How a boutique studio landed the Obama Presidential Center brief 

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1:23Patricia Callaway:Hello and welcome to The Entrepreneurs on Monocle Radio, the show all about inspiring people, innovative companies and fresh ideas in global business. On the show today, President Obama is not in the episode, but we do, however, hear from the brand studio that helped create the visitor experience for the Obama Presidential Center, opening its doors this week on the south side of Chicago.

1:45Tom Crabtree:I heard some feedback from maybe all the way up to the president that was like, ah, finally, this is what the Obama Foundation should feel like.

1:52Patricia Callaway:And later, we'll hear from the president of a Japanese design and stationery company. I went to US and I was very shocked that stationery's position is more like daily disposable items, not something that you care for. This is The Entrepreneurs with me, Tom Edwards.

2:19Patricia Callaway:You're listening to The Entrepreneurs. Husband and wife team Tom Crabtree and Patricia Calloway are the co-founders of Manual, a design studio that helps organisations to express who they are through branding, strategy and experience. The company was founded in San Francisco and works on projects across the US and Europe with a recently opened studio in Amsterdam. Its client list ranges from tech companies to cultural organisations, but one recent commission particularly stands out, developing the visual identity and visitor experience for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. I'm happy to say I caught up with Tom and Patricia about building a boutique studio with global reach, the story behind their work for the Obama Foundation, and why staying intentionally small may have become one of Manuel's greatest strengths.

3:08Tom Crabtree:So I'd been living in the US for about two years. I moved here in 2006 with Patricia. We're partners, husband and wife, as well as business partners. we moved to the US in 2006 and I worked for Apple. But prior to that, you know, I was in London for the best part of 10 years working, doing brand identity for lots of arts and culture and hospitality and things like that. So, you know, coming out of Apple in 2009, it was, I really saw an opportunity to start a design studio in San Francisco, which of course has is steeped in sort of technology design, if you will. I saw an opportunity to bring a little bit of my mixed background really sort of what would it mean to start a design studio that walks this very fine line between arts and culture non-profit and like cutting-edge technology and innovation i thought that was interesting i thought there was some white space there so that's kind of what the uh what the inception was all about really and also just to keep things really quite small as well always had ambitions to to keep the studio boutique by design and a certain size so yeah that was really kind of what it was about back in 2009.

4:12Patricia Callaway:Yeah, I love that. And I think that's of interest in those white spaces you describe really cleverly there, that intersectionality, a little bit of that almost hybridity. Patricia, I think that's also speaks to your experience, right? The same, as you said, it's a partnership in any manner of speaking, but your background is more as a sort of marketeer. But I guess I know that sort of intersectionality, that hybridity, that's maybe kind of what appealed to you as well, as well, as well, of course, as working with your husband. But again, those white spaces, is that what intrigued you at the outset?

4:42Tom Crabtree:A hundred percent. I started my career working in marketing at places like the Barbican Center in London. Really, you know, love the arts and loved being close to culture. And then I made the move when we moved to San Francisco, I found my place in a software company doing product marketing. and Tom and I were expecting our first kid and thought, what a great way to have flexibility for us to run a business together. Little did we know how busy it would keep us, but it was honestly, it was like having another child at the same time, starting the studio, but it was so much fun getting this business off the ground together and having a family.

5:23Patricia Callaway:Well, absolutely. And what the truisms never work with children, family or animals. I can't remember the exact order. You've done them all at once. talk to me about where the business sits that's this sort of san fran origin story tom you mentioned already you're based there and also in amsterdam tell me about where the kind of physical footprints are and how does that shape your practice and this kind of global approach that underpins a lot of your a lot of your work and discipline so yeah look san francisco has always

5:50Tom Crabtree:been known for sort of technology and innovation so it's a great place to be running a studio i mean honestly we're lucky enough to be working with there's also such a sort of optimistic entrepreneurial mindset where, you know, the Californian optimism of just people who think they can change the world and launch a new product and a new thing. So it's really exciting. It's always been exciting to kind of have a studio here. We opened up Amsterdam just over a year ago. I mean, we've always done a little bit of global work. So we've had clients in Europe previously and around the world. But really, yeah, Amsterdam was an opportunity to, again, just have a little bit more of that sort of global mindset and work with clients in Europe.

