It took me 23+ years to find my niche in life. Luckily it took only a year for me to find my niche in business.
“Business is a process, not an entity.”
Business, life….the only thing we have are processes and journeys. I’ve rather enjoyed this last year of discovering myself further, discovering business, and refining my open mind down to a narrow focus of exactly what I want to achieve. After reviewing my accomplishments over the past year, I was able to better define my goals for 2010. With that came a new business plan, a refined target audience, and the refinement of goals. But it was a long and bumpy road getting there!
Where It All Started
It all started with discovering my passion. Thought-provoking conversation with multiple intelligent business people forced me to take a step back and listen to what I found myself talking (or venting) about most. My passion has quite obviously been the education of clients on design principles and strategy. I’ve been yearning for well over a year now to attend the California College of Arts’ Design Strategy MBA program. I know I will never be able to attend that particular program, but I’ve been praying that IU would open their eyes and begin a program of the same caliber. Most of all, I had the mindset that, without obtaining a degree such as this, I would never be able to learn about it in complete depth.
I should have known better. One of my favorite college instructors, Mathew Powers, once told me
“the only thing a degree does for anyone is tell others how much bullshit you’re willing to put up with.”
That, combined with the overwhelming sense that I had not been well enough prepared for design in the business world, should have been my first clue that through creating my own real-world experiences and learning from others’ I would be more than sufficiently knowledgeable in no time.
Understanding My Faults
“The only mistake we can make is not learning from our mistakes.”
While having my portfolio reviewed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s design team, one of them asked me what my “niche” would be. At that point, I had absolutely no clue. I loved both print and web, because they were two completely different worlds that challenged my mind in completely separate ways. And that was my goal, to continue to stimulate both the right- and left-sides of my brain. He was rather blunt about saying that I needed to find my focus. I’ve heard the same thing from so many different people since, yet I still could not bring myself to let go of any dimension of the design world.
I viewed this as a fault, as did many others. However, I’m glad that my conscience could not let me release those passions, because now I have discovered what exactly that means. My passion isn’t designing logos, or websites, or identity systems. My passion is making all of these work together to emphasize the identity and character of a company. Though many of the words and phrases in my last post regarding branding were new to me, the concept had been lying underneath the muck of confusion all along.
The Refined Focus
In January’s edition of the Southside Business Leader newsletter, this profile of Point Brake is to be published:
Design strategy studio focuses on ROI.
Point Brake is breaking the mold of “typical design studio” by applying strategic innovation solutions to increase revenue and exposure of small and emerging businesses. One satisfied client was contacted within just three months of the launch of their website for a potential business merger!
Owned and operated by Ann Edwards, Point Brake uses their full list of design services to strategically develop and maintain company brands. A graduate of Indiana University’s School of Informatics, Ann became frustrated with design companies that were not completely focused on the success of their clients. In January 2009, it was time to do something about it. The name “Point Brake” began with Ann’s high school dream of owning a car modification shop. Though her passion for cars still runs strong, it is her obsession with strategic design that overwhelms her.
Ann takes an educational approach with clients, providing them with assistance to become a more innovative business. The Value of Design, a Reference Guide by Point Brake features topics such as The Purpose of Design, How Design Effects Business (both positively and negatively), and How to Choose and Work With a Designer. The free electronic copy of this booklet can be requested at www.pointbrakedesign.com/vod.
Services include logo design, branding, identity systems, brochures, posters, websites, eCommerce (product store) sites, and more. To learn more about what design can do for your business, contact Ann at aedwards@pointbrakedesign.com or 317.883.9085.
The Journey Continues
With strategy as the cornerstone, 2010 should bring a plethora of new surprises and developments under its wings. Expect a few more minor changes throughout the year as my focus continues to be refined.