Process

Your audience is just like you, they don’t want to be “sold” to. We are advertised to over 5,000 times a day. And during these 5,000 times, we want to feel understood and inspired. We want to connect. Made By Things exists to help brands reach their audience by helping them fight through the noise – to connect. We don’t do it by creating more ad pollution that will just be ignored. We do it by creating content audiences WANT to watch.

Our creative process

  • Phase 1:
    Discovery

    Book Discovery

    • 01.

      We get to know your brand and goals on a deeper level during a 90 min call.

    • 02.

      One week later, we present several menu-style solutions to choose from and easily discuss with your team.

    • 03.

      Once an option is selected and the deposit for the project is paid, your project is added to our calendar.

  • Phase 2:
    Production

    • 01.

      We start by working together to write a script.

    • 02.

      Then we build a rough storyboard so you can see how your project will look.

    • 03.

      We then create the art direction for 2-3 frames in the video.

    • 04.

      Once approved, we design the rest of the frames in the video.

    • 05.

      Then comes animation. We give each scene motion.

    • 06.

      The last part is sound design, where we add in music, voice-over, and sound effects.

Onboarding

After making your selections from our Discovery phase, there’s 3 things we need from you before we can get your proejct on our calendar for production:

  1. Any brand guides, elements, or assets that may be relevant to our project. This includes color swatches, fonts, and your brand’s logo. You may also need to include any video footage or images that will need to be used for our project.
  2. The next thing we need is a signed proposal. The proposal is our agreement, the exact scope of what will be done and when it will be done with a description of our responsibilities.
  3. The last thing we need before we can get started with your project is a deposit for the project. You will be sent an invoice by your project manager or our accounting team. Typically, this is 50% of the total project fee.

Important things to know

We ask that all of our partners watch through the following video to learn what to expect throughout the production process and how to help things move along smoothly:

  • But, I know what I want already.

    We get it, you probably came to us for a very specific product in mind and maybe a little annoyed because we sent you this document, but hear us out. We have an obligation to you to not only create the best work we can, but to also make sure it’s effective for you and brings you a positive ROI. Often, people share a reference video and say, “we want that, but for us”. The problem with that though is THAT video was produced by a company that has a different goal, audience and branding. When going through our Discovery phase, we take all those things into account and thoughtfully put together a creative plan specifically for you. Not just a plan for creating a beautiful project, but a plan to generate value for you and your team.

  • Do I need discovery if I already know what I want?

    Great question! We think you have some good ideas, but in our experience, there’s always a lot more to discover about the many ways to execute the creative behind your goal. That’s why we made discovery a required part of how we work with our partners. We truly want to maximize the value we provide to you so when we talk a few months from now, you’re ecstatic about the results you’re seeing and want to continue working together.

    In the many years of doing this, we’ve found that it takes more than great-looking visuals to create a real impact for companies like yours. Creative is important, but so is completely understanding the problem we’re solving and giving expert recommendations for how to make that real impact you’re looking for.

  • We're looking specifically for this style of work, do you have any?

    Almost every project you see on our site was the very first time we made that type of project. Part of our process is to learn and experiment, not to just do what’s been done before. The way our process and team works is first understanding your goal of working together and then assembling the right ingredients to be able to execute the creative vision at a high level.

  • Can you submit a bid with other companies?

    Our preference is to be brought onto a project as a partner early on to help with discovery before the production side of things even start. If we HAVE to bid though, we’d like to know exactly what you’re looking for from us. What will it take to be an automatic “yes!”? If it’s cost, I must tell you that we’re rarely the cheapest. If it’s early ideas, we’ll have to decline. Our goal in business is to create a massive amount of creative value for people, not battle others for who can be the cheapest.

  • We already have an internal team that can do this.

    That’s great! We actually work quite often with companies that have internal teams. When we’re hired by them, it’s often to get them out of a box and thinking about new opportunities and then providing support with production if needed. I will say though, the level of expertise our team has in different styles of motion (2D, 3D, stop motion and video) is hard to come by in an internal team. 😉

  • My team has a writer, can we handle that?

    Absolutely! We’re able to plug-in to existing teams and can provide a helping hand at certain stages if needed. We do recommend being involved in some capacity at each step in the process though to keep the vision pointed to the goal along the way.

  • Do you outsource your projects?

    Nope! All work is completed by our team internally, however there are times when we bring on specialists to assist with certain areas or steps in a project in a contractor capacity.

  • How involved am I during the process?

    Once we get started on a project, we’ll provide a schedule that helps you follow along with the project. The schedule will tell you things like when our “work in progress” meetings are and when we expect to beat certain parts of the project. Your project manager will reach out occasionally throughout the project over email to give you updates and give you a clear expectation on what’s next. Some of our clients want to be more involved than others and we invite both types with open arms! Want to know how things are going? Feel free to ask your project manager at anytime and they’ll give you an update.

  • Am I able to provide feedback?

    Absolutely! At each WIP (Work in Progress) step, you’ll get a certain number of revision rounds that we’ll be able to make. Our projects are a collaborative process and your feedback will help us stay on brand and match your expectations for the project.

  • What if we don’t like how something looks?

    We’ve put together a process that helps us catch any issues as early as possible with our clients. Don’t like how something looks, no worries! Let your project manager know and we’ll schedule a call to get back on the same page.

Let's work together.

Let's start a project