Collaborating with Denver’s Collaboratory

Web designers can be pretty competitive. Let's face it. It's an every-man-for-himself kind of game, where referrals are often frowned upon and collaborations are a rarity.

Yet, in Denver, Colorado, a place famous for an independent pioneer spirit, three separate web design companies are sharing space and collaborating on a daily basis. The Collaboratory is the aptly-named shared office space of Artletic, 525Creative and Limber Creative. Matt Crest of Artletic, KC Dunstan of 525Creative and Chris Arnold of Limber Creative work together during the week, yet maintain their own development projects and clients. The shared space allows for brainstorming sessions, critiques and occasional joint efforts. On the last Wednesday of every month, the Collaboratory invites two creatives to spend a day using "laptop space" at the studio and reaping the benefits of fresh perspectives and an atmosphere of inspiration and support.

Curious to see just how the Collaboratory ticked, Meta Q writer, Lindsay McComb, asked if Matt, KC and Chris would be willing to collaborate on a little Q&A session.

Meta Q: How was the Collaboratory created?

The Collaboratory: Matt Crest of Artletic and Chris Arnold of Limber Creative shared in office space prior to the Collaboratory as we know it today. When looking for a larger space, KC Dunstan of 525Creative just made sense for where we all were at the time. But you know, despite maintaining separate businesses and client rosters, the Collaboratory space has allowed us to facilitate quick critiques, brainstorm sessions, and even a few for-profit collaborative projects. And so, spawned from this daily concept, we decided to extend a similar invite that encouraged open-minded individuals to partake in our collab days.

MQ: What's it like working with people you don't work with? How do three separate companies co-exist harmoniously in one space?

TC: We each came into the Collaboratory with our own sets of clients, so there's no cutthroat competition for new work. Since we spend so much time working side by side, we can be comfortable referring new leads to the other guys as well. There seems to be a natural ebb and flow where two companies will be slammed and the third will be in a lull, so the third company picks up the slack. The next month, the roles are reversed and someone new comes to the rescue.

MQ: What are some of the challenges of working in a collaborative space? What are some of the benefits?

TC: The only challenge that comes up -and "challenge" is probably too strong of a word- is when we all have phone calls scheduled for the same time. It probably sounds like we're running a telemarketing business to our clients on the other end of the line.

The big benefit is being able to get instant feedback and help at any time of the day from the other collaborators. There have been multiple instances when one of us has been stumped for hours on a project and it takes a fresh pair of eyes literally 5 minutes to solve the problem

MQ: What does a typical day at Collaboratory look like?

TC: What you might expect: coffee, tea, a couple dogs running around. We really just hunker down and get work out the door. We'll break during the day if someone has a design question or a programming issue. Sometimes we'll all grab a beer or run down to the coffee shop for a break if the day calls for it.

MQ: Tell me a little bit about your Wednesday "laptop space" days.

TC: The final Wednesday of each month, two creatives are welcome to join us. Taking up "laptop space" on our conference table, we all have a typical business day in the morning: calls, emails, and billable work. Grabbing a local lunch helps break the ice for new acquaintances; then, an afternoon show-and-tell discussion leads into a planned evening at a local watering hole with a group of local colleagues.

We've found that the influx of interested creatives moves with the seasons. Our summer and fall of 2010 was jam packed, but the colder holiday months have cooled the crowds a little. In line with that mindset, March is already booked. We never really know, but we like it that way.

MQ: What does it accomplish when you have a guest at your conference table? What kinds of projects or ideas or further collaborations have evolved from those"laptop space" days?

TC: A common misconception is that we collaborate on a project and literally stop work for a day to do this "new thing" which isn't the case at all. By collaboration it's more on the thought side of things versus a new action. We take the time in the afternoon to discuss everyone's projects in hopes of feedback, new ideas, or other insights that might spawn from conversation. Some months it turns into more of a show-and-tell; other months someone sees something and in the work and we won't stop talking shop until 6pm.

MQ: Why Edgewater/Denver? Why not San Francisco or Seattle for Collaboratory?

TC: Edgewater's between the mountains and the city, and made the most sense for our office needs. It was a cool storefront in a larger space with a great location along a little historical city strip. The practicality, for us, to have an office elsewhere wasn't (and isn't) there. Co-working environments do exist in other cities, though, so we'd always encourage interested folks to look into them if that's a goal of theirs.

MQ: What makes Denver a viable place for web designers?

TC: Due to the nature of the business, a web designer can likely be successful most any place. The community, willingness to refer work to others, and flat out awesomeness make Denver a place that is tough to beat. It seems all too often that there are communities where talking shop, referrals or collaboration are frowned upon. In Denver, however, there's always talk of collaboration and praise of fellow creatives.

A challenge of being in Denver is that everyone wants to do work for outdoor brands, making it a tough nut to crack. But that's hardly a negative as the opportunities to do work for those companies is a rarity outside of a sports mecca like Colorado.

MQ: What do you think about the creative scene in Denver? What do you anticipate for the future?

TC: As a whole, Denver is a growing and thriving design community. The past 2-3 years have been pretty rough for some of the larger firms in town, but most of the independent designers are thriving. That is to say, those with some experience and an established network are thriving. Denver has been a place of small to medium sized shops for quite some time, and I hope it stays that way. Perhaps it's the gold prospector in all of us, but there's something about bootstrapping the start of a company and seeing it thrive that is incredibly rewarding. And, of course, it also encourages you to collaborate on projects that are beyond your capabilities or availability.