3 Things I learned working for a global marketing team
Magnanni is a luxury leather company specializing in the design and creation of footwear. Operating since 1954, the company has grown to be the number 1 selling shoe at Nordstrom and a force to be reckoned with in the footwear industry at large. Operating as a family owned company everything is kept under the watchful eye of the Blanco family who strive to maintain quality products and a unique brand experience.
Being a part of the global marketing team under the leadership of Cobrin Thomas (wellcanmedia.com) was full of challenges and opportunities to create a brand that was in line with what the Blanco family wanted and ahead of the competition. Starting out as the junior designer and being elevated to the lead designer in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic was something I am proud of and encouraged by when I look at the time I spent with Magnanni. With these things in mind, here are 3 things I learned working for Magnanni.
1. Quality Over Quantity
In the luxury industry quality should always come first. If you’re going to ask your customer to spend a large amount of money you need to provide a product and experience that makes them feel like they are getting what they pay for. Therefore the importance of providing quality in all areas of the brand was something we aimed to do.
For me I needed to learn what that meant in my area of work. It’s one thing to create a quick email blast or social post, but to the customer that’s time taken away from their lives to consume what you’re putting out. If that’s cheap garbage then they’ll feel we don’t care about their time enough to put more of an effort into what we are showing them. I learned the importance of spending time to review and understand the designs I am making, how to make them better, and what the customer is getting.
Some of the side effects of this mentality is also the skills I developed in the programs I used most often. Learning things like Frequency Seperation in Photoshop, how to properly use masks in Adobe XD, and reviewing a design or photo on multiple screens and screen sizes to make sure the quality is staying consistent.
This leads to the second thing I learned, take time to be creative.
2. Creativity takes time
One thing I’ve had to fight for myself was thinking, making something creative shouldn’t take a ton of time because time is money right? Well one thing helped me fight this mentality was having “creative days” with the marketing team. This involved going out to a bar, getting a drink and food and just brainstorming ideas. Talking about movies, video games, art, design, things that inspire us and give us ideas we can then bring to the brand. These days allow us to set aside the day-to-day work that comes from working in an office and think about what we want to do for the brand. It’s similar to writing rooms for movies and t.v. shows, where the ideas come alive.
One experience I had in the office was in creating a module on the website to showcase our accessories on the homepage. What I was thinking was that I should be able to pump out this design fast but by trying to do that I wasn’t actually getting anywhere. So I had to take time, walk around, think, step away from the screen and allow my mind to think creatively. It took all day to do, but by doing so I was able to build something that was just what we needed at the time.
Good design takes time. If you’re a business owner or someone looking for art and design you should expect this. If you want something quick and unthought out you can get that but don’t expect to get anything meaningful. The more time a designer and creative have to allow thoughts and ideas to flow, the better the end product is going to be.
3. Working on Set
Magnanni keeps the marketing and design in house, which is great for the brand because it allows the employees who know the brand to make work that fits the aesthetic they want. It’s also a large and daunting task to figure out how to create a campaign that provides enough content to span an entire season. This task is almost 100% in the hands of the creative director, Corbin, but when it comes to production it’s all hands on deck to make the vision come to life.
I never really thought I would work on a photoshoot but in the 3 years at Magnanni I was on a plethora. Going to cabins in rural Ohio to working on huge built sets I got to help build the sets, meet interesting and talented individuals, run around town picking up things we needed, and at times take the camera and try some ideas out. The days often ran long and at times were stressful but the work created was always above and beyond what I imagined. It was an eye opening experience to see what it takes to make quality work.
Finally, I got to work with some great creative people who I consider friends more than coworkers. I have no hard feelings leaving Magnanni and I believe the brand will continue to grow and those that get to work for the company will learn and develop their skills in the same way I have.