Matrix is a value-based brand delivery agency focused on the quality implementation of a brand.
They work closely with their clients at all stages of the creative process to ensure a calculated and strategic approach to the development of their assets and implementation of their marketing campaigns.
Being more of an advertising / marketing agency it was interesting to see the range of creatives, in-house media consultants, copyrighters and other client representatives which influence the whole process; and how the studio space and work itself is divided up throughout the work day so differently to other design studios I have experienced.
In terms of people actually being visually creative it only boiled down to the 2 in-house graphic designers, the freelance illustrator who was in for part of my week and then around 3-4 touch-up artists who work predominantly in Photoshop and C4D making artificial environments for clothes brands and flooring and wallpaper clients high-res mockups for their websites and catalogues.
- My start-of-week briefing, by bossman Mark Wheeler in the conference room, did introduce me to all these various branches and segments of their creative work and how they actually address a clients needs and produce their content in the most efficient and concise way possible.
- Touch-up artists playing such an important role in this process as when some of their valued clients are wanting to shoot a specific coloured range of t-shirts or carpet/wallpaper's, Matrix aim to save them as much money as possible in external services such as for a photographer, studio and lighting - allowing for the client to shoot one high-res copy and then the rest can be artificially produced at no extra third-party cost.
However, I was intrigued by the fact that typically the team's designers will only actually make communication directly with the client further down the line if totally necessary for the clarification of concepts.
Matrix value how in some situations direct discussion obviously does reduce the use of a middle-man and means they can communicate ideas more freely from designer-to-client but they also have specific people employed to act as this bridge between the two - which I am not entirely convinced by as yes - this could make the designers life more stress free and organised and allows for the clients experience to feel very professionally approached on the surface - but by the same respect I believe in order to soulely understand a project and deliver the right message, the designer and client should have a distinct understanding of one and another, and also have the ability of being able to communicate their ideas and have that professional yet relatable approach, not just it getting passed along the line within the studio.
That aside, it was a very professional environment to work within and experience but it was clear how the design style and content for projects was quite restricted being so commercial. That didn't stop me as any good designer should be able to adapt to their environment so I went about working on a few closed projects for them - including touchups on Brum-based menu designs and posters - but I obviously can't share due to the non-disclosure agreement!
For the last 2 days of my placement, Mark pitched to me how they are currently in the process of giving their brand identity a face-lift - just in time for their relocation at Christmas. He gave me all the project files of final logos and typefaces, etc and basically gave me free reign with the project saying he wanted to see my spin on it (colours, application, style, etc) - "do what i do best" he said.
Firstly, I met the brief guidelines by mocking up bits of various stationary and content such as Business cards and invoices, etc; I created a brief mockup of a new, cleaner window based website - introducing them all to Adobe XD design (interactive mockup software - perfect to better communicate plans and flow for a website/app design; I also designed various wall & window graphics which would fit into the new studio space. But finally, wanting to push my motion and show them a bit of what I can do with After Effects - I took each element of the logo and starting animating it into a moving concept to introduce the agency - this could sit interactively on their website, social medias, on tele, etc! ...
Matrix - Intro Vid When I pitched this to Mark, he was very impressed - especially with my justifications and said this would definitely influence their approach to their finalisation of the brand and if they want anything more than just static doing, they'll definitely be in touch! He did however analyse how my choice of song and typeface did seem to represent a much cooler, young audience - it would need to be toned back and just smartened up to represent the more corporate/commercial brands they represent.
This still being just a basic, preliminary mockup for how it could look however.
I basically re-arranged the triangles which make up their famous 'M' and went to town with the concept of each of these triangles representing each discipline/service that comes together within the office space to create the whole platform of Matrix - they represent the creative personalities within the company, all sharp edged, and streamline.
Each stage of the animation shows a different arrangement of the triangles, showing how they work in different ways / styles to get to the clients desired output, also making use of parts of their mission statement:
- "experienced and precise": triangles lined up and in order
- "unrivalled skill set": more of a random assortment which still somehow perfectly fits and overlays together - representing the culmination of various services/disciplines.
I can evaluate that this was a good experience giving me a taste of the more commercial agencies out there, where it purely is a Mon-Fri 9-5 job - but it has made me realise that to work on projects you are passionate about and that are cool and relevant to yourself you need to really push for the tighter-knit, fresh and trendy studios. Or create your own work I suppose!!
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