6:26Tom Crabtree:The co-founder out there, Joseph Boren, he and I used to work together 25 years ago in London. So it kind of felt like the stars aligned. And yeah, it just means and our studios also collaborate. So we don't just work separately on European projects in the US, we actually come together and, and kind of collaborate. So yeah, for us, it's an opportunity to just again, have different things influencing our creative practice, because as you could expect, if we're in our little bubble in San Francisco, which is what everybody kind of refers to it as, we're not getting those sort of global influences and having that really broad mindset.

6:58Tom Crabtree:So again, just having that European studio is an opportunity to continue what we do.

7:04Patricia Callaway:Yeah, and Patricia, let me ask you a little bit about, it strikes me as interesting that you talk, I know in terms of your role, there's so many kind of operational facets, but also this idea of shaping the culture of the practice. How much of that is about building the claims of this essential trust? And that's internal, but of course it's external. It's what brings you great clients. It aids client retention. It gets you amazing projects. maybe like Obama Foundation, which we'll come on to talk about in a minute. Tell me about how you help to build that culture and that sense of trust. I mean, what are the kind of mechanics of how you actually do that in the studio setting?

7:38Tom Crabtree:I think studio culture is something that's really important to us as a team to actually get away from our desks and get out into the world and experience the culture that's both on our doorstep and further afield. You know, travel is really important to us. and as Tom said, having our footprint in Amsterdam is one way we do that and having those cross-border collaborations. So it's about, of course, building culture in our team in San Francisco and also getting to work with people all over the world. We have collaborators that we work with regularly in many different geographies. Yeah, what would you add to that, Tom?

8:16Tom Crabtree:I mean, it's about trust, I think, is a big thing. You know, just having the trust as a team with one another and also with our clients we're very honest we're not that kind of design studio that's bamboozling with brand jargon and massive decks we like to be very human and very honest and with you know quite refreshingly honest and i think that just yeah it helps the creative teams that we we feel we can all be really candid with one another and support each other and i think our clients feel that honesty so i think that's sort of i don't know it's sort of part of our dna as a studio is not to be that agency that's all just brand jargon and fluff yeah maybe it's my it's my northerner kind of kicking in my northerner just like yeah well i was gonna say we don't have to

8:53Patricia Callaway:mention any names we can of course if you want let's then reflect those values onto look a client like the obama foundation and well to both of you really i guess this must be another one of those pinch yourself moments along the way tell me about how that came about and again does that challenge preconceptions that you guys must have had maybe if you're doing a piece of branding and it's for a consumer goods product or if you're working with an automotive brand i guess you kind of know some of the parameters, you've maybe got some experience. But when, I don't know, the ex-president comes calling in some shape or form, that must be able to use you guys almost a little bit.

9:29Patricia Callaway:So Tom, tell us a little bit about how that started.

9:31Tom Crabtree:Yes, well, it actually started, believe it or not, through a LinkedIn DM message. So the short story is the Obama Foundation hired a chief design officer who's called Hashem Bajwa. He was their chief design officer responsible for finding design partners to prepare for the Obama Presidential Center, which, I mean, this was three years ago, but the center's been in the works for five or six years. Hash reached out to me on LinkedIn. He used to work at Apple, I will add. We didn't know each other, but he was aware of our work and heard our name. So he reached out and said, look, I've joined the Obama Foundation.

10:10Tom Crabtree:Would you like to work with us on a sort of initial piece of work, which is thinking about how the Obama brand, if you will, for lack of a better term, should be prepared and show up as a public experience as something that's interfacing with the public for the presidential center. So that's how it began. Patricia, if you want to add anything to that. Yeah, sure. Of course. I mean, you're right, Tom. It was really different, a different sort of client for us working with folks who had careers in politics. We were very into, I mean, And it was hard to not be intimidated by people that have done incredible things in their careers.

