What clients/projects are you guys currently working on?

Currently, we're working on some motion graphics pieces to promote Nueva Forma /  www.nuevaforma.com, and another for the up-and-coming apparel company, Defeat The Monkey. We were also invited to design a few t-shirts for Carrot Clothing, a streetwear company based in Serbia. In addition to those projects, we're under retainer with a couple of our other clients. Those particular relationships are great, because it allows us to allocate our time efficiently, so we can concentrate on our own personal projects, i.e. The Color Bureau (Colorcubic's online shop), as well as redesigning the Colorcubic website; both of which are coming along nicely.

So, I guess we have a lot on our plate at the moment. :)

Your work is very powerful, have you won any awards, or is that not important to you?

Honestly, it's not really important to us. Our objective isn't to win anything, because this isn't a race or a competition for us. We've received several awards for being a sustainable company in Portland, (which helps keep us in check as an environmentally conscious business) but as far as design awards go, we haven't received any. Ultimately, people will remember us by the work we've done and how it impacted them; not by how many awards are sitting on a shelf (or in a refrigerator).

What do you think your style/theme says about you as a team?

Well, it probably says that we care about aesthetics and functionality, but we also care about conveying a strong message. We're not designing for "flash in the pan" trends, (at least we'd like to think we're not). We're designing with the key goal to have our messages and work transcend time. Hopefully in fifty years, our designs will speak to people just as strongly as it does now.

Has the state of the economy affected you as a business?

Fortunately, no, although I will admit that we were a little concerned at first. I suppose the reason the economy hasn't affected us is because we've fortified long term relationships with clients under retainers. We've been working with some of the same clients since we started Colorcubic two years ago, which have afforded us the opportunities to explore our own personal projects.

What advice would you have for newcomers in the industry trying to make it?

As strange as this explanation may sound, it's relevant to the question.

We recently went to see the new movie, the Watchmen (which, if I might add, was a beautiful adaptation of the comic). One of our favorite characters in the movie was the character, Rorschach. Near the end of the movie, he says "Never compromise, not even in the face of armageddon."  Don't worry, that won't spoil anything if you haven't seen it. ;)

If we were to offer up advice for newcomers in this industry, I think that would be the best advice we could give (or borrow).

A lot of designers we see tend to compromise their work, because they're under a tight deadline, or they're just tired of working on the same project (whatever it may be). We understand that sometimes clients can be difficult, and demand results immediately, but it's your job as a designer to educate your clients, to help them understand that quality is  more important than quantity, and that can't be rushed. If you're just taking a project on for money, then you're immediately compromising the end result. If you don't feel passionate about a project you take on, then don't take it on, otherwise you run the risk of not only wasting your own time and money, but your clients time and money as well.

Don't get us wrong, we understand that people need to pay the bills and put food on their plate, but if you're just in this industry to win trophies, awards, or money, then go join the Olympics, or go work on Wall Street, (although I think everyone can see how well that is working out).

This industry, (in our humble opinion) is meant to communicate truth, spread awareness, and make huge environmental / social changes. But like any tool that has the potential to do good, also has equal potential to do bad. It's up to the individual designer to decide why they're in this industry, and what kind of impact they want to have on societies.

Is the plan to grow into a full scale agency with many employees in the future?

Well... we've certainly thought about it. We can see how that would be the goal for some design groups / agencies just starting out. There's certainly a lot of appeal to have a full scale agency. Makes you feel big and strong,  but for us it would be a nightmare. We really love being involved with every single project we take on; whether it's storyboarding, creating typefaces, post production, etc... we're passionate about our personal contributions to every project. If we were to turn into a full scale agency with 100+ employees, we feel that we would lose that personal touch that people have come to recognize in our work. We're not interested in just being Creative Directors, or Art Directors, delegating authority, and then tacking our name onto the finished piece. We're interested in getting our feet wet, and being involved with the creative process from start to finish. I guess our current plan is to build a small team of like minded individuals, who feel just as passionate as we do about making a positive impact in the world through our work.

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