CHAT WITH THE AGENCY NOISE 13

In the middle of the Design district in San Francisco we joined the Monday team lunch of the brand strategy and design agency NOISE 13. After a very warm welcoming we introduced our expedition and lost ourselves in travelling stories with these great people of big picture thinkers, passionate designers, foodies, surfers, cyclists, dog lovers and bar trivia nerds.

Then our first question as a kind of interview was – What is creativity for you in your work?
NOISE 13 Team: “For us is creativity really listening to our clients needs as much as we can but then pushing their boundaries and definitely in this office we stress collaboration a lot and both inside in the office and with our clients and also our suppliers as well. Because it is not only about a nice looking design it is about using your mind to develop solutions.
And it is not only working for any fancy, funny brand. Sometimes to work for smaller brands and companies can be really creative just because the mind set of the client is interesting. That means that not only the things, which seems to be funny end up creative. And sometimes something looks really small but can be such an inspiring subject. Because of that we try to look twice when we start with new clients. We always look that they fit to our philosophy. So much of what we do is to solve someone issue or challenge. Is not that they ask us to come with any idea. The customers come with a preconceived concept what they are looking for.”

Further we asked – How important is it to reinvent the wheel?
NOISE 13 Team: “The question is Why to reinvent the wheel? Because to reinvent the wheel there has to be a significant reason for it. Otherwise if you constantly reinventing the wheel it is just chaos. You need a foundation. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel but you cant stay on the same path all the time either. At least it really depends on the client and project and it is not that much about to reinvent the wheel every time then to provide an answer which is specific to the client. It is more a evolution of things rather then a complete reinvention.”

What do you think about the understanding from creativity on the client side?
NOISE 13 Team: “Some of them want to get surprised other knows exactly what they want and they don’t want to see anything different. Again it is about listening and understanding but the understanding of creativity really depends on experience. Before we start with a project we have a “discovery face” and that is where we really get a feeling what kind of client is it and where are the expectations. We take time for this with the whole team. Like we try to get as many people in as we can and then everybody with his individual background can ask question. The other thing, we use a lot, is mood boards to make sure what they are saying and what they are visual thinking is the same.

Of course finally we asked them – What inspires you?
NOISE 13 Team: “It is kind of a ongoing process and there is not necessarily one space we look for inspiration as much it is constantly refining your personal taste because we think that’s really what you rely on and you have to trust in that. And that comes from inoculation of everything and figure out what you like and what works and then figure out how to apply that to each project.
But if you ask where does that comes from – from nature, science, art, magazines or more like always looking around. And of course how does other creatives solve problems. A collective set of designs is inspiring. We definitely get inspired from each other in this team. We are a team of people we really want to hang out with and we appreciate each others opinions. We do this Monday team lunch to share ideas, pull out open questions, share experiences and meet people as you from INSPIRED EXPERIENCE. And of course travelling. It is inspiring to meet people and especially if you talk to people out of your zone you learn so much. At the same time San Francisco is a great city to get inspired because of the variety of people here.
You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel but you can’t stay on the same path all the time either. That’s why differences and change in perspective in almost everything are so important.“

To our surprise they shared some great ideas of inspirations far away from the stereotype of a digital agency. It was not based on that much online stuff as it was more about going out with open eyes, have personnel experiences and put yourself in a different mind set due to different surroundings. By the way, when we resposned to that – they all replied prompt, that instagram, pinterest or more the whole WorldWideWeb is a source of inspirations in addition. Furthermore they take so much photos everyday and share them in the team.

Years ago most of the clients from Noise 13 come from food and beverage and so many times they have been asked “Why don’t you just do wine?” and even to specialize in food and beverage. But they don’t wanted to be limited in this kind of inspired work. Further they explained us:
NOISE 13-Team
: “Most of our clients are out for the general consumer. So their customers spent extra money on something what they want and not want they necessarily need. It is more a choice purchase. Like you can choose Uber, Lyft or Sidecar – but i can choose Uber because of the brand image. So it is a lifestyle choice. Looking how all these different companies speaking to the consumer inspires us. If we would be only focused in one industry you get kind of closed off in this area. And somebody who is buying wine does also need a driver sometimes – so it is inspiring how does people make their decisions based on all his different influences. That means not only look to competitors then to everything you see.“

We love the way how they research and these verify approaches in their work. They get inspired still on the analog way by having real experiences and adapt it to solve issues on a innovative way by using technology clever and let great design make it work.

For more about these noisemaker check out the Website and below is a little tour into the creative office.

Thanks for having us, NOISE 13!

PHOTOS BY INSPIRED EXPERIENCE