what? That’s okay. Those are all rubber balls.

I will eventually pick them back up. Case in point: Yesterday I cleaned out my laundry room. I mean really cleaned it out. Clearly I deserve a medal. Plus I read four chapters in a business book I’ve been dying to finish but have already renewed twice at the library. I shoot for progress, people. Not perfection.

Which balls have I kept in the air? The glass ones.

With a lot of help and support from my husband and my colleagues, I was able to frequently travel to Alabama to be with my family during the last months of my father’s life. I will always treasure that special time I had with him. By the grace of God, my amazing team and I have managed to keep Thinkwell afloat during the pandemic. A couple of weeks ago my husband and I both carved out some time to take our children on a vacation so we could ignore the outside world and focus only on our little family. And here’s a glass ball I haven’t historically kept up in the air but I am focusing on right now: I’m cycling three or four times per week to make sure grief and stress don’t get the best of me.

So, you might say I’ve been doing a lot of sorting through glass and rubber these days.

It’s an often messy but mostly beautiful and meaningful exercise.

And I have my mama to thank for helping me remember the things that are the very most important.

So, thank you, Mama. I am so grateful for you—for the wisdom you’ve offered me and the example you’ve set for me. I know you’re doing a whole lot of sorting through glass and rubber yourself right now. And I am here to tell you that you’re doing a fantastic job of it. Daddy would be so proud of you. And I am so very proud of you.

Juggle on, my friends.

To those of you out there who are juggling the stress of everyday life coupled with all of the unknowns that 2020 has flung at you, I hope my mother’s wisdom can help you, too.

May your hearts and your laundry bins stay full, my friends.

When life feels too much, focus on the glass balls. We can tackle the rubber ones later.

Time for a refresh?

Evolving your brand to reflect your company today.

By Marissa Loper

Have you taken a good, hard look at your logo lately?

How old is your current branding?

Does it need a little updating?

Is it time to change things up to keep things fresh?

Here at Thinkwell Creative, when our pipeline is full of client projects, we rarely find time to work on the marketing and communications pieces that our own brand needs. Shameful, we know. [Sigh.] 

It’s a sad reality that many busy marketing and design firms face. The cobbler’s children have no shoes. Or, in our case, our creative company needed a little creativity ourselves.

So, when the bulk of our client gigs were put on pause thanks to the COVID-19 crisis, we decided to use the extra time we found on our hands to evaluate our own branding. 

Carpe diem. Even (especially?) during a pandemic.

Branding can—and should—evolve as your company evolves.

We update our homes. We update our clothing, hairstyles and cars. But why are we hesitant to update our branding?

Certainly there’s a cost involved. When you alter your branding, it does require an investment of time and money. But similar to when you finally remove all of your pleated pants from your closet in favor of flat-fronts, wow, a little branding update makes a huge difference in how your brand presents yourself to the world.

Thinkwell has certainly evolved over the last two decades. And our branding has, too.

So you can see this evolution with your very own eyeballs, let’s take a stroll down memory lane.

First created in 2001, the Thinkwell logo looked like this:

At our genesis, Thinkwell was primarily a writing shop. The name is a play-on-words: We combined “Think” and “inkwell” to create “Thinkwell.” The name winks to our mad creativity and word nerd skills. 

The font we chose looked like John Hancock himself had penned the word, and our lightbulb replacing the “i” gave us a fun, whimsical mascot we’ve used ever since.

In 2016, we rebooted the logo a bit. By this point, Thinkwell had been operating as a full-service agency for several years (read: writing, design, branding, project management, event planning, videos, THE WORKS). Clearly our emphasis was no longer just on writing. The “ink” quality to our font no longer applied to the company we had become. 

So we decided to choose a font with a little more structure and modernize the bulb itself. We started using a new logo but didn’t even announce the change to the world as, honestly, it was pretty subtle. 

Check it out:

We also really amped up the fun at this point and strategically added whimsical elements to our logo based on the time of year. If you’ve ever received an email from our team, you’ve likely seen that our lightbulb is often dressed for the season in our signature block. 

For example, here’s what our Thinkwell logo looked like last July:

Let freedom ring! (We are patriots here at Thinkwell.)

In 2020, we decided to make an even larger switcheroo to our logo. This time, we moved the lightbulb out of the “i” position and changed the entire logo to look more fluid. 

Did we change everything? Absolutely not. Smart marketers know not to lose brand equity or disturb name recognition when you’re considering a refresh.

It’s critical to hold closely the heart of a brand and only play with the non-essentials.

So, we kept the two elements that are absolutely core to our brand: the Thinkwell name and the lightbulb. 

