What draws us to the business of branding? What makes us choose to dedicate our lives to design? We are artistic, usually intuitive people. We are people who are impressed by an eye-catching billboard layout and who feel a thrill at the sight of a particularly well-designed toaster. Simply put, we value the medium as much as the message.

Yet these days we ask more of ourselves than just the possession of a good eye, a formidable portfolio and well-honed Photoshop skills. The days of design for design’s sake are gone, and rightfully so. Today, any design agency worth its salt completes a strategy phase before a single designer puts stylus to tablet.