After working with LIFT (The London International Festival of Theatre) on their website for a couple of years now, we were very disappointed not to be involved in their new rebranded website. They were emphatic in their appreciation of our expertise and service and made it clear in their rebrand brief that they would happily continue to work with us should the new design agency be open to collaboration. Of the 10+ agencies invited to pitch, three (Hyperkit, thomas.matthews and Crescent Lodge) have worked with Sumac in the past and had no hesitation putting in a joint proposal. Unfortunately the selected agency chose to deliver their designs on their own framework and not to talk to Sumac. The Bureau for Visual Affairs has a strong portfolio in the arts sector and from that perspective seem a good choice for LIFT. However, from what I’ve seen of the new site (due to launch imminently) I can see nothing that couldn’t have been delivered on the Sumac CMS that LIFT already know and love.
We really need to work harder to convince our clients of the benefits of maintaining existing, good relationships whilst keeping them fresh with new collaborations.