03 They Did It. Why Can't I?

This refers to the point of view a client might have about a project and how it is compared to what is being considered a similar completed project and why they may need more of something or not be allowed to do something the other project was allowed to do…. Really it is they didn’t have to do what your saying I need to do, why didn’t they have to do it? Are you sure I even need to do it?

This happens more often than you would think, especially for first time builders or clients who are venturing into a new business and are not aware of the current codes for that business or building type and base things on what they have seen at other “similar” establishments. Is is by no means a bad way to begin, precedent for design was ingrained so much throughout school that if a client came to me with no idea of what they wanted to do, no general vision, I would think they had not given the project serious thought and that the project may go no where.

But in having a vision or wanting things to be a certain way, you need to allow yourself to be flexible or at least know that most cases are not the same and just because your neighbor was able to do it doesn’t mean you can or should. Codes change, so depending on how old the comparable project is, it may be grandfathered in or the site may be zoned differently per local code and that project allowed more space or have a different occupancy and be allowed to be a certain type of business.

Good news though, more and more clients are getting architects, engineers, designers involved earlier on. Doing pre-design work, checking on feasibility of the site to do what they want it to do, especially when doing additions to the building or changing its use before purchasing a site or building.

I would just suggest getting someone who knows and would be able to carry the project forward to aid in the selection of a site before moving forward and present you options of what could be possible for the project.

02 Makers vs Managers Work Schedule

To elaborate on an area brought up in the Choosing a Name entry, the Makers vs Managers work schedule. Simply it is the understanding that Makers, persons who are producing material through a creative process, require blocks of time hours and greater parts of days to produce the material needed to be able to fully resolve design problems. Managers are those that are able to cut up the day in hour to hour chunks of time, they are needed sometimes to keep the Makers on task in an overall scope of many projects, but they do not need longer periods of time to accomplish the task at hand.

This comparison has been made by many others under different titles and opinions, but the Makers vs Managers if the one that stuck with us. Mostly do from actual experience in trying to juggle the two sides. In working with a construction company in the design-build process I was in charge of all design work produced by the company, this was a new direction for the business so it testing this format out I was also the only one producing any work for any of the projects. In times this worked great, I would control my own schedule and have large chunks of time to develop projects designs, also going to preliminary meetings to run down new projects. The overlap or better the collision of these two was the issue, needing that first half of the day to knock out some material to stay on schedule with a project, but being asked to sit in on or attend meetings suddenly to have someone to provide input on any design work needed for the project. So that block of time to be used to invest yourself in a project and produce the work needed is interrupted by other potential jobs. This leads to regular late nights and early mornings to work when others to have the time to do what needs to be done.

Don’t get me wrong both sides of this are needed to be successful, you will just need to schedule yourself accordingly and let those you work with be aware of when you will be available to meet for those potential new jobs. The Managers schedule differs from being, not less full than the Makers schedule, but more easily able to insert a last minute meeting with a potential client that won’t disrupt the entire flow of the day. I can easily remember finally getting into a groove on project, making great headway to be asked to sit in on a meeting or if I would be available the second half of the day to meet on site to look at a possible new job when it was originally planned to catch up on the work interrupted on by the impromptu meeting.

All these things need to happen to keep your current clients project on schedule and to be able to bring in new projects, just need to be aware of the scheduling and timing of it all or one side or the other may suffer.

01 Choosing a Name

Where to begin?

After deciding to go at it alone or start a new business with some partners, the issue of what to call the business comes up. Will mostly stick with the decisions we made in coming up with MAKERS DESIGN, but other things to be considered when deciding on a name will be covered as well, also a few alternates that were considered along the way.

Once the decision was made to start a new company, the question of what to name it came up. The most obvious answer and usual fall back is to name the company after yourself or group of selves as many have done before; Jones & Smith Architecture, Smith & Associates, Smith, Jones, & Walker Architecture Services, etc. Though this is the easiest we did not want to establish that those persons with those last names would be the only ones allowed to advance or reap the most from the company. Also if a client does not get direct contact with a name partner for whatever reason, they do not feel slighted or neglected. All members would be entrusted to give the same level of attention to each client and rely on others in the business for support on each project.

So no actual names to be in the name, what about initials of the sole owner or group of partners? It all depends on the letters, how it sounds, and how others will perceive the name. My last name is Bryant, so B Architecture, B Architecture + Design, B&A, B3 Architecture. B sounds like second choice and letters on there own do not carry much weight. It’s great if you are established and want to shorten your companies name, but should probably at least have a desciptor as to what B&A does in the title. Especially if your putting together random letters from multiple partners, BST Architecture, BeST Architecture, why not just go with Best and not be cute about it. Then there are initials for the full name which area W.E.B., so WEB Architecture or WEB Design, leads to a different area of design and architecture not related to buildings or structures, with a lot of phone calls about helping others with a website.

So no actual names, no random initials joined together (till maybe later). So lets put together a list of words and phrases that represents what we want to do, will do, etc. This can even be a problem specifically for architecture or design firms because unlike other businesses there can be a misunderstanding of what you do. A local business is Rhino Coffee, you immediately assume they make and/or sell coffee or coffee products. Alright Rhino Design, Rhino Architecture, well there is software already named that. You put the word Design or Architecture at the end of a word or words and it tends to imply that specifically is what you design and create, same a the W.E.B. example earlier. So random words can backfire or at least they need have meaning, a story as to why you chose it pt them.

Another hurdle before getting to why MAKERS, deciding to put any location identification in the name, Louisiana Design, NWLA Architects, 318 Design Group, all aren’t bad but do you only do southern style architecture work, region specific, do you ever plan to grow outside this area, do you want to limit yourself to this one location? What if you move, relocate, try to get work in other areas? Its just odd how you can name a clothing label or food/drink brand after the area its from and that’s a marketing point, but other businesses limits their appeal. Louisiana Contractors sounds like you wouldn’t do work in any other state, finding a good name is that hits everything you want to do, everything you want to be, and not alienate any potential clients with being too clever or too obscure.

So when asked why the name MAKERS DESIGN, its best explained as a coming together of a series of ideas, methods, and beliefs. In developing the what we wanted to be and do, a fundamental idea was that the practice of architecture and the design process should be about creating, making things, and being innovative. Trying to do things better and taking the time to explore better options. Leading to the makers vs. managers method, which boils down to that creative professions and endeavors require time for iterations, processing, and experimentation. Blocks of time dedicated to a project, rather than cranking out repetitive work as quickly as possible. Some projects may require simply that and if that is what the client ultimately wants then we will do out best to inspire other possibilities, better layouts, other options that could make the project better for everyone.

There were also some other influences, videos of other professionals discussing why they started on their own, books about what to be considering when starting a business, naming a business. All these things at some point pointed to making, crafting, creating things. You can’t escape the other parts of business, paperwork, invoicing, meetings, marketing, but we wanted to stay rooted with the making and creating process. It is what we enjoyed most about the process and what we wanted to be the center of our methods of design.

This is just our current mind set of where we would like to go and what we would like to do, it like the profession itself is constantly evolving.

W.E.B.