How design agency MadeByShape builds trust with a newspaper

"Clients love the touch, the feel and how ironic it is for a digital agency to have printed materials."

We’re meeting Newspaper Club customers from some of the world’s most creative companies to learn about how they work and how they use newsprint. Below, we talk to Andy Golpys, co-founder of MadeByShape, a digital agency in Manchester working with companies like the BBC, Selfridges and L’Occitane. In his own words, Golpys tells us about the process of designing MadeByShape's new website and how they use a newspaper to build trust with clients.

MadeByShape office in Manchester. Image credit: MadeByShape

Creating a new look for MadeByShape

Earlier this year, we launched a new website to re-align MadebyShape with our current audience. The rebrand process was thorough—it took around 8 months. It was a huge deal for us, and we wanted to get it right.

The first step was to get our audience's opinion on the current brand: What did they feel? Did they understand what we offer? Positive or negative, we wanted opinions on everything.

We also produced our own research about how the design should look. I think the most valuable part of the rebrand was the opportunity to really analyse our old site—to look at the stats to find out what was successful and what could be improved. That way we could base our design decisions on fact, not opinion.

The redesigned MadeByShape website.

One big change is the new illustration style. While most of our audience liked our old illustrations, we didn't feel like they fully represented us. So we took a gamble and the new illustrations have been received very positively. They look more mature and stylised now, but still represent the fun message we’ve wanted to convey from the start.

"A leave-behind is so important—it needs to
communicate our message immediately."

MadeByShape newspaper printed as a digital tabloid.

Building relationships with newsprint

We were using a digital tabloid newspaper to build relationships with clients before the rebrand, and our latest issue introduces our new branding. It’s part of our pitching process, whether that means handing a newspaper to someone on the train after a quick discussion or leaving one behind after a meeting with a client. The newspaper reinforces trust and helps the client understand MadeByShape.

"Clients love the touch, the feel and how ironic
it is for a digital agency to have printed materials."

MadeByShape newspaper printed as a digital tabloid.

A leave-behind is so important for many reasons. It's like your CV—it needs to capture the correct tone of voice and communicate our message the reader immediately. We believe ours does this well and the printing process with Newspaper Club is very easy, which makes my life easier.

MadeByShape newspaper printed as a digital tabloid.

The feedback has been very positive, both online and offline. Every client I hand over a newspaper to loves it. They love the touch, the feel and how ironic it is for a digital agency to have printed materials.

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