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Olive is thrilled to welcome back Nyla Niblo. Some of you may remember Nyla from her previous time at Olive and Company, and we’re happy to let everyone know that Nyla will once again be doing ... Read more »
First and foremost, we didn’t want our own names on the shingle. When we started Olive, our vision was to create a collaborative environment that prized ideas, not job titles. So who is Olive?
Even if you don't take your work home with you, you'll find this delightfully illustrated storybook about all the ways we can help you worthy of bedtime reading. Click once and call us in the morning.
Olive and Company was founded in 2003 by Rob Haskin and Tom Keekley after both had slogged their way through a particularly uninspiring summer at their previous jobs. Between the two of them they had creative leadership experience at non profits, large agency, small agency, and corporate. They knew there was a way to capture the spark of a larger creative group without the crippling bloat that seemed to doom any idea worth pursuing. They founded Olive to provide creative support for companies looking for a whip-smart approach to common marketing challenges.
From the very beginning, the Olive team was built to blend the traditional print-based marketing more common at the time with interactive projects that were the clear future path. This was quite uncommon for small agencies at the time and we have continued to broaden our expertise to cover nearly any project that comes our way. It's the Olive way.
She’s real, but she’s not who you’d think. And how we arrived at using her name for our company is a good example of how we work. It started with a few friendly rules – some loose criteria to guide our thought process.
First and foremost, we didn’t want our own names on the shingle. When we started Olive, our vision was to create a collaborative environment that prized ideas, not job titles. Inspired concepts can come from anyone, anywhere. We didn’t want our names in some sort of lofty position to get in the way of equal-opportunity and inclusive creative expression.
Next, it had to be friendly. No buzzwords. No technical terms. Nothing that would seem at home on an attorney’s door. Just a short, simple and inviting word or phrase.
Being design fiends, we had an aesthetic wish list, too. Could it have some interesting letter forms? How about something that would allow us to play with color?
As we tossed around ideas one afternoon, Olive herself strolled through Rob’s living room — leaving a trail of suddenly inspiring puppy paw prints. Aha: Olive. And Company. Perfect.
The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote that “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Would we have landed on Olive and Company – which we still love – without our rules? Maybe. But we believe that a few criteria – guideposts that define a desired end result – are necessary stage sets that can lead to unscripted moments of brilliance.
It worked for us. And we’ll put it to work for you.
Olive and Company was founded in 2003 by Rob Haskin and Tom Keekley to provide creative support for companies looking for a fresh approach to common marketing challenges. We take pride in the fact that our body of work displays a wide range of graphic styles for a broad list of clients, big and small. To us, this illustrates our commitment to provide unique and appropriate solutions to all of our clients.
Plug us in at any stage of the process, from concept design to finishing touches, and we’ll provide the vitality your team and your project demand.
