Freelancer or agency? Neither please! Freelancer comes with the stigma of "I'm down for anything as long as there is cash." The "agency" title comes with a lot of baggage of it's own. Sharpe Creative aims to be something different. An in-between that seeks to enhance the benefits of working with an individual while eliminating the fluff and bloat that some creative agencies can bring to small to medium businesses. Sharpe Creative operates as a creative brand design consultant with a collective "studio" of talented buds and businesses we can tag in as needed.
Doing a few things well is better than attempting to do it all with mediocrity... Many smaller agencies and studios claim to do it all yet fall short of the mark in several categories.
Content marketing, SEO, social media, PR, email marketing, paid advertising, etc. It is all important! But, Sharpe Creative takes a focused, studio approach. We believe a smart and distinct brand presence is the prerequisite to any successful marketing efforts. Every marketing tactic does not apply to every business but every business needs a healthy brand.
The core services are built around the personal skillset and career experiences of Andy Sharpe. Saying "we" is intentional. Trusted partners, and collaborators play vital roles in many projects. Branding should be a collaborative effort. As the client, nobody knows your business like you do! So, we consider you, your involvement, and your insight in that "we" as well.
Proud Midwesterner located in Centerville, Ohio (betwixt Cincinnati and Columbus). We've worked with clients across the US and a few outside. Sharpe Creative unapologetically operates out of a home office and works with as-needed, remote contractors. To do good creative brand work, we don't need a traditional office and clients have never been disappointed that we don't have one. It just means overhead isn't factored into the pricing!
Small to medium businesses who have a passion for what they do. If you are excited, we will be too. Sharpe Creative has helped independent consultants to multi-million dollar companies. Variety is the spice of life. If you are passionate about your brand presence, reach out!
Work shown on this site is NOT comprehensive and many past work experiences cannot be shared online. For most industries, there has been at least one past experience. Just ask. In terms of brand design, we can create for anyone. Creative work comes down to research and a purposeful balance of "appropriate" and "differentiated." We will scope out the chumps known as your competitors, and create something that doesn't confuse or create negative reactions within your industry. We will build a brand identity that makes you stand out and stand above the aforementioned chumps.
We get jazzed about new projects too! Sharpe Creative is intentionally small and rush jobs don't yield great outcomes for your brand. Typically, we can at least get the early stages of a project planned or rolling within the month once we land on an agreement. Depending on scope, a brand identity + website project can take anywhere from 1-3 months for smaller efforts or 6+ months for larger-scale work. We want a great fit for all involved and won't overload the schedule, but we do stay quite busy.
They are primed to be trademarked. We aren't staffed to handle the legal process. We do provide what you'd need to give a trademark lawyer. However, there are many online resources that make it simple and affordable to trademark an identity if you would like to. We don't chase trends, or rip off ideas... every logo is thoughtful, custom, and unique to you. They are born from a lot of sketching and ideating. So, if/when you go to trademark, you shouldn't run into an issue. There are no usage fees. You 100% own your logo. But, we might showcase it in our portfolio!
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a widely misunderstood discipline. Many understand it as a magic button to press. We design and develop webpages with foundational SEO best practices to build on. But, ranking the highest on Google is contingent on how competitive your market is. If competitors rank for keywords you wish to rank for, it will require ongoing investment with an SEO specialist. It is a test/refine science and there are many factors. We build sites primed to be as minimal or involved with SEO as your ongoing marketing needs might call for. We can also refer great SEO experts!
As a parent of three young children and a veteran of the creative agency circus 🤡, a large motivating force of Sharpe Creative was to be more present and flexible for a growing family. Though travel is rare, we aren't closed to it if and when it is critical for the success of the project. This could mean something like a site visit to brand a physical location or brand photo shoot in need of art direction.
Sharpe Creative has worked with clients all over the country. With modern collaborative technology travel is rarely truly needed for a great outcome. In many cases it adds a lot of unnecessary expense to the budget.
One of the packages is bound to fit as a starting point and we can customize add-ons for your needs. See our pricing page for more. If there is truly a budget concern, and we'd like to work with you, we have been known to limit scope and terms. For example, present fewer concepts and create fewer deliverables to meet a budget (within reason).
Yes. But, we prefer a relationship where we can help you in more critical ways first. For those we have helped with branding and/or a website, we love to continue supporting the growth and health of their brand. Occasionally, if the schedule allows, the project is intriguing and has a high potential of sparking a great relationship, we are open to tackling a one-off as an introduction. But, we aim to fill our schedule with our bread and butter... branding and/or websites.
We want to be collaborative. In this scenario, you are designing and we are the software monkeys!🐒 We collaborate and listen to all input, and an idea you propose may be viable to consider. Ultimately, we want the work to be effective and not a waste of your time and money. We limit our work relationships to those who lean on us to guide solutions and bring the expertise they do not have in-house. We love clients who come to us with mutual respect and are ready to let us do what we do best to help them. For anything else, there is always Fiverr...
