The Client's Words...
Before taking over The Walk Café, in August 2011, I knew the business and its customers very well as I had been working there as head chef for 18 months. The previous incarnation was a quaint English tearoom, and although it was spoke of in high regard by many, over time the level of custom and spending against overheads wasn't working. Much of this I believed was the offering was that of a luxury experience and over time people generally restricted their visits to special occasions. I wanted to focus more on high quality food and drink at an affordable price and expand regular repeat custom.
I knew basically what I wanted but wasn't sure how to get there. Added to the dilemma was that the deal to take over the ownership of The Walk required a very quick turnaround leaving very little time for the rebrand. It was a very stressful time and any excitement was severely overwhelmed by uncertainty.
I was aware of Matthew's work as Elastic Canvas and had previously spoken to him about the possibility of a project but at the time couldn't go into any details. In our first meeting I was impressed by not only the quality of his previous work but the scope of what he could produce and the many successful projects he had completed.
When I contacted him the second time I was left with only 21 days for a rebrand and refit before opening. I was resigned to the fact that very little could be achieved in such time; Matthew though seemed to immediately understand what I wanted to achieve (and actually helped clarify it to me!) He agreed to start worked straight away and promised results I thought at the time impossible. I left the meeting with a renewed confidence in the project.
What was achieved in those 21 days was quite spectacular. Not only did he help me realise a concept for the new venture I was very happy with but designed a strong brand identity that fully encapsulated it. He explained it with a visual rationale of how it could translate not only across immediate concerns like the interior and exterior but also on future work.
In addition to producing all the design work he personally sourced the required service providers such as sign makers, furniture suppliers and decorators and worked with them to make sure everything was installed to spec and on time. The new look The Walk Café was launched and from point Matthew has been actively involved in many aspects of the business helping us grow into a reality that I could only hope to dream of a few short months ago.
The diversity of his work he undertakes handling the creative direction of The Walk Café even includes helping me to construct the menus with our popular 'Bello Burger' being his own creation. Apart from the fantastic work he produces such as our website, photography, print design, copywriting and everything in between he also handles many marketing aspects of The Walk. This includes coming up with and implementing successful strategies and liaising with external marketing providers.
I would whole-heartedly recommend Elastic Canvas on a number of levels, and we will carry on closely working together for a longtime into the future.