The St. Louis Egotist Interviews: Atomic Dust

For the next in what will be a very long series of interviews with companies large and small, we are focusing our sights on Atomic Dust. They started out designing websites and they used that strong base as a starting point for their impressive growth in skill and in size. Read on to find out about their philosophy, their drive and what makes them unique.

Atomic Dust

St. Louis has a lot of print-heavy agencies that happen to do web work when necessary, as well as smaller companies that are all about the web. We see that Atomicdust is comfortable with both. Would you label one of those as your specialty? How did you start down that path?

When we first started Atomicdust, it was really just a group of friends sharing one computer creating websites for our own entertainment. I think that was around ‘96? I did most of the design work, one guy did all the html, and another worked with Flash. Flash didn’t have a browser plugin yet, so we had to stream everything through the REAL player. Super lame.

Eventually we started getting projects from local ad agencies to ‘do the web work.’ We’d get these 11x17 Quark files that they would want us to make sites from. Great people, good ideas, but not really tailored for the web. We would work with their staff to make the ideas work, and explain why flash in an email might not be a good idea.

We don’t work with agencies anymore, although St. Louis has some great ones.

As far as agencies focusing on print or on web, I say do whatever you’re comfortable with. I think print shops feel the pressure to offer web services, but a lot of that is just progression. Agencies are going to start feeling pressure to develop for mobile and apps, just as they are now offering social media services. However, I think people run the risk of spreading their expertise too thin when they try to do it all.

So here’s my deal. When people ask if Atomicdust is a web shop, or print shop, I always say that we really focus on developing a good idea. Then we apply that idea to whatever channels will best deliver it for the audience. Design and development are sadly becoming commodities in the clients’ eyes. Good ideas are always worth something.

I think our specialty is coming up with an idea that matters to people. We do print in-house, and web in-house (although we do have an awesome local back-end partner), but if we really needed skywriting for a campaign we wouldn’t be ashamed to ask for outside help. I hate to fly anyway.

Tell us about the pro bono project that you are the most proud of.

Our most recent pro bono project involves ongoing work for the “Logos School” in Ladue. Logos is a middle and high school that helps kids with behavioral problems succeed.

The challenges Logos kids face range from serious depression, Asperger’s Syndrome, bipolar disorder, and many others. The school has helped 1400 kids get their high school diplomas.

We’ve worked with Logos on several projects, including a website built on Wordpress that the faculty can update themselves (http://www.logosschool.org/), create invites and collateral for charity events, and Educational Recognition Awards. Ultimately, a lot of what we do raises money for student tuition.

The next steps we’re recommending include projects within the school, from way-finding to general graphics and redesigning spaces that the students see everyday. We look forward to providing them with cool surroundings to learn and grow.

What is one thing you would tell aspiring writers, designers and developers to focus on if they want to become better. Give us one thing for each.

Writers. Try to express yourself in everyday words. Instead of trying to sound smarter than everyone, try to make your writing connect with people. Keep things simple.

Designers. Think of design as a way to change the current situation into a more favorable one. If you enter into a project thinking it’s going to suck because the ‘client is lame,’ then it probably will. (I realize that this is not always possible.) Walk the thin line of using visual metaphors without being too obvious. Read the book “Designers Don’t Read” by Austin Howe. Get away from your computer, then eventually come back. Use the ‘Toyo’ color book instead of Pantone. Deny yourself cream and sugar. Listen to the same song on repeat for days. Use a cool photo, a legible typeface, and something that messes it all up. Try not to be a ‘one trick pony.’ Panic when you realize you are. Start over. Then think of design as a way to change the current situation into a more favorable one.

Developers. Be genuinely interested in development. Develop because you have this burning need inside you to do so. The best developers I’ve known started making things as a hobby, and turned it into a career. You have to pay attention to what the industry is doing and stay relevant. Beware of anyone younger than you.

Tell us what you think of "Web 2.0"

I’m not really sure what version of the internet we’re on, but we’re big fans.

The publishing tools today are getting simpler and simpler to use. People that don’t know anything about ‘computers’ are sharing updates and photos from their phones. Entrepreneurs are saying that video content and Twitter are their weapons of choice for marketing. We’re seeing the emergence of SM and UX experts in agency models. We’re seeing people attracting new customers by being themselves online, instead of hiding behind marketing collateral.

I think it’s an exciting time for creatives. I think clients are more willing to experiment in ways they haven’t before. I think it also forces them to listen to the sound of their own voice. Some have never really heard it before.

Anything that makes content easier to create, consume and share is great with us.

I just hope I get to see a digital calculator on a wristwatch someday.

Here is a scenario for you, you are walking into a pitch for a new website that is trying to be the next Twitter (there are surely thousands of these happening daily) and they have millions to spend. You can bring one specialist from Atomic Dust with you and it can't be a social media expert, partner or salesperson. Who do you bring?

Very rarely do we ever pitch anything. Usually we’ll present how we work, show some process-framed case studies, and see if there’s a good fit between us and the potential client and/or firm. We sometimes make exceptions, but as a rule, we don’t part with our thinking for free.

We think the pitch RFP process is really unfair to designers and unfair to clients, often with lots of free, unfounded work developed to impress the client and to show how ‘creative’ a firm is. And if the client chooses the firm based on the pitch, it’s usually based only on the understanding explained in the RFP. We think it’s the designer’s job to validate an RFP and gain a deep understanding of the problem. And firms should be compensated accordingly or introduce alternative next steps.

If we did make an exception and participated in a pitch, I would bring the Account Manager who would be handling the relationship with the client. Atomicdust is a small firm and most of the time our account people also help develop strategy.

Plus the Account Managers tend to have cleaner cars than Designers...