Vijay Mathews (@vijaymathews) is a co-founder of W&Co., an interactive design & development agency based in New York. In the last few years, he’s built mobile apps and websites for a variety of clients, focusing on the education, non-profit, retail, and government sectors.

This conversation discusses running a multidisciplinary firm, the workflow and roles at W&Co., and the trouble with de facto standards in the design biz.

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Show Notes & Links

  • W&Co. does Design AND Development, and has since the beginning
  • Chris Auyeung, Vijay’s co-founder at W&Co.
  • Josh Miles discussed the growth of his firm on a previous podcast episode
  • They now “do the kind of work they want to do”
  • They’ve stayed nimble so they can “keep the overhead low but still provide the quality of work they wanted to provide.”

“We didn't have the mindset to say no to work; we were just getting started.”

—Vijay Mathews

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  • Designers should “know and understand the capabilities and limitations” of software and devices
  • Zeitgeist, En Vogue … can you tell Prescott went to art school?
  • The Polymath aka The Renaissance Man
  • Vijay and his team have moved away from mobile applications toward broader digital/web projects

“Maintaining native applications across a wide variety of platforms and devices was impossible.”

—Vijay Mathews

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“Should you be using a photo-editing tool for web mockups?”

—Vijay Mathews

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Tools

Techniques

  • Consider longevity in the marketplace (shorter-life projects can be more avant garde)
  • Don’t be too conservative during the ideation phase
  • Play to your strengths in your roles (designer, IA, etc.) but join forces as well to have multidisciplinary crossover
  • Utilise Master Pages in InDesign

Habits

  • Have a daily scrum meeting
  • Examine your calendar the night before
  • 30-45 minute run early in the morning to clear the head
  • Arrive before the staff to sort email and admin

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About the author: Prescott Perez-Fox

Prescott Perez-Fox is a graphic designer, brand developer, and educator with 18+ years experience in branding, packaging, graphic design, and web design. He runs The Busy Creator.

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