Feedback

Designer Inspiration

by

An interview with Needmore client Haleh Nia overviewing her experience launching Savoir Flair, the first online fashion publication for the Middle Eastern market.

We just ran across this recent interview with Savoir Flair founder and editor Haleh Nia. The interview is chalk full of insights into her experience of launching the first online fashion publication for the Middle Eastern market back in 2008.

Haleh is a real inspiration to us and we enjoyed reading about her breakthrough moments (When we began getting tweets from celebrities and supermodels telling us they loved our magazine) and biggest accomplishments (getting the interview with Karl Lagerfeld) and spot-on advice (Do one thing a day that scares you. And do what you love so your job feels more like a hobby than a career).

In the process, she also had some kind words about our (almost) 3 year-long collaboration.

I always like to say there’s no better way to test your patience than to start a website from scratch. It was, to this day, the single most challenging thing I’ve done in my life. Thankfully, the very lovely and talented team at Needmore understood what I was looking for and put my exact vision onto paper – rather, the web.

Kudos to you, Haleh! We cannot wait to see what the next years have in store.

Shortest Survey Ever Results

by

We recently asked one question: When you think of Needmore Designs, what comes to mind? We got over 30 responses, which was incredible. We were overwhelmed by the sincerity and depth of what we learned from this. It’s helping us to re-examine our business.

There were a handful of people that associate us with one or another of our clientsor side projects. And it’s an incredible honor to have our work with these fine folks reconginzed. A number also mentioned our daughter (cute), our favorite hang-outs, and our penchant for coffee and mugs.

The overwhelming majority of folks, however, mentioned either our personalities or our design aesthetic. A few unedited quotes:

  • Tidy. Clean. Nice type.
  • Artisan, bespoke.
  • Crisp, sophisticated but functional and streamlined.
  • Open space, clean.
  • Warm modern clean quality.
  • Clean, simple, smart, pretty.
  • Simple and elegant design.
  • CLEAN, modern, visually attractive sites, impeccably designed.
  • Fresh and crisp design is what caught my eye.
  • Talent. intelligence. creative.
  • Amazing talent and excellent customer service.
  • Really professional and artistic developers who are approachable and that I would highly recommend.
  • Owners that come across as caring professionals. Partners.
  • Awesome web designers, easy to work with

We  have no words for how deeply appreciative we are of these sentiments. We know we asked, but still… these are the values we hope and strive to meet. And, to hear them echoed back—clean, crisp, creative, caring—gave us incredible validation about the work we do day to day.

And yet, we think we can do better. This has been a tough year for us at Needmore; a big move, a baby, and two break-ins left us feeling a bit deflated and as if we’d taken our eye of the ball here and there. Reading over your answers, we realize again and again what our strengths really are: simple, clean, bespoke design with a smile. To that end, this list has become a bit of a mantra here in the studio. It is everything we strive to be in the coming year. Onward and upward.

Thank you for helping us to focus on what is truly important.

 

Holli Harris, founder HadleyStilwell

by

I started working with Needmore two years ago when I started my clothing line, and I had for direction was an amorphous sense of how it should feel and the perception it should convey. Kandace and Ray took that fuzzy goal and came up with a brilliantly simple and elegant design that I’ve received many compliments on, including, “wow, you must be a large company with such a beautiful website”! I recently added new features to the site, and Needmore was able to keep the same streamlined feeling while adding more elements to the screen with ever so subtle tweaks. So not only did they create the original aesthetic, but they were able to accommodate the change in business needs without compromising the original design. Bravo!

Haleh Nia, Savoir Flair founder

by

Working long distance on creating a website from scratch is certainly not an easy job, but Needmore has managed to meet – and exceed – our every expectation. They are an extremely talented team (and very friendly to boot).

 

 

New Studio and Celebration

by

Needmore Designs is moving on down the road – to the bustling artistic community at Milepost 5. It’s a project by Beam – the developers of the last building we worked in – and it’s lovely. Very modern. Very suited to our style. We’ll be writing more about this space in the next few days.

So, effective immediately, our new address is:

900 NE 81st Avenue, Suite 102
Portland, Oregon 97213

To celebrate, we’re opening our doors on Saturday, June 12th from 5pm to 8pm. We’ll have lots of snacks, bubbly and, of course, cupcakes on hand. Stop in and celebrate with us! And, if you are on Facebook, let us know you are coming. Our party will coincide with the closing reception of our dear friend Amy Ruppel’s Mean Birds II: The Extinction art show. If you haven’t seen this series yet, it is a good thing you are coming to our party!

Needmore on Twitter

by

We’re experimenting with our own Twitter account: twitter.com/needmore. We plan on posting news tidbits, links to interesting posts here and elsewhere, and anything else we think you might find interesting. Enjoy!

Olio Anniversary Party

by

Looking for some fun this weekend? Just down the street from the Needmore Studio, Olio United (chalk full of fair trade and sustainable clothing) is kicking of a one-year anniversary extravaganza filled with a number of Needmore friends and clients!

To start it all off, there is a party tonight from 7 to 10 where 10 local artists, including friends like Amy Ruppel, Jill Bliss and Trish Grantham, have decorated Tom’s shoes for a silent action benefiting Transitions Cambodia. Like these super-cute custom shoes by Jill Bliss.

image

Then, on August 30 (11-6 pm) take a peek at the Form & Flora plant show (we’ve talked recently about what fans we are of Lacy’s designs) and the Entermodal Pop-Up Factory. We’ve had the privilege of touring Entermodal’s studio and have to say that seeing these folks in action is an experience not to miss!

When I first stepped into Olio, I fell in love with the design of the space; it was created by Beam (who also developed the building our studio is in), with the same high ceilings and natural elements as our own studio.

Hope to see you there!
Address: 1028 SE Water Avenue at Yamhill

Good News

by

A couple of our projects have been garnering some attention this week.

Gone Raw was noted in the first ever Portland Start-Up Index, garnering a 9th place spot (congratulations to our neighbors at AboutUs for showing up number one here in Portland). We’re pleased as punch to be recognized in such company. Bonus: according to Silicon Forest, Gone Raw has bumped up to number 7 since the rankings have posted!

iPhone Miles is featured as Thursday’s staff pick on Apple’s website. Being such big fans of Apple, the excitements is simply difficult to put into words!

iPhone Miles on apple.com

Using iPhone Miles daily? Why not add it to your iPhone home page and check out our new custom button!

iPhone Miles on apple.com