The name of this company is Design it Together.

My friend, Ben, and I started working on freelance website design projects together over 10 (!) years ago. As we got busier, we decided it was time to start working under a more formal studio-type entity. We had some friends who were putting together a record label called “Do it Together”. Since we had made an arrangement to handle all graphic design needs for the label – album art design, merch, posters, and such – we thought it would be fun to call the studio “Design it Together”. The name stuck.

As things happen, we began doing less web design and graphic design, and more designing and printing items for our own clothing line. We soon opened a store called “Design it Together” which served as our studio, and also gave us a forum to sell our wares.

It didn’t take long for us to realize that “Design it Together” is a terrible name for a store. No one knew what we did. People would walk in under the assumption that we would help them bring to life any creation that they had floating around their head. A number of times someone would walk in asking, “OK, how does it work?” assuming we had a process to bring their random ideas to life. We didn’t.

Fast forward a year or so, and we decided we needed a name change. After much thought, we settled for “Troy Cloth & Paper”. We liked this name, since most of what we made and sold was clothing and stationery – and it had a vague, historic, manufacturing feel to it, which we felt referenced the industrial history of Troy, NY. It was a good name. In fact, the business is still operating under that name 10 years later, under different ownership.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, and I started to feel the itch to do some freelance web design again. When thinking about what kind of name I wanted to operate under, “Design it Together” still held a place in my heart. I was able to reacquire the domain out of sheer luck, and so I ran with it.

Here we are, present day, and I operate a web design studio called “Design it Together”. I went through a period of second guessing myself – maybe I should’ve switch to a more SEO-friendly (but more boring) name like Troy Web Experts or Capital Website Consultants, or blah, blah, blah. “No!”, I said to myself. “Design it Together is the name.”

I look at it as more than just a name, but a kind of guiding light for the type of business I want to run. I’ve never wanted to start a business purely to try to make money – I want to do work that I am proud of, with people I enjoy working with, and feel a connection to something larger. At the risk of getting too “out there” – to me, “together” brings to mind words like honesty, pride, fairness, quality, and community.

There are two parties involved in a transaction – we’re both in it together. I not only want to provide a website that helps you business grow, but I truly want you to come away happy.

An example of this is my recent decision to change to a monthly pricing structure. I asked myself if there was a way that I could build, maintain, and update websites for small businesses and organizations without the need for them to come up with a large sum of money up front. This allows the client to rest assured that everything is taken care of – and I will be there with you if something goes wrong or needs updating.

That’s just one example of how I’m working more “Together” into this little web design business. I’m excited to see where else it leads.

Have any questions? What do you think of the new pricing structure? Leave a comment below!