Secondly, the Fund’s core values—commitment to equity, being nimble and strategic, balancing people and data, and championing collaboration and diversity—strongly align with ours, and its executive committee is diverse and queer-led.
Lastly, this collaboration proves that you can produce outstanding work for clients with smaller budgets and still make margin if you have an uber-efficient process and are willing to think outside the box when it comes to sourcing talent.
Part of why I founded Said Differently was because I saw an opportunity to differentiate our company by prioritizing a new way of working. Rather than hiring hordes of full-time employees, we built a network of senior freelance talent who wanted control and autonomy over their work environment. We assemble a bespoke team to meet each client’s needs.
For the Families & Workers Fund, we built a brand identity, content system and website that conveyed a message of hope and progress without glossing over the somber economic reality millions of Americans are facing in the aftermath of the pandemic. And we did it in eight weeks, at a third the cost FWF would have been quoted by traditional agencies, partnering with talent that is usually only available to large, for-profit clients.
An example of this talent is Allegra Poschmann, who has worked as a designer and art director for such brands as Nike, Neiman Marcus, Reformation and Glossier. Poschmann tells us she valued the chance to expand her portfolio beyond e-commerce brands while supporting a meaningful mission.
Another thing that makes me proud about this project is that the website back-end is easy to use for non-marketers. Usability is always important, but especially when the stakes are as high as they are for FWF. The team is fighting to fix broken macroeconomic systems—we don’t need technology knowledge gaps slowing them down.
“Our website is professional, effective and easy to use,” Korberg says. “Our new brand identity allows us to stand out in our sector. I have had numerous partners ask us how we managed to build such an impressive brand.”
I am proud we made Korberg happy and contributed to her mission. She is a badass out professional powerhouse I want to do right by.
I’m also proud we made a small margin on the project, because if our CSR/not-for-profit work is profitable for us, we can do it regularly, creating more value for more clients and for our creative partners.
