We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeff Corey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project that we’ve worked on to date would have to be Kids in the Game, a purpose-driven youth development organization based in New York City. They provide inclusive access to supervised play, competitive sports, and in-school activity for kids of all backgrounds. They focus heavily on social-emotional development through play and movement.

Kids in the Game had multiple sub-entities that provide different services in the youth development industry. Our task was to create an overhead brand strategy and identity strong enough to unify the sub-entities strategically and visually– yet flexible enough to allow the separate channels to feel unique and self-sufficient.

This project was really impactful and valuable to us because we spent intentional time getting to know the client and understanding their complex brand– in order to produce the most effective and succinct brand strategy and identity. We visited school locations, witnessed the authentic intentionality of the coaches and staff who work with the kids, conducted surveys with both the coaches and the kids, and lead interviews to gain insight. It was moving to see a value-based brand at play, doing amazing work with the next generation.

All of that research, effort, tenderness, and simple play shined through in the final strategy and identity for Kids in the Game and that was really rewarding to see. Our relationship with the client progressed as well into a thoughtful partnership, we even made a visit to their Annual Retreat to put on a Brand Activation Workshop for their teams to adopt with the new branding.

Authenticity & a little bit of play, wins every time!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

A running joke in our office is, “We don’t do dusty brands.” And it’s true! We don’t produce trendy or safe visual identities and experiences that blend into the din of the brand and web world. Our process and the work that we aim to produce is a step into the future and uniquely carved to fit that business or product’s market.

There’s a healthy obsession with the ‘why’ of everything we do. No design choice is arbitrary, no web animation is superfluous. In every brand that we design or website that we develop, we’re asking ourselves if it’s rooted in the strategy, bound by the brand concept, and necessary to the success of the project.

Visual Soldiers started in 2015, so we’re looking forward to our 10 year anniversary coming up! Our growing team is made up of design generalists who are well-versed in different disciplines and are pretty true to the name– soldiers. We show up and show out for our clients and don’t stop until the work is perfect.

We’ve even built an adaptive design process that gives our clients, big and small, access to top-notch, continuous design support without all of the laborious back & forth and scope-contingencies. Just speedy, sexy design– all of the time! Creating wins for our clients is our focus, so we flex and shift to find ways to make their dreams come true.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Personality. Not just in the work we create, but in ourselves. We’ve cultivated a spirited team of pretty cool people (tooting our own horn) so outside of the work being genuine and head-turning, we’ve been told we’re a pretty good time to be around.

Some may lament about tough client relationships or difficult company culture but fortunately, we can’t relate. We view our clients as partners and creative peers. We don’t lead with ego, we’re not afraid of hard work, and we will certainly see you at happy hour. A good attitude goes a long way and a good client review goes even further.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Let people take risks. If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not growing. When a team member feels strongly about a direction and advocates for their work– support them.

Ask team members of all disciplines and levels of seniority for opinions and thoughts, let the work be an open table.

Check-in, even when it feels like you don’t need to. Listen. Listen more. Respect people’s time and energy. Value work-life balance. Happy and healthy people do amazing creative work.

Prioritize securing clients that align with your creative caliber, brand values, and team strengths rather than just profit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://visualsoldiers.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualsoldiers/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/6432516/admin/feed/posts/