by James Sommerville


When my partner Simon Needham and I launched our startup company 20 years ago in my Grandma's attic bedroom in her terraced house in Huddersfield (Yorkshire) with the help of a £2,000 grant from The Prince's Trust Charity, we positioned ourselves as a graphic design firm that was obviously small - but never very humble. Indeed, Simon and I both had grand aspirations, to use our design talents and street-smart-ness to help big companies break-through in communicating with their audiences in ways that grabbed - and kept - the attentions of their young adult customers.

Throughout ATTIK's lifespan, during which it has served a Who's Who of top global brands, this company has evolved constantly. Today's visitors to our offices in Leeds, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles will meet our award-winning creative directors, art directors, copywriters, designers, broadcast/interactive producers, account directors, and notably, experts in the fields of business strategy and interactive media. As we are currently experiencing amazing growth, we are adding additional complementary skillsets to leverage our existing focus.

For example, last year, we added senior strategist Matt Roblee to the staff -- a new position with the company -- to provide deep-level, front-end project planning to serve all client campaign activities, to monitor ongoing project developments, evaluate progress and add efficiencies to ensure that creative developments remain solidly connected with every client's core business objectives. "As a strategist," explains our CEO Ric Peralta, "Matt's ability to chart a solution across different purposes is integral in providing the degree of support our clients expect."

To further support recent successes for Adidas, eBay Express, Scion, Moviefone, AIM Mail, CMT and many others which will drive global billings to nearly £15,000,000 this year, we have also added staff to strengthen the firm's interactive design capabilities. "More so than any other firm I have worked for, ATTIK has an ethic of producing world class creative," says Justin Smith, another recent hire who fills another new position with ATTIK as our VP of interactive media. In the past, Justin has worked with Cingular, Compaq, Daimler, Dell, Hoover's, HP, Microsoft, Micron PC, Motorola, Nextel, SBC/Yahoo!, Sun, Symantec and T-Mobile through staff positions with ISN and frog design. "ATTIK delivers beautiful solutions that creatively tell the story of a brand," he has said. "The company's clients gravitate to the power and authenticity of this approach to design. We are at the forefront of creating youth and entertainment brand experiences and delivering innovative, media-neutral campaigns - which is exactly where the industry is moving." Personally, I couldn't agree more. Our goal is to offer our clients the most robust, 360-degree brand experience possible.

The evolution continues to serve our company well. The results of our strategic focus, and our unique fusion of top talent with intelligent, results-oriented processes, are growing. More than five million consumers adopted the AIM Mail service within two months of the debut of our launch campaign. CMT achieved its highest ratings in history for the 2005 CMT Music Awards telecast, which we promoted via a sensational cross-media campaign. The firm's groundbreaking work for Scion continues to drive one of the most effective vehicle marketing campaigns in history.

At present, our company is experiencing more and more demand for our branding expertise, and we will continue to innovate by building and fostering a first-rate pool of complementary talents... while continuing to hone the practices that will ensure spectacular client results.



JAMES SOMMERVILLE
Co-Founder, Group Creative Director
ATTIK


..........................................................................................................

		James Sommerville was in Huddersfield in northern and studied typography and print design at Batley School of Art, where he met fellow student and artist Simon Needham. In 1987, leveraging a £2,000 grant from The Prince's Trust's Business Program, James and Simon joined forces to launch their design studio - which is today a renowned global creative and brand-engineering agency with offices in Leeds, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. Click on picture to read more about him.
Editorial UK Contributor

..........................................................................................................

		Matt W. Moore is a 27-year old artist and graphic designer, who owns MWM Graphics. Living by the motto "Range is conducive to growth", Matt has worked hard to constantly evolve his craft in the various disciplines of design and art. He received a BFA in Design and New-Media from MECA. He also attended design and illustration classes at SCAD and RISD, and marketing and copy-writing classes at Boston University. Click on picture to read more about him.
Creative Vermont Contributor

..........................................................................................................




..........................................................................................................


..........................................................................................................
Read ARTICLES on THE DRIVER SPEAKS

Essential Graphics Literature

Graphic Design Magazines: Das Plakat [Last Part]

Magazines vs E-zines: Killer or Enhancer?
..........................................................................................................


© 2003 - 2008 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.