Anabliss featured in “Point”

The Colorado AIGA Student Chapter put out an issue of “Point” this spring featuring an interview with our very own Matt Coffman. You can read the article below or download the whole “Point” publication here.

What’s up with Anabliss?
Matt Coffman the man behind the mysterious name.

I recently sat down with Matt Coffman (via email), the mastermind behind Anabliss, to ask what’s up with the name and how was his year away from design…

When did you start your company?
Before I graduated college I received best student portfolio in an AIGA competition. This recognition had given me many opportunities to freelance in a handful of high-quality shops around town. I had the opportunity to work at over a half-dozen agencies in town but, after much consideration, determined to start Anabliss. I officially received my business license in 1997 and worked out of my basement for the next couple years.

Where did you get your company name from?
I was unimpressed with Coffman Design and, at the time, wanted a name that started with an “A” (to be listed in the beginning of the phone book). Ana is a prefix which can mean ”a personal collection”. Bliss is “happiness”— So, Anabliss was formed. It really defined my love of design and creativity. I  remember it took me 6 months to create the identity. Why is creating your own stuff so hard? About a year later, while still working in my basement, I received PRINT’s Annual Best of Book and the Anabliss identity was featured on a full page including an introduction about the concept behind the business card. From that moment I felt as if all the hard work, designing the Anabliss identity, was worth it.

What was your motivation for starting your own company?
At the time, pride had a lot to do with my decision. Looking back, that wasn’t the best reason to start a business. I literally had no agency experience but I knew that I could establish a successful company. Unfortunately, the lack of experience demanded a longer learning curve and many more trial-by-fire experiences. Fortunately I’ve discovered that my character is one of a natural leader and these past experiences have only helped me face hard challenges. I can’t change the past, but looking back, I would love to give my 21-year-old-self some much needed business advice.

What challenges do you face owning a small business?
Let me start with this; The part I enjoy most about this business is truly supporting the companies we work with–being a consultant, not a designer. Being a friend not a vendor. With this comes trust and ultimately loyalty–to you and to your company. The relationships I’ve developed over the last 14 years have been invaluable to me. Many of our clients have been with us for several years — many over a decade.

With any relationship, you’re always one mistake away from losing trust. That said, the biggest challenge as a business owner is ensuring our company lives up to the standards we’ve set for ourselves. A company is a lot like a person. If you’re honest and trustworthy, people will inherently trust you and your council. As the founder, I feel an urgent responsibility to deliver on our promises; Not just for the value of the client but for the quality of the relationship. Our business is all about relationships, not with companies, but with people. And that is the most rewarding and most challenging aspect of owning a business.

You recently took some time away from your company… During your Sabbatical what did you learn?
I read something recently that summarized it clearly. When a person once asked Confucius “What surprises you most about mankind?” Confucius answered, “They lose their health to make money and then they lose their money to restore their health. In thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future and they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived…”

During my sabbatical I learned this first hand. I looked back on my 13 years of owning and operating Anabliss and realized just how much life I missed and who I’d become… I wasn’t excited about the person saw in the mirror. And, didn’t feel as if the last decade was balanced with fruitful living – the kind that makes you proud of being who you are. The most important lesson I learned is the importance of God in life. I realized that you can have everything you want in the world and still feel like you have nothing. I read recently the hardest thing in life to deal with is success and failure. I had everything that I could imagine and was still asking the question, “What is it all about?” Living in today’s world it’s hard not to have serious doubts about religion and a creator. That said, I used this time to focus on what God had to say about life and the purpose of our existence. I had a chance to learn about the character of Jesus and what he offered. After six months of living our “dream” both my wife and I, and our 5 month-old baby Finley, enrolled in a Christian training program that helped reset many of the false beliefs we had established over the years. Although we’re still on a journey, learning, asking questions, etc, the second half of our time off was far more rewarding than our first half of living our dream.

How did your business survive while you were gone for a year?
There was something special that happens when you empower your employees to the behind-the-scene,day-to-day activities that happen in any successful business. I was fortunate to have a team who was ready for the challenge. Before my sabbatical, I took three months to train and delegate all the responsibilities of the business and establish a clear plan of action. During my time away we had a mid-year group meeting in Seattle that really set the stage for next 5+ years. It was the first time the company had taken an off-site retreat to focus on the business–and what it had to do to offer the most value to our clients. We had an amazing time and it really took our business to a level that it had never been before.

When it was all said-and-done, the team exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. Upon my return, I saw the growth of each employee first-hand as well as heard from our existing clients what how wonderfully our team performed during this time. The personal benefits each employee received will be something they will have forever. The time I had away allowed the fog to clear and focus on the high-level priorities of the business moving forward. Overall, it’s an amazingly strong combination!

