A CASE STUDY ON THE INNOVATIVE PRACTICE & BUSINESS OF by Anya Marais
Theo
Crosby &Alan Fletcher & Collin Forbes & Kenneth George &Mervyn Kurlansky.
The partners named their firm Pentagram because it described their business structure and aspirations: “A star of five
Pentagram was officially formed in 1972, with Theo Crosby, Alan Fletcher, Collin Forbes, Kenneth George and Mervyn Kurlansky as the partners at the time. They relied on the notion that Pentagram is its people (Computer Arts, 2016). This concept motivated them to share equal parts of the decision-making and ownership within the business as well as equal split revenue.
Pentagram, one of the world’s largest successful independently owned design studios,(Carson, 2018) is comprised of creatives who work both together and individually to solve problems. The 50-year-old studio currently includes 23 designers who form a collective partnership within Pentagram. The firm since its establishment, and to this day, is not owned by any entity or a particular group. The creators within Pentagram are the owners themselves. This means that each individual designer is seen as an equal partner, and even earns equal parts profit that is generated annually within each office. There are currently four offices around the world: Austin, Berlin, San Fransisco and New York.
connectedpoints,equalwithalternatingpointsbyacontinuesline;symbolicofalchemy.”(Hirasuna.D,2006)intro.
The studio’s unique business strategy is what interested me in its approach to what it means to be successful. That is, they don’t actually follow any strategic or yearly business plan. The designers themselves are responsible for conducting their own projects and leading their teams. This means that they have the freedom to create, whilst having the resources and people to equip them in their projects if they choose to use them.
EngagementConsumer
Pentagram has a wide variety of clientele. There is so specific or direct connection between the consumer and designer. It rang es from large corporate projects to small businesses or groups. Michael Bierut talks about the importance of clients through his 30-plus years of experience at a Creative Mornings HQ conference in 2012. The clients are an im portant part of the design process, and the outcome produced by the designers tends to provide more quality when they respond well to the project presented to them. The passion for a particular pitch or idea assists in driving them to create more successful work when they become excited about what their clients are interested in.
(CreativeMornings HQ, 2012)
• Utilities: power usage across each office (computers, electricity, wifi, kitchen space and other electronic usages)
• data visualizations and typefaces.
• advertising and communications.
• Manufacturers that are partnered with the designer’s clientele (for example Shake Shack packaging printing and manufacturing)
• Designers with years of experience, knowledge, and skills and resources to execute professional design outcomes.
• The wide variety of unique approaches to design thinking allows for an endless amount of possibility within the outcomes of their designs.
• Open studio and office space.
• Teams led by the partners in Pentagram (such as interns and other designers)
•Channels:experience.Brandandlargecommunication.corporate
Business Model Strategy: Pentagram does not follow any specific business model strategy. It is something they pride themselves in and has proven, as their main tactic, to be successful. Luke Hayman speaks about how this strategy has assisted in keeping Pentagram going for so long. At a 2016 Element Talks conference, he gives an example of how Pentagram does not have any big strategy to expand locations (Element Talks, 2016). The current different locations were formed because of conflict between partners and people wanting to be in their home country or their preferred location. Pentagram is able to do this because of its access to the digital world not only for communication but for delivering work as well to clientele. This way they are able to keep their partners happy within their work environment without disrupting the quality of work that is produced. In doing this, by keeping their partners happy and giving them the freedom to lead their own projects in junction with the platform that Pentagram gives them, the firm has proved since it was first established that this method will produce revenue regardless of a strategic plan in place or not. This is because Pentagram is so well known and trusted that income is guaranteed, allowing for flexibility within the work process of its designers. This shows that Pentagram’s approach to a business model, or lack thereof, is what has led to its EmilyandiscorporationjoiningItbureaucracy...anddoingwas“[Pentagram]success.trulyabouttheworknotaboutisnotlikesomebig–itverypersonalhuman”-Oberman
• advertising and communications.
• strategy and positioning. • products and packaging. • exhibitions and installations. • websites and digital experiences.
• Studio space rent. Revenue Streams:
• The demand to showcase or deliver a set of information that the customer wants to display for their own consumers or target audience.
• Equipment fees, upgrades, and repairs.
• data visualizations and typefaces.
• The key resource would be the partners themselves, who are of resource to their colleagues for advice or assistance in designing.
• The connections that the designers bring with them through past
• Print material and other machinery.
• Awards.
