Columnists :: In Business
Metropolis doing what works by Julie Tompkins
MySouthEnd.com ContributorTuesday Jul 7, 2009 For Michael Flint, the founder of Metropolis Creative, a graphic design studio at 535 Albany Street, "pretty" doesn’t always cut it.
"It’s what works for the client that matters to us," said Flint, who says oftentimes simple online banner ads work best when presenting a message, even though "they’re boring from the design standpoint."
This South End studio was recently recognized with four Communicator Awards, an international awards program for communication professionals.
"It’s always an honor to receive an award," said Flint. "We were very pleased because this year we only entered four pieces and we won all four."
The studio normally enters a larger group of pieces with only a select few winning. This year Metropolis received three Awards of Excellence for its graphic design work with three companies, The Keating Group for its marketing brochure, Textaurant for its logo design, and Creative Economy for website design. Metropolis Creative earned the Award of Distinction for its website, www.metropoliscreative.com.
Flint said that what separates Metropolis from other graphic design studios is its "general approach to caring about what the client needs and what the result should be for the client."
Textaurant’s Josh Bob agreed with Flint.
"Mike is really just a generally helpful guy," said Bob. "Whatever I’m doing he takes an interest in. He’s looking to figure out how he can help me and that’s something I didn’t expect."
Flint speaks highly of the local artistic community in the South End, which he compared to a family.
"The people in the South End are down-to-earth, warm and friendly," he said. "The tenants in our building feel more like family than ’other businesses.’"
Flint said that his company consists of a very experienced team that collaborates effectively in interpreting the needs of individual companies, providing an end result that is "a really good design that is very well targeted for the client."
As well as tailoring particular designs for its clients, Metropolis Creative also helps companies develop a message that truly reflects their brand.
"Every client, every company, needs to push their image-which is their brand-constantly," said Flint. "Sometimes that gets forgotten along the way and we need to do a little repair work."
This "repair work" aims to brings cohesiveness to a company’s message, and according to Flint, every time he puts on his mechanic’s hat to figure out what work needs to be done, he starts with a conversation with the client. After discussing the brand and determining if every step taken works directly toward its success, Metropolis makes any necessary repairs. And if recent awards offer a litmus test, this mechanic’s future appears bright.
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