Prairie Power

From its small Prairie home,  Bradbury Branding and Design does world-class work

The province of Saskatchewan may not immediately jump to mind when you think of a creative studio hotbed, but that's exactly the misconception that Bradbury Branding and Design has dismantled over its 20-plus years of existence. Founded by president and creative director Catharine Bradbury, in 1989, the Regina studio has a shelf full of awards that testifies to the quality of its design work.

Bradbury's portfolio consists primarily of projects for arts and educational institutions, including brand identities, annual reports, printed collateral and websites. Working in a smaller market, Bradbury is usually compensated by having greater creative latitude. 

"We're limited in the kind of clients we have here, there’s no question, but at the same time I really appreciate the clients we have and the people here," explains Catharine. "In terms of educational institutions, I think those are sometimes opportunities where you can have—in theory—a bit more fun because of who your target audience is."

The Bradbury Branding and Design portfolio places the fun stuff alongside more serious fare. Annual reports with playful type and strong imagery certainly suggest an absence of creative restrictions. At the same time, Catharine believes that the creative satisfaction derived from a project is meaningless if it doesn't perform to the client's expectations. "We have to have fun, but for me, it’s what’s appropriate to that particular client and project. That’s very important, I’m very much a problem solver," she says.

Despite its wide range of work, the studio only has a staff of two. It can call upon a network of professionals to collaborate on particular projects, providing big agency expertise for a small agency price—and flexibility.  "I’m back to doing the work myself," says Bradbury, "and I can create senior teams—all with individuals with at least 20 years of experience in their field—and then pass on the value to the clients, in that they are not paying a big firm price tag. My goal is to provide the best value I can for the best product. And it works."

This approach has helped Bradbury to win many awards, including ones from Applied Arts, Communication Arts, Graphis, Graphex and How. "Awards were really important for me at first, but now I think it’s more important for the clients," says Catharine. "I think that they want to have something that wins an award. After 20 years, thank god the ego’s gone by the wayside, and I really do enjoy sitting down and forming a team with the client and solving the problems together."

Bradbury Branding and Design are based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Contact toll-free at 800-254-7989; by phone, 306-525-4043; by email, cb@bradburydesign.com, or on the Web, www.bradburydesign.com.

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