DesignQuorum doesn’t do the usual with its corporate marketing, awards and gifts. What the company sells is beauty. Take for instance the crystal carafe that a studio in Culver City gave to its employees for Administrative Professionals Day in April. The carafe came in two pieces made in Turkey and presented in a box expressly designed to hold it and accompanied by a custom card with a message that drinking water from the carafe was not only healthy but cut down on the use of paper cups and plastic bottles. Around the Van Nuys office are other examples of DesignQuorum’s work – plates, cut bowls, glitter lamps, leather PDA holders, and pen and business card holders made by a process called glass slumping. A blown glass globe, about the size of a 16-inch softball, was a limited edition. “All of this is about beauty,” said Michele Leal, founder of the company. “Human beings respond to color; they respond to texture and light. Infants respond to beauty.” DesignQuorum does offer the more traditional corporate gifts and premiums – hats, pens, coffee mugs, etc. – but it is the elaborate, high end pieces that Leal likes to show off; pieces often designed by U.S. artists and not merely mass produced knickknacks. For it’s all about perception of both the giver and the recipient. It makes a huge difference when a board director or top sales person gets an award that can be openly displayed as a work of art. For the company, it is important that it reward high profile clients or employees with an object also of high profile. Leal, however, has to make sure what she provides her clients are appropriate and up to date. She and her staff need to stay current on art, electronics and unusual objects. To achieve that, the firm has a presence at multiple trade shows throughout the year. There is no job too big or small. Variety of clientele The Wynn casino in Las Vegas presents DesignQuorum awards to the winners of its baccarat tournament. Yet, there is also a San Fernando Valley tattoo parlor that hired the company to design its business cards. The Hollywood studios are major clients but when the recession forced budget cuts, Leal went into other industries to make up the slack. She now counts banks and law firms as clients. The Wynn account is another example of how the slump diversified the Design Quorum client list. This is all done with tenacity and persistence; of putting one’s head down and getting to work. “We just don’t do anything halfway, even if it eats into the (profit) margins,” Leal said. Clients describe Leal and her staff as professional, attentive and understanding of the message they want to get out. “I come up with the ideas and she comes up with the behind the scenes to get it done,” said Kendrell Craven, the marketing manager with information technology services company Key Information System. A different company The roots of DesignQuorum are in another company Leal had operated with her ex-husband. She sold her interest in that company 1996 and started her own boutique firm the next year to use her background in design and art to provide corporate awards and gifts, and marketing and branding materials. The transition to running her own business proved to be difficult at times, particularly for a single parent when she would have to leave the office to pick up her children and then return later. Leal also found the change to be fun and exciting. She considered herself lucky to be good at what she was doing to serve her client base, some of whom followed her over from the previous company while others found out about Leal through word of mouth. Keeping clients is easier than finding new ones and those using the company tend to remain loyal, Leal said. The loyalty comes from the communication between Leal and the clients, either by phone or in person. She wants to establish a personal relationship and her staff understands what the client needs to make their job easier. ASL Monarch Living Inc., owners and operators of independent senior living facilities, including Monarch Village in Tarzana, had used other marketing companies but the difference with DesignQuorum is its understanding of the brand message. That message gets carried through the brochures and other informational pieces DesignQuorum did for the ASL branding campaign, said Katie Gielow, the marketing director. Exceeding expectations Leal and her team have been exceeding expectations since being hired in 2007, Gielow said. “I trust that anytime I turn something over to her I will get a great piece back,” Gielow added. Finding beauty in the ordinary was the approach taken in designing trade show panels for a manufacturer of washers. Binder Metal Products had a limited budget but was presented with panels using photographs of close ups of different types of washers. The result was striking and colorful. “He looked like he was selling jewelry,” Leal said. “They may be washers but the shapes were extraordinary.” A simple refrigerator magnet provided another opportunity to exhibit some creativity. ABC Daytime came to Leal asking for a schedule of its programming to be distributed in gift bags for new mothers. The cost, however, had to be limited to 12 cents per piece. The result was a magnet that came in two pieces – one an oval shaped schedule, the other piece a frame for a picture of the newborn. DesignQuorum made 1 million of them and ABC Daytime was “thrilled,” Leal said. Bouncing back As a co-sponsor for the Northern Trust Open golf tournament, Key Information Systems turned to Leal to come up with giveaways for clients. For a conference in Santa Barbara, welcome packs with a name badge, notebook and other items were useful for attendees. “We’ll place an event in a box so to speak,” Craven said. After a tough 2009 in which the studio clients cut back on their spending, the phone calls for orders have resumed although the large budgets have not. Leal, however, has learned how to meet the client needs without them having to spend a lot of money. DesignQuorum is positioning itself for growth by redesigning its website and introducing an e-commerce feature to sell directly online. The company should get more national clients that way, Leal said. DesignQuorumYear Founded: 1997Revenues 2008: $560,000Revenues 2009: $225,000Employees 2008: 7Employees 2010: 4 full-time; 1 part-time; independent contractors
American Beauty
