Why My Studio Doesn't Industry Niche
Good morning friends! I hope you are doing well and staying safe and sane. Today I want to talk about a popular topic in the design industry – niching. To niche or not to niche, that is the question. And it’s a questition I get a lot. Today I am going to cover why I do NOT industry niche but DO service niche.
Let’s start by getting back to basics – what does it actually mean to niche?
Niche: denoting or relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.
This has a lot of different meanings in the design space, but a common strategy is to industry niche, which means only serving clients within a specific set of self-established parameters. An industry niche would be saying that your studio only works with _______ (restaurant, skincare, female-founded, wellness, fitness, coaching, consumer goods) businesses.
Raise your hand if you have ever seen a designer website bio that says something along the lines of “we are a heart-centered studio serving female-owned wellness brands with intention.” This is a popular strategy right now. And to be clear – it totally works!
There is a reason a lot of people go this route and it’s because there are some major upsides. It can make your aesthetic more consistent. It can make your systems more consistent (if the deliverables are always the same). You might feel overwhelmed by managing clients from a large variety of different industries at the same time. Additionally – I love the whole “if you try to be everything to everyone you will end up being nothing to…” I’m not 100% sure how that quote ends, but I think you get the idea. You end up penniless and alone! It is true that you cannot be everything to everyone, and I have to admit that I am always a little hesitant when I see a design studio that provides brand development, visual branding, website design, photography, and copywriting for clients across every category. It’s nearly impossible to be everything to everyone and be really good at what you do.
In order to provide a bit of context for this whole post I have to quickly step back in time to 2011. I had just landed my second job out of college as a graphic designer for a private school and ended up staying there for four years. I knew EVERYTHING (well, I thought I did – but truly I did know a LOT) about design as it related to independent and private schools. From development to admissions to advancement. I was reading the industry literature. I knew all the buzz words. I could absolutely talk the talk and walk the walk. Eventually I decided it would be a good idea to pivot my studio and become an “award-winning design studio for independent schools.” I sent out 150 mailers to independent schools in the midwest. I spent the next four months working exclusively on independent school projects and …. I got a little complacent. I wasn’t bored (I don’t believe that adults should use the word bored but that is neither here nor there), but everything was just very… routine. Repetitive. Projects started to look similar and blend together in my mind and my heart just wasn’t in it.
Here’s the secret – niche or don’t niche – there’s no wrong way to do it.
BUt whatever you do, prioritize your mental health.
The better you feel, the easier it will be to SERVE YOUR CLIENTS.
So let’s break it down – before we jump into why we DON’T industry niche, let’s touch on why we DO service niche.
We provide the following services:
Visual Branding
Print
Packaging
Illustration
Long Format
There’s not a really lengthy explanation for why we offer these services other than that I truly enjoy them and over the past 10 years have established myself as an experienced designer with proven success in these categories. I would rather control WHAT I design every day rather than WHO I design it for.
Accidental Nicheing
It’s worth noting that some nicheing is a bit accidental. My aesthetic is varied but trends vibrant, colorful, and illustrative. It is plausible that certain brands will look at my portfolio and decide that I am not the right designer for them – and that is perfectly okay. I don’t have to say it because my work does.
Variety is the Spice of Life
I have an enormous creative appetite. My brain is constantly swirling with ideas and colors, so it works well for my personality to spend time in a variety of industries each day. Categorical client variety keeps me on my toes, makes me a better designer, and I believe that it ultimately makes me more valuable to my clients. I am able to bring what I learn in different categories back to my other clients. For example, I used a unique print technique on a snack package and ultimately introduced it into a skincare package later in the year. I learned how to add a gorgeous texture to a tincture label and used a similar layering technique for a custom juice shipper a few weeks ago. Everything that you learn has value. Soak everything up, drink it all in. And then figure out how to add that value to your other clients.
Let’s take a quick peek into the brands we are currently working with:
Golf Resort
CBD Brand
Wallpaper Company
Skincare Brand
Skincare Brand
Restaurant and Juicery
Canned Wine Brand
Extraction Lab
Smoothie Company
Plant-Based Food Blog
Postpartum Meal Delivery Service
Prosthetic (Adaptable) Apparel Brand
Chip/Snack Company
Hindi Toy Brand
Bassinet/Travel Crib Brand
On paper these brands have almost nothing in common! From a chemical extraction lab to a bespoke women’s facial mist toner to 55+ truck stop snacks – they are all over the map. But what you can’t see is that at the heart of every single one of these companies is some dang good people. I will work with clients in any industry under the sun if they are good people. Period. Like I said earlier – for my personality, it works much better to control what I produce every day rather than who I produce it for.
Revenue
I feel it is important to touch on this because I do not believe that women talk about revenue as an end goal as often as they should. I work to make a living. Even though I love design with every fiber of my being and truly believe that this is my life’s calling in every way, shape, and form – I am running a real life business over here. So I have to make money, and I am trying to make as much of it as I possibly can.
There are a lot of different ways to grow revenue, and increasing your prices is certainly one of them, but I would also encourage you to look at your design calendar and figure out what free time is available. Then decide how you’d like to fill in those gaps. It might be with personal projects, shutting your laptop to go to a workout class or spend time with your family, or it might be taking on a client whose industry didn’t seem that interesting to you when their inquiry came through.
I am shocked by how many times clients in “boring” industries have turned out to be the easiest, most upbeat, and appreciative clients I have ever worked with.
Time to reflect
So take a step back and think about your current business structure. Do you niche? What have you niched down to? Do you feel it aligns with your current vision for your life and business? Challenge yourself to really reflect on what you are communicating and if it aligns with what you are looking for. Also think about any specific parameters you want to set for your business – for example, while we do not niche in industry, I will occasionally turn down work if it doesn’t align with my personal values (ex: we turned down a cigarette company’s rebranding last year).
Think about the services you offer. Are there things you really do not enjoy doing (for me this is social media templates and anything that a client wants to be able to edit)? If you want to keep offering them, is there a way to make the process more enjoyable?
I hope this was helpful – I would love to hear about your niche or lack thereof, leave a comment below and let me know what type of design work you do and what type of clients you serve!