10:43Tom Crabtree:And here we are, like, trying to advise them on brand. And so I think we went into this, for sure, understanding our place in the project. But also, the creative opportunity to affect what a presidential library could be when they're really not known for innovation or creativity was something we were really excited by, that challenge. You know, once we got over our imposter syndrome on the project, I think we were able to really deliver that high level of creativity. And actually, once we got to know the team, we realized they really weren't intimidating people. We had these very down to earth moments, creative shares and a great banter with the team there.

11:23Tom Crabtree:So it actually was not intimidating once we got our arms around the project and the process. I think Hash also did a really great job of leading the project and getting us in the right places in the org when we are sharing. I don't know if I'm describing the process super well, Tom. Maybe you can jump in as well. Yeah, it's one of those you would imagine when you're engaging with a large nonprofit, the Obama Foundation, lots of leadership, that it would all begin with lots of senior leadership meetings in a boardroom. But actually, the project was really well designed in that it was like from the ground up.

11:58Tom Crabtree:So in the early stages of the creative process, it was a series of sort of design sprints. It was almost acting like a bit of a startup, like show some work, internalize it, share it with the next level of people and kind of build some momentum internally at the org to show what the appetite and how brave and how far we could push design. It was almost like not asking for permission and getting a big sign off on a brief. It was proving by showing the work. And I think that, yeah, it just it got socialized more and more. So that's how the process was designed. And it was very successful in that way that it just allowed for a little bit more freedom for us to just get creative really early.

12:34Patricia Callaway:No, I love that. And, you know, this idea, this value on collaboration. And it's interesting you're working with Hash. He's a bit of a friend of Monocle as well. A great guy, really interesting, a visionary, but also someone who is interested in process. but letting people who know their skills get on with it. I think, and he's talked about the challenge of doing things. It's not easy, right? You've got not only all those stakeholders, but a really well-established core brand that you're augmenting and then riffing on. And then you've got to work on the presidential center, which is kind of literally being built as the process builds.

13:07Patricia Callaway:I mean, it's a completely unique situation. Were there ever moments, Tom, when you said, oh my God, I don't know if I can do this, or I don't know, did all those support networks and that collaborative approach mean that you always had the confidence that you could do all of those different things at once?

13:21Tom Crabtree:So as we were working on the identity portion of it, so before we even started the sort of visitor experience part of Wayfinding and Signage, no, it was, we were building some really great momentum internally and we developed a whole suite of custom typefaces and a really vibrant color palette and new pattern and motion graphics. And it felt that even in the early stages of the project, when we were taking some pretty big swings and seeing like, is this something that's going to really resonate with the Obama Foundation? Do they want to lean into this level of contemporary graphic design, for lack of a better term?

13:53Tom Crabtree:And we could just see the appetite for it. It felt like they were, yeah, I think I honestly heard some feedback from maybe all the way up to the president that was like, ah, finally, this is what the Obama Foundation should feel like. So I think in the early stages, there wasn't that sense of being overwhelmed. I think as soon as it started getting into, okay, we now need to design a wayfinding and signage program for what is a very large building, quite complicated to navigate, multiple floors, upper level, lower level. That became like, okay, this is going to be a real challenge to ensure that this visitor experience really works.

14:26Tom Crabtree:So I think that was the part where we were like, oh, we've really got to get this right. Because of course, signage and wayfinding, it's pretty permanent. Once that's in, it's in.

14:34Patricia Callaway:Well, I think you seem to wear that responsibility very lightly. Patricia, tell me, I know, So, you know, I don't know your, maybe there weren't loads of sort of NDAs and things to sign, but did it challenge a lot of your other just established working processes and practices, right? Because as you've both already alluded to, it's a bit of a different thing. The stakes are a little higher when you're dealing with the one-time leader of the free world, right?

14:56Tom Crabtree:Absolutely. I mean, we definitely had to bring in the right team and process to manage this undertaking. And I think, you know, when we talk about trust and collaboration, having the right partners as well join us in the work was totally crucial. We worked with Work & Co on the digital experience, both internally and online, and the amazing strategy from myself and others, bring change home. We just had incredible people that we were able to work with, and I think that made it feel doable.

