Values & Principles
We do
speak up, take care of each other, start with empathy, fuck up like pros, work for business value, collaborate like crazy, punch above our weight and deliver kick-ass work!
We do not
speak ill of our competitors, blame the client, work with alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pay-day loans, political parties or assholes.
These values define the Velvet experience and our culture, which consistently produces outstanding, effective work. They foster a relaxed environment where all employees feel comfortable punching above their weight.
We believe that clarity and simplicity are among the most powerful business tools as well as a vehicle to happiness.
We are not big on hierarchy, we are big on collaboration and straight talk. We are friendly, playful and sometimes we like to break the rules.
Principles That Guide Us
Empathy first!
We start with humans. Every time. They create all the meaning and value and they are the ones who will need to understand and cherish it. There is however, only one way to understand a human – empathy. Feeling what they feel, wanting what they want, fearing what they fear. It’s not about mapping out user needs or pains, it’s about understanding what kind of future people want from themselves and how we can help create it.
We. Make. Sense.
Because sense is THE competitive edge of our time. We don’t do magic or divine intervention. At the end of the day there is just a designerly way of taking a step back, looking at the whole picture, talking to the people involved and coming up with a way to make sense of the situation. When it stops being that, our work will be done.
Anyone can be a designer
You may have skills that nobody else has, but you learned them and so can everyone else. You have an attitude and a way to look at life. And so does everyone. So should everyone.
Done is not better than perfect.
Sometimes it is, but most times it’s not. Most times we must work until it’s perfect. It may mean that we are never satisfied. So be it, that’s the job.
Your ideas are not your babies.
Have many of them, every day, play with them, break them, give them to strangers, have some more and kill almost every one of them, except for the best one. That one you develop ‘till it bleeds gold.
Feedback is king, unless you are king, then it is treason.
Are you king? No? Take the feedback work with it, make stuff better.
We take care of each other.
If you fall there will be someone behind you to pick up the slack. You will do the same for others.
Nobody works alone
The only truly arrogant thing to do is not to accept help. We have a design team. Working together helps ideas get better.
We speak up
If we see something wrong in the world, in a presentation, in a sketch or in a drawing, we say it. Nothing gets better if we stay silent.
We work for the user
If they don’t buy it, noone will. We sometimes have to take their side and that the best thing that can happen to you.
No challenge, no glory.
Nothing cool happens when you do something you have always done. If it’s not cool, it’s not worth doing. Find the cool in every job, and if you can’t, don’t do it.
We fuck up. Often.
The way to becoming flawless is paved with mistakes, fuck-ups and miscalculations. And we will never get there. But we have to keep going.
Design is a job
We come to work on problems that afflict the world, or maybe just one company. We solve them, we get paid. Just like a builder, a plumber or a doctor. It’s a job. You can make it magic.
All the cool stuff is in uncharted waters.
Things we have done before are done. There is nothing to be gained in doing them again. Do only what you were not able to do before. Every day.
Design is far too important to be left to a bunch of designers
Designers will not save the world, not if they keep acting all possessive about their tools. Sharing our tools with others and accepting that anyone can and should be a designer, is the only way forward and the only way to create actual, meaningful change.
Failure is rarely lethal, success is never final
Failure is the building block of learning and creativity. Failure is baked into everything we do. Making a mistake will not kill us, it will teach us. Perhaps the only failure that is not ok is mistaking a win for a victory. You are only as good as your next job.
Trust the process, especially when the going gets hard
The process is the only predictable thing. Jumping ahead of yourself, cutting corners and skipping steps is never a sign of mastery, but a sign of weakness and fear. It will be awesome in the end, if it’s not awesome, it’s not the end.
Last modified: February 1, 2023 at 13:45