• Being available to an international clientele with their access to digital programmes and resources.
• Legal and professional fees
Key Activities: With Pentagram’s wide range of experience, knowledge, skills and specialists, they are able to create the •following:graphics and identity.
• In person and online meetings
• products and packaging.
• Contract basis. Customer Relations:
• graphics and identity.
• strategy and positioning.
• Businesses that don’t have the resources to create their brand or time to focus on it.
• sound and motion.
• The rise in demand for a professionally designed brand or rebranding.
• websites and digital experiences.
• Collaborating with multiple designers who specialise in certain areas that others have little knowledge of.
• Campaign execution.
• Computers with available programmes to work on.
• sound and motion.
• Partners going directly to the clientele’s location to source information to include within the design or to discuss other important details of the brief they are designing for.
• Partnering with other designers.
• Intellectual resources: branding and copyrights, partnerships and contractual agreements. Cost Structure: • Salaries: equal income for all partners within each office. (profits are split annually)
Value Propositions:
• No middle man. Partners are handson when it comes to communicating with their clients.
Customer Segments:
• exhibitions and installations.
Key Partnerships: Key partners within pentagram: MichaelNYC Bierut Michael Gericke Luke Other/DJAUSTINJustusBERLINJodyAngusDomenicSaschaJonHarryLukeNareshJohnYuriMarinaLONDONMattPaulaEddieEmilyAbbottGiorgiaNatashaHaymanJenLupiMillerObermanOparaScherWilleyWillerSuzukiRushworthRamchandaniPowellPearceMarshallLobeLippaHylandHudson-PowellOehlerStoutExternalPartners include:
• Main clientele (businesses, corporations or individuals who pay for Pentagram to design for them:
Key Resources:
• Creative thinking and strategies.
The partners are what makes Pentagram successful, and while the platform assists in giving the designers a reputation and voice, the business is reliant on the diverse minds of the people within it, which allows for its success. This is why they are quick to dismiss any idea of having a creative director in charge to over see their work. Marina Willer speaks about how new and potential partners contribute to the process of constant renewal and are vital in a forever-changing and adapting world. Each time a new person joins, it adds a new dimension and perspective. The constant change in culture and set of specialties and skills at Pentagram that comes with new partners is what allows for a diverse environment where designers can source knowledge and advice from one another. This is why choosing a partner to join Pentagram is a crucial process. Instead of having an inflated agency where they hire everyone, they choose people who specialise in an area that is different or unique and can assist in benefitting and influencing Pentagram (Com puter Arts, 2016). A tradition that Pentagram has withheld since its ini tial establishment is meeting twice annually with all of the partners to discuss current and upcoming projects, The meetings that were held around the world (Forbes said that he believed this was the reason for their success. Their open-mindedness for new ideas in the process of introducing a new partner is what sets them apart from other businesses. They do, however, have a chairman whose only role is to organise these yearly meetings. These meetings are a tradition that has been part of what makes Pentagram successful and plays a huge role in the culture of Pentagram. This is some thing that is prioritised to enrich and preserve the relationships between the partners. These meetings are held twice a year, one in the United States, and one in Europe (Element Talks, 2016).
Our origins are many, our journeys are (RedisinmixtureWeunpredictable.utterlyareaandthis,therebeauty.Trees,n.d.).
Innovative Practice
Another example of the innovative practice that Hay man talks about at the conference, is the layout of the studios across all offices. There are no private offices or rooms aside from meeting rooms. The desks are de liberately placed in areas that are open and encourage communication between the designers. This openplanned layout allows for the partners to cross each other’s paths multiple times throughout the day and also avoids people feeling less valuable if they don’t have their own office. (Element Talks, 2016).
This shows how the Creative Mandala plays an im portant role in assisting designers with finding balance with their workload. Although the skills and tools that they have equipped in and outside of Pentagram are what produce the outcome for their clients, it is their passion for design and aspiration within design thinking that differentiates them from other corporate
Social Pentagram’sValue:partners communicate directly with their clientele, there is no middle man between the consum ers and designers (Computer Arts, 2016). This assists in a hands-on method where the partners are able to form a clear understanding of the customer’s specific needs and demands, which allows for them to feel valued and heard. Because the partners of Pentagram are in control of their own projects and are majorly successful, they often earn awards, speak at confer ences, get asked for interviews and are asked to repre sent Pentagram for other causes. The people at Penta gram also highly value their culture which is made up of a wide variety of different perspectives, knowledge, skills, experience, values, ideas and specialties. It is the people that add social value to the firm. This means that because the partners are valued, heard, and ac cepted, the outcome of the work they produce will re flect it and their relation to their consumers is valued.
