West Michigan In The News

West Michigan must re-think old theories on design, creative services

Design as a regional industry comes in many forms, including tapping existing creative firms to locate the right designer for a particular job. One local company says its time to rethink the outdated emphasis on large creative services companies and embrace a more diverse means for designers to fulfill customer needs.

According to excerpts from the story:

ZEELAND — Old-line thinking about design and creative services companies must change.

In the new knowledge economy, no longer must companies have bodies inside buildings to produce high-quality effective creative services, according to Stephanie Elhart and Jay Frankhouse of Fuel-D in Zeeland.

"One of the first questions we’re asked is, ‘How big are you?’" Elhart told MiBiz. "Well, how big do you need us to be?" The wife-and-husband duo, like many in the design or creative services industries, is taking a networking approach to the business. They don’t have a room full of employees in their office inside Lakeshore Advantage Business Garden. Instead, they prefer to tap into their contacts to match talent to a project’s needs.

Read the complete story here.