Dynamic doesn’t need to be difficult

by Vanda Daftari and Reanna Evoy, Founders & Creative Directors of Super Bonjour

When you start on a professional creative journey, the top priority is to keep your client happy and impressed. But focusing only on the endgame can lead to burnout. When you have the right tools to focus on the process, a richer, more authentic product emerges.

We are the duo behind Super Bonjour, a Canadian-based creative studio. Years ago, we worked together at the same company, running the in-house creative studio. We both left to pursue other opportunities and decided to regroup in 2017. We had a solid foundation for our ongoing creative process, even with Vanda in Montreal and Reanna almost 3,000 miles away in Vancouver.

We care about our clients and the work we put out into the world, and we want to make campaigns that are true to the brand and resonate with their audiences. Our method and style of communication is deep, empathetic, and intuitive, which stems from our editorial background in magazines. A million moving pieces all come together to produce an issue. It includes different points of view and approaches, but in the end it still feels cohesive.

As a result of that experience, we’ve developed a different kind of creative leadership than most other agencies. We don’t pitch multiple ideas and let our clients pick and choose. We pitch one idea that we get behind wholeheartedly. The result is a product that feels honest to the brand, and because it’s honest, it has longevity.

^{Creative Direction by Super Bonjour, Photo for Fable Home.}

A single place to organize, create, share, and deliver

It’s rare that we’re in the same physical space, so from day one, we used Dropbox to organize our work. We use the same folder structure to start each project so we can save time and keep our files neat and tidy. For retailers, their projects tend to be seasonal and cyclical. If I want to go back and look at the casting from three seasons ago, it’s very easy to do so. 

^{Photography by Kay Kwabia}

Dropbox allows us to share files and work online together, even though we’re several time zones apart. Everything is available for us at any time and in one space, so we know we’re always working on the latest version. Sharing a file is as simple as copying a link, which is great for desktop, but especially handy for when one of us is on the go. If I need Reanna to take a look at something but she’s on a shoot, I’ll grab the Dropbox link and throw it in Slack. Nothing else compares to that efficiency.

When a project is done, we use Dropbox Transfer to deliver the final files to the client. The simplicity of Dropbox Transfer has eliminated the need for a lot of other tools, such as WeTransfer and Google Drive. 

^{Photography by Kelly Jacob}

A new tool for creative collaboration

A lot of our projects are quite complex. A campaign for a clothing brand would require product images to shoot in various locations, with different models and props. Dropbox Paper helps us keep track of that complexity. We can add any media such as spreadsheets, photos, and links to other Dropbox folders all in one place. It turns what would otherwise be a static document into a living, interactive workspace we can share with clients.

That increases the visibility and transparency of our work, too. As the client watches the project develop, it’s easy for them to become involved and much more collaborative. They can add comments in Paper itself and quickly onboard other collaborators, like set designers or copywriters. The ease of access helps us build trust with our client, and opening up the creative process shows them the value of our work.

^{Photography by Nik Mirus, Props by Audrey St-Laurent}

Work in real-time 

Even though working remotely is the status quo for our studio, Dropbox helped us overcome some unique challenges.

Recently, Reanna was on set in Vancouver, directing a shoot for Nike. The footage was uploaded in real time to Dropbox, which meant I could see the images come in live from my location in Montreal. I could check the props, ratios, and angles and provide feedback to Reanna while she was still there. It was almost like I was in the same room.

In another instance, we travelled to Ghana to help clients with branding and photo shoots. From that experience we produced a Dropbox Paper of best practices, tips and tricks, and local resources. It’s super dynamic: they can replicate one thing, rejig another, and refine a third so that it works best for them over time. It enabled the client to be more autonomous while keeping their brand cohesive. 

_{Creative Direction & Design by Super Bonjour, Photography by Mathieu Fortin}

Creative process without friction improves the final product

Coming up with ideas is hard enough. With a plug-and-play tool, creative people don’t have to deal with the barriers of complicated software. No one feels intimidated by Dropbox; its ease of access puts everyone closer to the creative work.

We always say: take the time to map things out. If you go slow and refine your tool set, you actually deliver faster. It’s a measure-twice-cut-once philosophy, and it will give you more confidence in your process. By going slow and being deliberate, we’ve grown with intention alongside our clients. And by using Dropbox, we can collaborate in a dynamic way and bring our clients on the journey with us.

^{Photography by Akina Chan}