But we loosened up the rest of the logo to give it a more modern, graceful feel. We wanted the new logo to seem less structured and more friendly. (Note: As a company, we’re less structured and more friendly than most creative agencies. So this change reflects who we are and what makes us different.)

Enough words. How about we show you already?

Here’s what our fresh new logo looks like today. TA-DA!

Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it fun? 

Don’t you just want a cool coffee mug or a soft, cozy sweatshirt with our new logo embroidered on it? (We do, too. Swag is definitely on the to-do list.)

Side note: Because you can now see the filament in our new lightbulb, we’ve decided to name our bulb Phil. You know, short for Phil A. Ment. Wait, are you smiling or groaning now?

And don’t worry. We still love having fun with our lightbulb and getting it all dressed up for the season. Here’s a sneak peek of Phil’s new outfit for December:

More than a logo.

But a branding refresh is about more than a logo. 

Listed below are other elements we freshened up as part of our 2020 makeover:

• Website. Our new website incorporates all of our new branding elements (logos, colors, fonts, etc.). And we streamlined the information so it reads easily and quickly. Check it out: tc2026.redirontest.info/. Isn’t it glorious?
• Social media. Our graphic design studio created on-brand images to use to update our social media presence (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, etc.). We need to look good everywhere, and online is king.
• Business cards. Yes, we still print traditional business cards. Our new ones are gorgeous.
• Stationery. People love snail mail. So even our notecards show off the new branding.
• Look book / magazine. We feel like it’s an infringement on our clients’ privacy to post samples of our work online. It’s tacky, honestly. And we try to never be tacky. At the same time, we definitely need a way to show prospective clients what we can do … and to teach our current clients about all of the different services Thinkwell provides. So we created a printed Look Book that reads like a magazine but also shows off our work AND offers genius marketing tips. (Please contact us if you’d like a copy … we’ll be happy to run one over or pop it in the mail.)
• Video. We wanted to make a splash when we announced our new branding to the world. This clever, animated video is how we did it:  
• PowerPoint template. Gracious, we sure do a lot of PowerPoints here at Thinkwell. So we needed a template that reflects our new branding, too. We use this PowerPoint template to pitch projects and ideas to our clients.
• Visual identity guidelines document. Nope, it’s not sexy. But it’s absolutely critical to ensure your whole team as well as your partners know how to use your branding properly. More on that particular piece below.

Guidelines are for winners.

Great brands establish branding guidelines so everyone knows the rules and sticks to them. Branding only works if it’s consistent, so you’ll need one of these documents if you’re launching a refreshed brand.

Some of our biggest clients have guideline documents that, if printed, would resemble a phone book. (Incidentally, who uses phone books anymore? Hopefully you remember what one looks like.) Our agency knows and loves brand guideline documents because it’s our job to fiercely protect the brands we serve.

But not every brand requires a zillion pages. At Thinkwell, we created a short, 4-page brand identity guidelines document to keep us on the straight and narrow when it comes to our own branding.

What does a good brand identity guidelines document encompass, exactly?

• The logo. Show what your standard logo looks like.
• Branding elements. Demonstrate how to use the different elements of your logo correctly. (In our case, we show how to use the name Thinkwell without the lightbulb and what the bulb looks like when it’s solo.)
• Color. List and show what your signature colors are—and what the Pantone, CMYK, RGB and Web-Hex codes are so you can always pull in the proper colors into your work. (Our colors are lemon, graphite, silver, zinc, white and black, in case you’re curious.)
  
  Pink Juliaroberts GIF from Pink GIFs

• Logo color variants. Offer examples of how to use your logo against dark, medium and white backgrounds. Logos need to be flexible and work against all kinds of backgrounds. And they also need to be consistent. 
• Typography. Spell out which fonts are appropriate for headlines, body copy and supporting copy. Fonts matter. They say a lot about your company, and consistency is key. Changing your fonts willy-nilly makes you look like a kidnapper. Don’t do it.
  
• Downloads. Link to your logo files, fonts and approved PowerPoint template. This section is the most practical and (in our humble opinion) genius part of the visual brand guidelines document. These hyperlinks make sticking to the rules easy! Don’t give people the excuse that they didn’t know where to find the proper files.

Ready for a change?

We’d love to help you update your branding. Give us a call or shoot us an email, and let’s get started. 

Don’t be fooled by flashy, big-city agencies. You don’t need them. At Thinkwell, we’ve recruited some of the most incredibly talented people in the world—simply by offering them the flexibility they need to be the people they want to be outside of work. 

We produce big-agency results on medium-agency budgets.

We hope to hear from you soon!