Profile: Stylorouge
Computer Arts
“Rob O'Connor is a creative, a designer and an ideas man. He doesn't profess to be interested in the business side of running a design business; but, being an old socialist, he has an unwritten code of practice that makes his business tick on time. The first maxim is to approach each job as problem solving. ‘I know this sounds pompous, but very often design is problem solving,’ states O'Connor. ‘Someone's got something they need to produce to do a certain job, and half the time they don't really know how to do it themselves. So, they either fall into default mode and do what's always been done, or they employ someone who's prone to thinking analytically about it.’ It's this adherence to this maxim that binds the Stylorouge portfolio together- rather than any fascination with a certain style. This is in contrast to Stylorouge's record-designing contemporaries - The Designers Republic with its lines and overprints, or Me Company's 3D renders within 2D print-work. The second maxim is about using the right tools, and adopting the right approach for each job... Stylorouge is keen to hire staff with appropriate skills, ideas and experience, and to work with certain photographers or high-end manipulators to get the right kind of results for the client... The third maxim is professionalism: knowing how much personality to put in a design, and how to manage teams and timing. ‘We're very proud of our record of working to deadlines,’ says O'Connor. Getting a job in on time is part of the deal, and over-running and over-spending usually only causes problems for the client and the designer. It can also eventually cause friction in the relationship. ‘I don't know if it's to do with people not always having the confidence of the area that they're working in, but people do tend to get let down a lot in this industry,’ continues O'Connor. ‘I hope- touch wood! - that we're not one of those companies, and perhaps that's one of the reasons that people approach us. Even the big name companies do let people down, and I hate doing that. Sometimes people just needs some reassurance that the work's being done. Running projects as a team helps avoid that kind of problem.’”