About<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][split_line_heading animation_type=”line-reveal-by-space” line_reveal_by_space_text_effect=”fade-bottom” font_style=”h1″ font_size=”7.0vw” font_size_max=”104px” font_size_min=”34px” font_line_height=”1.02″ stagger_animation=”true” content_alignment=”default” mobile_content_alignment=”inherit” text_direction=”default” text_content=”Business first,”][split_line_heading animation_type=”line-reveal-by-space” line_reveal_by_space_text_effect=”fade-bottom” font_style=”h1″ font_size=”7.0vw” font_size_max=”104px” font_size_min=”34px” font_line_height=”1.02″ stagger_animation=”true” content_alignment=”default” mobile_content_alignment=”inherit” text_direction=”default” text_content=”design second”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-lede”]\n
Our first meeting skips the brand story. We ask how much you want to grow this year and where things are stuck.<\/p>\n
There are no awards or team photos on this page. What’s here is what we’ve done, how we take on projects, and the kinds of projects we can’t take.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”5\/12″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” el_class=”mz-ab-hr”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-leg-wrap”]\n
This page in eight sections<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-leg”]\n 01<\/span>Eight years, one question<\/span><\/a>02<\/span>So we always start with your business<\/span><\/a>03<\/span>Three disciplines, one plan<\/span><\/a>04<\/span>The trade-offs, up front<\/span><\/a>05<\/span>We don’t start with a brand story<\/span><\/a>06<\/span>We deliver rules<\/span><\/a>07<\/span>Where we use AI<\/span><\/a>08<\/span>You can edit it yourself<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row bg_color=”#0E0E11″ type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”96px” bottom_padding=”64px” text_color=”light” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_sticky_media_sections type=”default” effect=”scale_blur” effect_enabled_desktop=”enabled” effect_enabled_tablet=”inherit” content_position=”right” content_spacing=”62vh” media_width=”46%” media_height=”78vh” mobile_aspect_ratio=”3-2″ border_radius=”none” content_alignment=”middle”][nectar_sticky_media_section section_type=”image” image=”736″][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-ch”]\n 01<\/span>Eight years, one question<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-body”]\n That job came down to four questions, every day: who are we selling to, what problem does it solve, why us, and what does success look like. Design came after all four had answers.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-who”]\n Founder of Muzi Studio. Spent eight years at Google and YouTube, all of it on how products go to market: product marketing in APAC, and the channel consulting program for YouTube in Greater China. Now works between Taipei and Tokyo.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ul”]\n Business Senior Product Marketing Manager, Google APAC (current)<\/span>Platform Partner Manager at YouTube, led the Greater China channel consulting program<\/span>Brand Project designer at Red Peak in New York, on rebrands for major international companies<\/span>Engineering 15 years of building websites<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/nectar_sticky_media_section][nectar_sticky_media_section section_type=”image” image=”707″][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-ch”]\n 02<\/span>The first question is always your business<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-body”]\n Sometimes, once we’ve asked, the answer is to leave things alone. Once, the pricing sheet itself was fine and the sales process was what was stuck. Another time the website was fine, but nobody could tell where to start reading. Both times we said so plainly and introduced them to the right people.<\/p>\n This takes up about a third of a project. Looking back afterward, it’s also the part clients mention most.<\/p>\n We do eight things, in three groups: figuring out what to build, building it, and making sure people come across you.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-note”]\n All eight are covered in Services<\/a>. How they combine into three tracks is in Solutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/nectar_sticky_media_section][nectar_sticky_media_section section_type=”image” image=”1045″][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-ch”]\n 03<\/span>Three disciplines, one plan<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-body”]\n Hiring separate people for brand, website and content makes some sense. Each one is an expert in their area. But then the work of joining the three together falls to you.<\/p>\n We put brand, website and content in one plan, and the same team sees it through.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-vs”]\n The usual way<\/span>Us<\/span><\/span>Design from A, website from B, content from C. Each is an expert in its area.<\/span>All three are in one plan, so nothing has to be handed between them.<\/span><\/span>Three calendars, and you’re the one lining them up. Handoff days are when projects most often go wrong.<\/span>One team on one schedule, with no waiting on outside replies. That’s what makes a two-week sprint possible.<\/span><\/span>There’s a layer of retelling between the person you talk to and the person doing the work.<\/span>The people who listen to you are the people doing the work. No one has to pass it along.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-note”]\n Colors and type are written as tokens, and the guidelines and the website read from the same file, so the designs and the code never disagree. You also won’t see “we’ll need to check with the engineer” on a quote.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/nectar_sticky_media_section][nectar_sticky_media_section section_type=”image” image=”706″][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-ch”]\n 04<\/span>The trade-offs, up front<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-body”]\n With a small team, there are a few things worth knowing before the first call.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-get”]\n Capacity<\/span>We can only take on a few projects at once. There’s no project manager layer, and the people you meet are the whole team. When we’re full, we’ll say so instead of taking the work and figuring it out later.