Offering a one-stop design solution for brands, United Creatives is a new expertise-sharing collaboration that pools the talents of creative agencies Watermelon Creative Limited and Dynamo Limited. LicensingSource.net catches up with Dynamo md Steve Richards and Sarah Swindell, md of Watermelon Creative, to find out how combining their skill sets is leading to innovative results.
Although you both remain separate businesses, you do work in the same sectors – and often for the same clients. Is it fair to say Dynamo and Watermelon Creative have different strengths?
Sarah: Watermelon Creative is known chiefly for softlines and apparel, and for consumer product solutions, from full style guides, pattern, trend and packaging guides to trend forecasting and market strategy. We are closely aligned to manufacturing and retail, a heritage we are proud of.
Steve: Dynamo works on a lot of ground-up projects including illustration, IP and asset creation, character development, graphics, branding, 3D and animation through our own in-house animation studio. We’re involved with hardlines design and product development and, increasingly, a 360 design service for location based entertainment clients. We also do multiple publishing projects for UK and US based publishing houses, thanks to our strengths in storytelling, design and illustration.
Can you tell us how the United Creatives partnership come about? What sparked the initial idea?
Steve: Maggy Harris, who is Dynamo’s new business development consultant, first introduced me to Sarah. When the two of us got chatting we discovered that we were both pitching for a lot of the same projects, and working, in different ways, with some of the same clients already. It made sense to consider new business opportunities together.
The idea of collaborating to find great solutions is what both Sarah and I do daily; forming United Creatives is an expansion of that idea, and offers an innovative and fresh approach, providing clients with a great ‘one-stop’ creative service across all areas/disciplines and from multiple perspectives.
What was it like working together for the first time?
Steve: The first major guide United Creatives worked on was on behalf of The Point.1888 and Historic Royal Palaces. It was something we looked at and thought, Dynamo could do this, but having spoken with Sarah we learnt that Watermelon Creative had also been approached; we discussed the project and realised it was a perfect opportunity for the combined talents of United Creatives, so we pitched our joint ideas together and won the brief. Key members from both teams worked together to get the best result for the client and we know they loved this unique way of working and the result.
Sarah: It turns out that Maggy was right about how well Steve and I would gel. We are very like-minded; we run our teams and businesses in similar way, and we work extremely well together. The key is good, clear communication and honesty.
What do you enjoy most about the collaborative process?
Sarah: Not only does it produce great, often unexpected, outcomes but relying on and using each other’s skills seems a really sensible way to work. What I find so interesting about working with Steve and his team is that they really think about storytelling, using their vast experience in the publishing sector, whereas what we do at Watermelon Creative is hopefully produce something very polished, ready for manufacturing, and that’s our own area of expertise. If you merge the two together, you come up with something quite innovative and different. Working with Dynamo, I’ve learned a lot about how you can approach a project in a completely different way.
Steve: I think we both have the attitude, having grown our own businesses, that developing relationships with people is core, and being considered as an extension of our clients’ in-house teams (undertaking anything the client needs creatively) is key. Collaborating with Watermelon Creative broadens both companies’ capabilities and gives United Creatives a much more extensive field of opportunities, while providing clients with a unique ‘one-stop shop’.
Can you tell us a little about the core guide you recently produced for Historic Royal Palaces and The Point.1888?
Steve: It was a great project to collaborate on. Watermelon Creative has a lot of expertise in the heritage sector, so was aware of what HRP needed to retain its existing audience, whilst Dynamo was able to approach the project from a different and entirely fresh storytelling perspective.
Both Sarah and I quickly realised there was no way we could produce a core guide that encapsulates everything Historic Royal Palaces does – it has so many iconic palaces and thousands of items in its collections. We wanted to show them something different, so we took a storytelling approach that illustrated just how flexible the brand is and the many ways it can be adapted to pretty much any marketplace, any age group, any theme and any visual style, whilst retaining its core essence.
Sarah: We ultimately wanted to give Historic Royal Palaces something they could build on in the future and came up with a flexible and innovative strategy for their creative needs, incorporating a ‘Partwork of Toolkits’. We started with three core asset toolkits: Iconography, Elegance in Excess and Palace Stories, with an additional fourth section incorporating packaging options for different market sectors. The creative handwriting may differ, but the Historic Royal Palaces brand is instantly recognisable and ‘ownable’.
How did the collaboration work in practice, in terms of deciding who did what?
Sarah: As there were four main sections in the guide, we literally split them and took two sections each, but with input and insights from both teams incorporated across every toolkit. With another project, we might approach things in a different way; for example, we might need a lot more asset development work from Steve’s team, while Watermelon Creative might take care of any pattern work. It depends on the project and the client, but ultimately, it’s about delivering the best possible solution.
Steve and I will decide at the outset which of us will ‘front’ the project. That way, the client is not overwhelmed with new faces all the time, and there are consistent contacts and relationships throughout the process.
What are the benefits for brands?
Steve: Sarah and I have different perspectives on creativity and bring different experiences to the table. When you merge those perspectives, that’s where the magic happens.
Sarah: With skill sets as different and as broad as Dynamo’s and Watermelon Creative’s combined offering, it stands to reason that our output is going to be elevated. Most importantly, Steve and I are both driven to make things work commercially for clients as well. It’s not just about making things look visually impactive, it is also about delivering an innovative commercial solution that drives revenue for our clients.
Steve: With United Creatives, we’re offering a unique creative service providing multiple solutions for building long-term relationships and long-term business. United Creatives has a very open and flexible relationship. As long as we are providing the best possible solution to our clients, we are happy and hopefully they are too.
For more details, email maggyharris@dynamolimited.com.