Creative Mandala: Partner Paula Scher discusses how Pentagram has withheld its quality for so long and says that it is be cause the designers always put design first. She high lights the importance of finding the balance between being a pure practitioner and experimentalist as well as being able to execute and deliver work on a broad scale for big corporations (Fast Company, 2017). Find ing the balance within the partner’s individual work strategy is important to differentiate the workload in each specific criteria. For example, the Hillary Clin ton Campain was nationwide, and the designers were tasked with creating an identity for the campaign that would help to persuade people to vote for her in the upcoming elections. This required a team that was able to deliver an outcome that would be well recognised and professional. Whereas a project like Shake Shack, led by Scher, was more of an experimental project that she had done for free. This meant that she was able to execute a brand identity for Shake Shack that allowed her to create with fewer boundaries and more free dom. “We like our clients, they take risks with us, and they also inform us” (Fast Company, 2017).
Carson, N. (2018, April, 27) 8 of the most successful independent design studios. Creative Alderson,ful-independent-design-studioshttps://www.creativebloq.com/inspiration/8-of-the-most-successBloq.R.(2015,September7)ADayatPentagramNewYork:
an insight into the partners, politics and personalities. It’s Nice That. https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/daynel=CreativeMorningsHQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23mlH8Ioycw&t=3s&ab_chanClientsCreativeMorningshttps://vimeo.com/145123301PentagramRednel=FastCompanyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqHXbWAnyx0&t=41s&ab_chanWorksFastchannel=Elementhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD8viW9Vmpw&t=1370s&ab_gramElementnel=ComputerArtshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se1fx_83ns4&t=262s&ab_chanWorksComputerHirasuna.ThamesBook:they%20bring%20in#:~:text=The%20partners%20are%20all%20generous,the%20jobs%20in-the-life-of-pentagramThePentagramPapersEditor:DelphineHirasunaPublication:&HudsonD.(2006)ThePentagramPapers.Thames&HudsonArts(2016,November29).MarinaWiller:HowPentagram[Video].Youtube.Talks(2016,June30).LukeHayman:TheBusinessofPenta[Video].Youtube.TalksCompany(2016,April22).PaulaScher:HowPentagramReally[Video].Youtube.Trees(n.d.)Astoryofdisplacement,hopeandacceptancefrom[Vimeo].HQ(2012,July3).MichaelBierut:Let’sTalkAbout[Youtube]. Conclusion References
This case study could be of inspiration to future startup businesses because it displays the intricacy of a business that refuses to follow any specific strategy within the business model. It focuses on the value of its partners solely and invites a wide variety of dimensional minds and perspectives that potential partners bring with them. The people within Penta gram are the most valuable asset to the firm and in focusing on their own well-being through annual meetings, as well as allowing for freedom to create and lead their own gigs, this allows for their ulti mate success. An example of this is that they hang flags outside the Pentagram building in New York to introduce and welcome new designers to the office. It is small details like this that assist in the well-being of their partners (Element Talks, 2016). Pentagram is not a money-hungry corporation that focuses on ris ing to the top, disciplining its employees or handing out sets of to-do lists. The partners have the ultimate responsibility and freedom to lead their own jobs. Pentagram is essentially a platform that allows them to be visible to its clientele (Element Talks, 2016). The methodology of an equal but competitive envi ronment, instead of the usual hierarchy corporation, isn’t seen being used in many businesses. Hayman proves how using a pyramid business structure with the owners and creators of the business can lead to its eventual destruction or sellout. The main issue with using this strategy is that the people on top that have been around for longer, get older and less in tune with the new generation of clientele. New employees are more valuable in this sense because they may be straight out of university, and have a younger and more broadened outlook and perspective of the world because of past experience. This can potential ly lead to the constant process of employees coming and going because they may not feel as valued as the people above them. The need to constantly grow and expand is the approach that most companies take to their perception of what it means to be success ful and this many times overshadows the individual needs of its employees. A business can only expand so far and this usually leads to a sell-out. This strate gy of business will continue over and over again, and although it is a means to make money and to do it fast, it lacks quality and attention to the value of em ployees. This is why Pentagram’s opposite approach has been of inspiration to many current businesses and will continue to be studied.