The prospect of a pitch for any designer is a challenge, testing our creativity to win new business.
Earlier this year, Studio pitched for University of East Anglia's Annual Report for 2008–09. It's a prestigious project to work upon, but firstly there's a competitive selection process where the effectiveness of your work is measured alongside your peers (nine agencies on this occasion). I've worked on many pitches and it's always exciting but it doesn't get any easier.
For new clients, it's building trust in your abilities and your service – but more importantly, the chemistry between client and designer is vital to the process which creates exciting work.
Studio enjoyed its presentation, putting forward three great ideas – but we were keen to present just one, because it felt right. The University had recently won the Queen's Anniversary Prize for their international research work, helping communities to address poverty and climate change. Taking their work in post-conflict Rwanda as a visual theme, Studio pitched an idea of how the Annual Report could be a charitable booklet and raise money for african charities. After all, it would be good for the soul and not just another corporate document.
After the presentation, there's a huge sense of relief – you've met the challenge – but then you wait, and wait a bit more. Until the phone rings.
Thankfully, Studio were successful, later meeting an excited client with ambitious ideas. More to follow in the next post (with pics!).
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