All About Us

DDApe

First, what's up the all the Damn Dirty Ape stuff and the screaming gorilla logo?

The DDA part starts down the path of corporate legitimacy then you go all APE on us! We'll assume that you made it here from one of our various presences online and caught the Damn Dirty Apes reference and clicked through.

When we decided to add web services to our mix of offerings, we wanted to choose something fun and memorable for branding purposes. Something with a little bit of geek flavor, mixed with a bit of attitude and in a nutshell, that's pretty much us.

Business out on the edge, bouncing out of the box, whatever other cliché you can toss in there. We've been around a bit. We're slightly off kilter. A mix of the creatives and the conservatives. The old school Charlton Heston meets the slicked up Marky Mark. It's a fitting moniker. It's easy to remember (and hey, we know you're going to have fun referencing us to your friends and colleagues that way, “Yeah, I have to call the Damn Dirty Apes and get more space for our FTP and some new business cards”) and it has the right amount of fun and aggressiveness with that all important nerd factor! What more could we ask for? On to the more serious shtuff…what you really came here for (we hope!)....


For the past 20 plus years, we've been happily providing commercial imaging and graphic design services to Utah customers and beyond. During this time, the internet came along and developed into what you behold today. Just like your business, we viewed it as a way to find more potential customers and at the very least, a much cheaper brochure. Just like you, we waded out looking for someone to help craft websites for us and ran into an amazing amount of stupidity, from a design/marketing workflow aspect as well as business practices.

The guys who never asked us a word about what we actually do or who our potential clients may be before rattling off their suggestions about how we should look and sell. The gal who did the same, then quoted us an outlandish price well into the five figures for what appeared to be an Amazon.com clone (uhh..yeah..that's not what we do (cough cough) did you say you get paid on commission?!), the teen (we think) peddling amateurish templates, etc. etc. et al. You get the idea, we're sure you've been there already too. So what did we do? We rolled up our sleeves, bought some software, then some more, spent countless hours (that we didn't have) and hacked out our own nasty version of our amateurish web presence. That was 1999. We didn't get to party like the song said. Instead we spent our time fretting about what Bob said, our computers were going to kill us the next year!

design

What did we learn?

That doing it your self is the way to go? HA! Doing what your business does and spending your time selling and servicing your clients is the only way to go. Finding a pro that represents good value, for tasks you have no expertise in, is the way to get things done without being sucked into a giant black hole of time. Fortunately, when it comes to the digital based world, things have matured quite a bit and finding good, reliable help is easier than ever before. So why are we still building our own stuff and things for others. Well, it's pretty simple. We already spent the time to gain a level of expertise in these matters. The visual part goes hand in hand with the core portion of our business and so it now is a natural extension of what we do daily there. We're already committed to it, so the answer boils down to, why not?


So the next question you must have is, “Why you?” Well, here is where we separate the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaff, the…well, you get the idea. Even though we keep it loose and have a little fun while you’re getting to know us, there are some things that really chap our hides. The first is for ANYONE who is not directly involved in your business to EVER assume that they know what’s better for your business than you do. How it looks, smells, eats and sells. Yeah, you need ideas now and then and you know how to ask for them when you’re ready to. But who knows more about what your image and message should be to your clients than you?

So when that fresh faced rep rolls in and starts yapping about all the changes you should make to stay in business, we start sharpening the tips on our pointy boots for a swift kick you know where. Remind me again, how many sales you have made to my clients? What was that again? Zero? C’mon you can say it. Unfortunately, this is the method for countless web, image and ad companies. The attitude is, you’re stupid, we’re brilliant, we’ll have mercy on your pitiful soul and enlighten you to what it will take for you to make it through life. We say, guess again shmucky.

That’s the first place the waters part.

web

Now, unless you are a brand new startup searching for an identity, here’s the next part that gets ignored. You’ve been selling already (and if you haven’t you don’t have a business, you have a hobby) and presumably during this period of selling, you’ve done cards, brochures, envelopes, letterhead, signage, invoices, ads, clothing, etc. etc. as part of your company’s presence. That means your company already has a look that your clients are used to seeing. It’s called branding your business and wayyyyyyyy too many of our competitors completely ignore this, choosing instead to treat you like a startup that has nothing (after all, that more stuff to sell you!)

Woohoo!.

Well DUH! That stuff wasn’t free and there is no damn reason to recreate the wheel unless that wheel is completely worn out. We don’t start with a whole new look for everything you have. That creates confusion with your existing clientele. Instead, we want what we do to be a natural looking extension of what you already have going on. Sure, if you want a new look, we can help you. But we never behave like that’s the only way we can make the new fold with the old, replace it all. Those who do are asses ( pardonnez notre Français). We start by seeing what you already have and letting you decide how it will go from there.

Wow, what a novel idea! The person who has all the experience with the business steering the decisions.

How bizarre!


We can go on, but you get the idea. Our philosophy is to listen first, advise where it’s important (and where we have expertise!), recognize the flow and existing product expenditures of a running business and make things that make sense for that particular entity.

No square pegs in the round hole.

Do what works.

Sensible, helpful tools that advance the goals of the client.


Art that makes sense. Marketing that makes sense. Sites that make sense.

Working all together? Wow, now that makes sense.


If this sounds like a fit for your style and needs, give us a call today. Thank you for your time and the opportunity to be of service!