<\/span><\/span>No subcontracting<\/span>If something comes up on our end, we’ll give you a new schedule. You choose whether to wait, or end the engagement and settle up for the work already done. We won’t hand you off to someone you’ve never met.<\/span><\/span>We need you there<\/span>The two weeks of the Anchor Sprint need you involved. If you leave every decision to us, the result will look more like ours than yours.<\/span><\/span>Where we are<\/span>Taipei and Tokyo. We work online and meet in person when needed. Chinese, Japanese and English all work.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/nectar_sticky_media_section][\/nectar_sticky_media_sections][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row bg_color=”#EAE9E8″ type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”112px” bottom_padding=”112px” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-lab”]\n Where we stand<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-lede”]\n Four positions, continuing the numbering above.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left” row_position=”default” overflow=”visible” pointer_events=”all” el_id=”stance”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” el_class=”mz-ab-st-i”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-h”]\n 05<\/span>We start with your growth goals, not a brand story<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-b”]\n A project that starts with the brand story ends up, two months later, with a narrative that reads beautifully. Then nobody can say what it has to do with customer count, conversion rate, or average order value.<\/p>\n We work the other way around.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-steps”]\n 01<\/span>How much do you want to grow this year? Customers, price, retention, new markets, or funding?<\/span><\/span>02<\/span>Where are things stuck right now?<\/span><\/span>03<\/span>Does that part actually need design?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-b”]\n Sometimes the answer to the third question is no.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” el_class=”mz-ab-st-i”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-h”]\n 06<\/span>We deliver rules you can check yourself<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-b”]\n Brand projects rarely fail outright. More often, once they’re finished, nobody dares touch them. Three months later marketing needs a new social size, or an engineer hits a button state the guidelines don’t cover. The files are all there, but no one knows why that corner radius is 8 and not 12. So people guess, and the brand slowly drifts. Or they come back and ask us, which means you’re locked in with us.<\/p>\n So what we hand over is the four things below, and you can check every one.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-grid”]\n Token file<\/span>A JSON file with the colors, type sizes, spacing and geometry constants<\/span><\/span>Generator<\/span>A program that builds every visual asset from the tokens<\/span><\/span>Craft rules<\/span>Rules written out in plain words, so you can check them one by one<\/span><\/span>Validator<\/span>Throws an error if an asset has been edited by hand<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-b”]\n Every asset is generated, so you never get “we changed the color and missed one image.” Change one token value and everything is rebuilt.<\/p>\n The cost is a slower start. It only pays off in one situation: the brand will be in use for years, and by more people than just you.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” el_class=”mz-ab-st-i”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-h”]\n 07<\/span>Where we use AI, and where we don’t<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-b”]\n We use it.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-heaps”]\n Where we use it<\/span>Research, competitor scans, cleaning up transcripts. Mistakes are easy to spot, and we can run it again.<\/span>Drafts and variations while we’re exploring. There are a lot of them, and most get thrown away.<\/span>First drafts of documents and guidelines. It’s structural work, and editing is faster than writing.<\/span><\/span>Where we don’t<\/span>Positioning calls and choosing a direction. That takes understanding your situation, and your description of it isn’t enough.<\/span>Final quality and detail. For now, it still takes a person to see the gap between looking right and being right.<\/span>Our commitments and responsibility to you. When something goes wrong, someone has to answer for it, and that can’t be handed off.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” el_class=”mz-ab-st-i”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-h”]\n 08<\/span>We don’t hand over anything you can’t edit yourself<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-st-b”]\n After a brand project is delivered, it’s common to have to go back to the original agency for every change. We make “you can edit it yourself” one of our acceptance criteria.<\/p>\n Every page opens directly in the editor. Changing a color doesn’t need anyone: change one token value and the identity assets and the website update together. Need a new size? Follow the written rules and you can make it without asking anyone. If something does get changed the wrong way, the validator flags it before it goes live.<\/p>\n We still take maintenance contracts.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-pull”]\n Signing one will be up to you.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row bg_color=”#0E0E11″ type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”104px” bottom_padding=”116px” text_color=”light” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-end-t”]\n It’s free. In the first meeting we ask how much you want to grow this year and where things are stuck.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][nectar_cta btn_style=”basic” heading_tag=”h4″ link_type=”regular” alignment=”left” display=”block” button_color=”white” text_color=”#1A1A1D” link_text=”Email us” url=”\/en\/contact\/” margin_top=”32px” padding_top=”14px” padding_bottom=”14px” padding_left=”32px” padding_right=”32px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row bg_image=”1731″ bg_image_type=”default” bg_position=”center center” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_color=”#0E0E11″ type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”150px” bottom_padding=”118px” text_color=”light” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1988","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"\nBook a 30-minute call<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”mz-ab-end-b”]\n