What did you do during that time to recharge to further yourself as a designer?
I was in need of a break from design. I was at the point of burnout and I knew in order for the business to grow creatively, I had to step aside. Part of being a business owner is knowing your limitations and empowering your team. For the company to do better work, I didn’t need to become better at design, but better at seeing how I could contribute. In this case, completely extracting myself from design allowed our company to grow from both a design and account services perspective.

For me personally, being a great designer isn’t about doing more design, it’s about looking at the world in a different way and trying new things. It’s these experiences that bring new perspectives into (the value of) your design. In turn, I was able to become a better designer by unplugging from design and becoming more confident in who I was and what I wanted out of life.

Finally, our company often talks about how we don’t design “pretty.” Many people can look at our work and see a common thread of timelessness. We’re not in the business of being amazingly creative first, we’re in the business of solving problems first and design second. This is a very important distinction between the skill of hand (creativity) versus the skill of listening (solving problems).

How do you distinguish your company from other design firms?
First, we have evolved into a brand strategy, design and management partner for our clients. We are a group of established brand professionals who are both quality- and process-driven. This experience allows us to ask the right questions, collaborate deeper and provide more valuable perspective than other agencies.

Second, we have real experience. Unfortunately today we live in a cut-and paste world, meaning, anyone can pop-up a website and promise the world. It’s another story to deliver on that promise and Anabliss has over 14 years delivering solutions for our partners.

How do you convince clients that you can provide the same type of service as a larger agency or how do you talk about this concern?
Very simply, size doesn’t equal quality. We were recently featured in the publication Designing Brand Identity (by Alina Wheeler). Our rebranding work for The Colorado Health Foundation and TeleTech was published alongside rebrands such as AT&T, FedEx and Walmart. Companies such as VSA Partners, Landor Associates, Pentagram (and now Anabliss) grace the pages of this remarkable branding resource. This was a testament to show our knowledge and insight into the brand development arena. In addition, we’re not a 100+ person agency. To us, you get priority and everyone in our company knows your brand. This offers less layers of complexity to clients who deserve a higher-level of customer service.

Are you a fine artist as well? Do you have any other hidden talents?
My mother was an art teacher and I began art from a young age although I wouldn’t call myself a “true” artist. I was really talented in architecture in high school, but after visiting a stuffy agency my senior year, I literally decided that day to change my profession (I wonder what I’d be if I had visited a cool studio… humm).

Where do you find inspiration?
I find the most inspiration when I unplug from all the noise going on in the world. We live in an over-stimulated environment and it’s really hard not getting caught up in trends and noise of it all. I remember the last time I was surfing off the coast of the Big Island  of Hawaii and I was so amazed at God’s creation–There was so much to see, so many colors, shapes, textures and patterns. I remember looking at all the colors of and shapes of the fish swaying to the tide over a neon green carpet of reef and thought that I was on another planet. I literally have never seen anything so imaginative and creative in my life! Now that I’m land-locked, I really enjoy found objects and typography. I have a folder of my scans that include random bingo cards and circus announcements. My home tends to showcase random typography things. Maybe it’s the contrast between the natural and man-made world that I find so interesting.

What should a new designer avoid when getting into this field?
Two things are important to remember here. First, don’t show anything in your portfolio that you don’t enjoy doing. Wouldn’t that stink to get hired for something that you don’t enjoy? Secondly, make sure your work is your own… I recently had an experience that really surprised me. We had posted an ad for a junior level designer and received an application and a link to a website that had Anabliss-specific work in it–I’m not talking about work that looked like ours, but our work. I gathered myself and called the applicant hoping his explanation of “his” work would be explained through my generic questioning. My jaw dropped as he proceeded to explain how he produced everything (that we did) from concept to completion. Just to be sure I asked, what program he used to design the materials and what his inspiration was for the work. While listening to his explanation, I even considered asking him in for an interview so my staff could experience how smooth this man was talking about our work. I couldn’t believe my ears. After about 10 minutes, I shared with him how deceptive he was and that our work needed to be removed from his site immediately. For the first time in our conversation, he was at a loss for words. I say all this to say simply, be honest. Don’t sell yourself by showing something that’s not your own. The bottom line… people are investing in you as much as they are investing in what you can do for them. Don’t try to be something you’re not.

Do you have any advice with working with complicated clients?
It’s our job to quickly assess if it’s the client or the problem that’s complicated. If, from the beginning you see red flags, choose not to get into a working relationship. If you commit to the client, you need to do what you can to uncomplicate the situation. Often times, by fixing the problem, it helps fix the clients attitude toward you. A large part of our job is to be on the same side as our clients. It’s a partnership, and like any relationship, there will be challenges.