15:30Patricia Callaway:And Tom, I think I'm right in saying you've now been able to go and see this in action. Is that right? Can you tell us a little bit about what that moment was like?

15:37Tom Crabtree:I was there literally yesterday with the team. It was our first visit since it's in this pre-opening phase at the moment. It was the first time we'd actually gone through all floors of the museum and actually learned the whole story of what the place is about. It was fantastic. I mean, it's just the architecture as well as by TWBTA. The architecture is incredible. The ground. So yeah, it was a really exciting moment yesterday to actually it just i mean we'd been working on it for years but suddenly it clicked when we were there with the team we were like ah yes that's what bring change home means ah we get it so it was really exciting being there yesterday yeah and seeing some of our signage and wayfinding which is a very small part of the experience but still something that we're very pleased and proud

16:21Patricia Callaway:i guess it intrigues me what where do you go from him and that's the sort of that's this in so many ways kind of a fantasy client a fantasy project or is it one of those things i throw this to you both where actually you're interiating all these different areas you're working in this interesting almost intersectional way does it give you loads more ideas and actually steal you to for the next ambitious leap and the next kind of crazy potentially vainglorious project what does working on something like this give you as you look forwards well i mean we work on these

16:52Tom Crabtree:projects that are they're so different but each one of them is about typically a founder or an organization that is very ambitious. That could be a space technology company. That could be a breakthrough health and science innovation. It could be the Obama Foundation. It could be the Eames Institute trying to create a new type of design organization. So in their own way, each of our clients and projects, they equally kind of get us excited. I mean, of course, this is on another scale. This is very civic, very public to do with democracy. I think at this point in time that we're at it is very resonant and very important to us but all to say that you know I guess that's why we talk about we work with kind of ambitious brands is that there are people out there that are trying to change the world in really small ways and in big ways and I think that every day that's what gets us excited I mean that's what got me into brand identity as a practice is that you almost get to be like a kind of tourist where you're visiting different areas of the world and what different people are doing and learning about what that is and then trying to amplify it and trying to get those messages out in the world and supercharge the business or the brand.

18:01Tom Crabtree:So all our projects seem to be quite exciting in that respect, and that's kind of how we pick them. But what's next? I mean, yeah, I don't know if there's going to be another project of the scale of the Obama Presidential Center, but we'll see. I think it's certainly the only president we'll ever work with.

18:14Patricia Callaway:Exactly, yeah. Well, and I was going to say, and Patricia, does it make you think, look, no project too big? I don't know. It must be amazing because it must give you such pride and confidence in terms of the team and the infrastructure and the processes that you've helped to build. But I don't know. Where's the journey go next?

18:31Tom Crabtree:No, you're right. I mean, look, this engagement really did push us as a team, even operationally. You're right. It was a complex undertaking to manage all these partners. And honestly, from the moment the RFP landed in our inboxes, it was just, can we imagine getting such an opportunity? Yeah, it's a hard one to beat. The one thing I'd add, though, we really delivered it with a small team. Like people are probably really surprised that I think the core team at Manual from operations and design on this, probably six, seven people touched this project. Yeah, it gives us a great deal of confidence that a studio that is on the smaller scale can actually take on these types of projects.

19:11Tom Crabtree:And so, yeah, we're waiting for something even bigger to come next. Don't know what that means.

19:16Patricia Callaway:The team will be holding their breath. Well, no, and I think, listen, there's something about that nimbleness, that dexterity to tackle challenges. And you said right at the top, didn't you, Tom? You wanted that to be a foundational value that you keep with you, to be small and lean enough to do great reactive work and be resourced, of course, to do it well. But to have that sort of that nimbleness. Tell me a little bit. What are you most excited about looking forwards? Is it that unknown? Because it could be the next crazy RFP that drops on the doormat. Or what else is it that's making you most excited?

19:47Patricia Callaway:Tom, I'll ask you that first of all.