'tis the season
Jan. 13, 2011
Written by
PEGGY HUGEN
"we love it when our clients succeed," says julie mangels, who started julsdesign in her basement.
Juls Design had many high points in 2010, but none were as important to the Ankeny design firm as creating new logos for the Ankeny school district.
Once the district put out its request for proposals, owner Julie Mangels put in the company's bid.
"We weighed that really heavily," Mangels said. "I think we probably discounted that more because they were local. I like to give back to the community and we really, really wanted it.
"For me, it was personal. We live here. My employees have children in the district. It meant a lot to them in the shop," she said.
The entire design process took about six months, a fairly quick process for a large project.
The project included three new logo designs for the district and two high school mascots - one for the new Ankeny Centennial High School Jaguar and an updated version of the Ankeny High School Hawk.
"They had warned us. We went in with our initial six designs and they narrowed that for us relatively quickly," Mangels said. "I think they'd given us enough information up front, and I used my resources, which were the children in my house."
The scariest part of the process?
"They brought children from all the schools in to vote and give their opinion on the designs," Mangels says. "We're very excited to see it up and around town. How very cool."
Background
Juls Design opened Jan. 2, 1992, in Mangels' basement.
She quit her job at Pioneer Hi-Bred, deciding to be done with office politics and go out on her own in the freelance world.
"Four days later, I found out I was pregnant with my first child," she says. "So, I started my business and my family all in that very first year."
From the beginning, Mangels said business kept coming.
More business meant adding staff, which meant the need for bigger office space.
In 2001, she decided to make the move to Ankeny.
"I wanted to be grounded in the community," she said. "I said, 'Why am I living here and raising my children here and not having my business here?'"
So she moved the office from downtown Des Moines to Ankeny and "I love it; I've never regretted it."
Juls Design currently employs seven people, with two or three part-time high school and college interns each year. Mangels said it's her clients who have made the business a success.
"Typically if we get a client in, they don't go anywhere," she said. "We don't have a high turnover. They say if you can keep a client for three to four years consider yourself incredibly lucky."
Two of their longest clients - The Iowa Clinic and Iowa State University - have been with them for more than 10 years.
"We treat them like family," Mangels said. "Once they're here, we very rarely lose them."
Battle of the Brands
Iowa Clinic hired Juls Design in 1999, says Amy Hilmes, director of marketing and public relations at the Iowa Clinic.
"I feel like they're part of our team," Hilmes said. "They do 100 percent of the graphic design work for the Iowa Clinic and they've been instrumental in helping us build our brand."
Mangels said Juls Design created the initial Iowa Clinic brand.
"From the very beginning, we've worked intricately with the Iowa Clinic and their marketing staff."
The brand that was built over the past decade was noticed in 2010's Battle of the Brands, a competition made by Des Moines-based Lessing-Flynn Advertising firm.
The contest pitted 65 local advertisers against one another and the winner chosen by the public.
Mangels said it was exciting to go up the scale with the big dogs - Wells Fargo, Karl's Chevrolet, KCCI and the Iowa State Fair.
Hilmes said social media played a big part in creating a buzz about the competition.
"I also feel like we're the little brand that could," Hilmes said. "We were really excited about it. When you've worked with someone as long as we've worked with Juls Design, they understand our business. They've literally helped create every piece of marketing for the Iowa Clinic and Women's Center."
Winning the competition was special, Mangels said.
"We love it when our clients succeed, because when they do stuff like that, it's feathers in our cap," she said.
Industry honors
The design firm also showed well in a contest held by Graphic Design USA, a news magazine for graphic designers.
They entered about 20 projects. There were more than 8,000 entries submitted to the 2010 contest with only the top 15 percent of them receiving recognition
"We have been totally ecstatic to get one," Mangels said. "It's a huge publication."
The outcome of that contest really told Mangels a lot about her staff.
"What was really cool about that is that every single one of my designers had a project in there," she said. "That to me says I don't have one piece of talent sitting out there - I have a whole staff that is extremely talented in the field."
Juls Design also won 15 honors in the national TrademarksUSA 2010 competition.
Key to success
Mangels said her key to success is loving what she does.
"From the day I opened the doors, I told my husband that the day I stop loving what I do is the day I'll quit. So I think it's my passion that drives me. I love people. I love to see people succeed."
She said her mom used to call her Ann Landers, the advice columnist.
"I was always trying to fix people's problems," Mangels said. "Now I can do that in a graphic sense. It makes me feel good. I hope my clients see that. We truly care about them as people and their projects."
In the last six months of 2010, Juls Design expanded its reach beyond central Iowa. They are working on projects with George Washington University and Townsend Engineering Co. and its worldwide brands.
The next year will mean more expansion to the firm's building at 2309 W. First St. The remodel project will allow for more meeting space and a high-tech conference room.
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