We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian Stancheski a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brian, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Name your Claim: I went from the worst name to a perfect fit.
As far back as I can remember, I have always been a dreamer with one clear aspiration – to become a creative. I have always had a vivid imagination and felt a deep sense of artistry. Whether drawing or engaging in other creative pursuits, I was driven by the desire to succeed.
Upon returning to New York, I secured my first real design job as the first graphic designer for an IPG agency. Although I established the position myself (but that’s a story for another day), I was fortunate to work with major international brands. It was a dream job I thought I could retire from until the entire creative department, including me, was let go in 2015. I vividly remember feeling shocked as I walked from my workplace on the east side down to the Brooklyn Bridge, which was about 6 miles. When I got home, I told my wife the news, and she immediately encouraged me to start a business. Being the driven person I am, I accepted the challenge and started to create my own thing.
I hit a roadblock when I started thinking about a name for my business. I couldn’t come up with a name that felt right, and it was only possible to move forward with a name to use for marketing purposes. I spent days thinking of something cool with a double meaning, maybe even a little cheeky, but above all, something memorable.
I did the opposite of what most designers do – I named my design studio after myself: Brian Anthony Design Studio. Though I wasn’t particularly fond of the name, most contract workers (I prefer not to use the word ‘freelancer’) marketed themselves by their names at the time. So, I got used to it and started designing. I love breaking terms into shapes and cutting up text, and as I was doing that, I realized that the acronym for my studio name was BADS.
I don’t think anyone would want to buy something from a seller named “BADS.” I certainly wouldn’t. Unfortunately, I had already purchased the domain name and everything associated with it. It felt like I was back to square one, and to make matters worse, I had wasted more than a month and a half on it. Eventually, I settled for the name and created a logo with “BA” to avoid any negative connotations associated with the phrase “BADS.”
It felt insufficient. It was like a blemish or mark that only you can see, but because you know it’s there, your eye goes right to it, and you don’t see anything else. It kept bothering me persistently. After about a year, I realized that I needed to refresh it. The name was too long, and trying to shorten it would only result in “BADS,” which was a dead end.
One night, while my wife and our new baby boy were sound asleep, I stayed up late to read more of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. The book has always been one of my favorites, and I couldn’t put it down. As I read, I started thinking about Apple and its famous slogan, “Think Different.” This phrase perfectly encapsulates how the minds of artists work.
The slogan was more than just a tagline; it was a referendum. It allowed people to deviate from the norm and be unique. It was inspiring and empowering, making me yearn for similar emotions in my business. I wanted to instill the same hope, discovery, and growth I had experienced. In the book, Steve Jobs referenced my favorite artist, Pablo Picasso, who famously said,
“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
As I pondered upon the needs of my clients, I realized that it was essential to understand what they wanted to achieve by working with me. I needed to find a way to make them stay and create a strong bond with me. Like Apple’s slogan, I sought a strategy that could become my mantra. Every business owner aspires to grow, whether in terms of money, size, fame, influence or reach. This desire to get bigger and better drives us to become the best version of ourselves.
I changed “Think Different” to “Think Bigger,” it suggests not only dreaming big but also acting on it. I introduced “Bigger Creative” with the tagline “Think Bigger” to the world.
Amazingly, the domain name “BiggerCreative.com” was available, so I bought all the variations I could think of. However, my business was still named “Brian Anthony Design Studio” for quite some time, as changing names was not easy back then. Nonetheless, I rebranded everything, using my initials “BA” as the logo, with the “B” inside a quote bubble simplified to look like a lowercase “A.” I added the slogan “Think Bigger” when I designed the new business card. This slogan had a dual meaning – it encouraged business people to think bigger about their future and growth. It also suggested that they should “Think Bigger” when they wanted to undergo that process, as in using Bigger Creative to get the job done. I was so focused on branding myself that I just remembered I changed my name. Finally, in 2021, I bought the DBA rights and renamed my business to Bigger Creative. Since then, I have not looked back.
Having my own business is like having a baby. It reminds me that success doesn’t come easy. It’s easy to admire someone else’s company or idea, but it can be challenging when it’s time to handle my own. I was lost at first, just like some of my clients. This experience has given me grace and patience with them, as I understand firsthand how hard it is to discover your own business and live with mistakes while trying to make it work.
Our business has recently shifted its focus towards Sustainable Brand Strategy and Identity Design. We have also decided to abbreviate our name to “bggr cr8v” as we celebrate our 8th year in the industry.
