by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
The team at Renaissance Creative Services says it’s never satisfied, even after a decade that has seen the company grow from — literallty — nothing to a powerhouse among local advertising and public relations agencies.
Whether it’s toiling with a new image for a Realtor or seeking a marketing angle for a builder, the folks at Renaissance continue revising and creating — and that’s what they say has made them successful.
This year they celebrate a decade which has seen their persistence produce success.
President Tim Hamby, with his partners and creative directors Matt Britt and Ed Bondi, along with 20 others, work on advertising, marketing, brand development and graphic design — among other things — for residential commercial and resort-real estate marketing.
The company started as a two-man business working out of an apartment in 1996. It has since turned into a 23-person firm netting $4.9 million in revenue in 2005 — and it needs more space, if only to house the awards they’ve won.
Renaissance Creative has won numerous awards for its work including honors in 11 categories at the Florida Home Builders Association’s Excel Awards during the 2005 Southeast Building Conference, and nine Laurel Awards for real estate marketing through the state, this year alone.
Hamby says it’s because the team knows home building, architecture, real estate and sales — and how they all work — that they have done so well.
“It’s the ability to anticipate reactions. It’s sensitivity to people and it’s not learned. Our greatest asset is experience in this industry since day one.”
The awards are a tremendous validation to the team’s creative talents, said Hamby, but also a nod to the clients.
Bondi said their practice is about good design.
“It’s not art. It’s a method of problem solving. We look at a situation and analyze it, then set up our priorities. It’s more scientific than art,” he said. “Form follows function. Function is how well it works.”
The team said they are constantly thinking about new ideas to sell property. In the past, they said, Jacksonville’s market was “warm” and “fuzzy,” but it is expanding and growing. The market is still more conservative than some, but it’s steadily growing.
“The media itself is becoming more worldwide,” said Bondi. “We stay in tune with the market. Just because something is cool and funky doesn’t mean it’s good. We know far better than traditional agencies who only see the surface. It was always our vision to occupy this highly-specialized niche and to be the very best we could.
“As it worked out, real estate has become one of the hottest and enduring market sectors over the past several years. The southeast, and North Florida in particular, has become one of the most active regions for development.”
To keep up with the market, and its growing list of clients, Renaissance Creative is making some changes. The first comes in a 10,000 square-foot facility off Hodges Boulevard. The firm will relocate from the two offices they currently occupy to off Southside Boulevard later this summer. The new facility more than doubles the size of their current workspace.
It will be the firm’s third move in 10 years.
“The expansion is due to steady growth in business and staff. We were simply out of space and more room in additional offices just across the street made the most sense,” said Hamby.
The firm is leasing the space from developers Steinemann and Company. John Long of NAI Realvest serves as the representative for Renaissance.
Renaissance will be financing its own build-out as well as handling all of its own space planning and interior design.
“We’re fortunate to have extremely talented individuals right within our company — architectural, interior and graphic designers who can handle the entire project from start to finish while also implementing our own unique vision of a great creative space,” said Hamby. “We don’t think there will be anything like what we are planning in this town. We expect it to not only be a showcase for our company’s overall creativity, but also an inspirational environment for all of our team-members, including our clients.”
In addition to moving, the firm is also updating its company logo. The agency’s former logo incorporates Da Vinci’s “Form of Man” illustration. It will be retired completely.
Bondi is leading the design of Renaissance’s new logo. He’s created logos for many Northeast Florida landmarks including Epping Forest and OakLeaf Plantation.
“We’re seeking to create a sophisticated mark that effectively communicates the essence of our company — something reflective of our agency’s overall level of creativity and versatility,” he said.
“When we started the company back in 1996, we didn’t dwell too long on logo design,” said Britt. “We had just left another agency and had to hit the ground running. We used the Da Vinci drawing because we felt it represented good design — the ‘ultimate design’ as many often refer to it. It served us well over the years and some may be sad to see it go, but we won’t be. It’s someone else’s illustration. We work in a progressive industry and we don’t ever want to feel like we can’t move forward, when appropriate. We’re still a young, growing company.”