We have also launched a new initiative called the #somethingbigger movement, which aims to assist small businesses in transitioning to sustainable business practices. Additionally, we are helping other designers start designing more consciously.
I had a unique experience when I tried to design two different things – one was the worst idea ever called “BADS,” while the other was a great design that flowed well with many phrases called “Bigger.” A great name is like a pair of shoes that fits perfectly; everyone has that pair they need to find. I am lucky to have found my perfect fit, my very own pair of recycled glass kicks – gotta keep it sustainable!
Brian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hi there! My name is Brian Stancheski, but I usually go by the Conscious Creator. I am a sustainable designer, ecopreneur, husband, and father. I work remotely from my small Brooklyn basement apartment. I’m a big fan of technology and comic books, and I have two furry boys named Han and Chewie (yes, I’m a big Star Wars fan, too!). With over 15 years of experience in design, I have worked with major brands. My art has been featured in various events such as USA Today, NY Fashion Week, Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Miami’s Art Basel, and SXSW.
My main focus is helping small businesses in the Tri-State area modernize and streamline their operations by adopting sustainable practices. I offer various services, including simple brand identity packages, strategy workshops, and even creating creative teams from scratch. I also provide consulting hours to assist with sustainable branding.
Although I started as a general designer, I quickly realized that my branding knowledge was most valuable to small businesses, so I decided to pivot my focus in that direction. I am excited to say that my work has been the most rewarding yet, especially since my latest pivot in 2020. Every day, I try to think bigger and positively impact the world.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The most significant Pivot I have had to make was in 2020. My business had slowed down to the point it wasn’t making any money. My wife was still working remotely, and our son was in Pre-K, which shut down midyear and never reopened. I couldn’t find work, and my son had to be home and still had to go to school. That’s when I had to pivot and become a Kindergarten Substitute. It was his next school year, and we opted to stay remote, which meant Zoom calls for half the day. Five-year-olds need to be supervised even to pay attention; at least mine did. I was like a teacher’s aide, helping my kid learn, finish his homework, and keep an eye on him. I thought it would be over quickly, but no, I taught him all year.
(on that we need to pay teachers more, I wanted to suspend my son after one week, and I only had to deal with him)
I learned quickly how different and challenging this job is. I was stressed because I couldn’t concentrate on design and working, but there was no work. I started living cleaner and more holistically, and that’s when I adopted a sustainable lifestyle, which ultimately led me to live a sustainable life, which meant my business needed to meet the call to action.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
My career is where it is because I am not afraid to take risks and put myself out there. I have a few of these moments, but I will land on one that if it didn’t happen, I wouldn’t even have a business. The agency I worked for was a PR Firm, and with that, you make many connections; shortly after I was laid off old coworkers were actively sending me roles, and I had three friends refer the same job. It was another PR firm looking for an in-house designer, but I had just started to make my own thing, so I set up the interview and found out it was a head hunter representing this firm. Through some questioning, I found out who was interviewing. It was the Alison Brod. I did my research and discovered she started by having a chance encounter in an elevator with Oscar de la Renta, where she pitched him a quick idea, and he told her if she had an agency, he would hire her for that idea. So that’s what she did, and that was her first client! It was a powerhouse story, and I was meeting this woman. The designer in me whipped up a deck, referenced her back story, and told her this was my elevator moment.
I then told her she didn’t need an in-house designer and instead should hire my studio as a monthly retainer client for 6K. I would provide the computer, and I only had to be in the office twice a week while on call the other three days, but I was free to roam anywhere. She insisted on having someone in-house, and then I reached the money slide and showed her how much she was saving by not hiring an employee. Most employees need to realize this that Employers spend almost 20-25% more than their salary for benefits and Govt fees, which doesn’t include equipment. A day passed, and I got a call to show up on Monday.
It was my first client and a big one. We worked with each other for just shy of a year. It was quite the experience, and I was able to work with her directly along with her executive team. It was powerful. At the last agency, I felt I was just a cog in the wheel; here I was, being sought out for my expertise, and they brought me into the meeting and didn’t just lecture demands. It was a fantastic experience that has continually proven to me why I always take leaps of faith; I seem to levitate!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bggrcr8v.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/brian_anthony_ny?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BiggerCreative/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-stancheski-bigger-creative/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianAnthony_BK
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@bggrcr8v?si=_EZcOnex5sdkhWGY
- Threads: https://www.threads.net/@brian_anthony_ny