过程第一
We’re all about efficient, repeatable steps, honed by years of experience.
我们的动力是什么?
我们的启动会议总是以“这里没有自我，我们是认真的! 我们对待每一个项目都是令人兴奋的合作. We’re the experts in web design and development, and you’re the expert on your business. We genuinely care about doing great work; that’s how we make the Internet better for everyone.
方法 vs 疯狂
Forge and Smith was founded on the values of traditional craftspeople: quality and trust. These principles guide every web design and digital strategy we produce.
缓慢而稳定
慢就是顺，顺就是快. 伟大的网站就是这样做的.
问责制
我们都是成年人了. 信任是双向的，我们说到做到.
透明度
没有虚假的承诺. 我们将永远诚实，分享我们所知道的一切.
副标题
我们的 根
我们的 principal and lead strategist Shawn Johnston gets asked all the time, “Why Forge and Smith?” Shawn grew up surrounded by craftspeople and the values of honesty, quality, and dependability. 当他从商人变成设计师的时候, he struggled with the lack of those values in most web design processes. 做一个不知疲倦的问题解决者, Shawn found his own way to bring true craftsmanship into design and strategy – and that’s what launched Forge and Smith.
我们的 name harkens to medieval blacksmith guilds, and a time when your word was your bond. We value rock-solid relationships, dedication to process, and striving for mastery at our crafts.
10年 和计数……
当你开心的时候，时间过得很快.
2006
自由
冒险开始了
After 10年 of working in a variety of roles within the design industry, 肖恩决定是时候自立门户了. 拥有丰富的经验, 对过程的热爱, 还有对BBIN软件下载的热情, his one-person team started designing and building for charities and small businesses.
2011
员工# 1
获得动力
在Craigslist上顽强地寻找线索之后, 肖恩终于有了足够多的客户, 声誉, 和谷歌排名的工作量失控. 安弗瑞森 was hired as a Project Manager to help answer questions and support existing websites.
Abe left us in 2015 with our blessings to take on a new management position at an agency we’d done build work for. 但他仍然存在于我们的Slack密码命令中:
2012
第一代理网站
不再是自由职业者!
It only took a year, but we finally launched our first agency website. 在这个阶段，我们是一个8人的团队，主要是开发人员. 我们对过程的信念, 细枝末节, and passion for what we do has been a part of our ethos from day one.
2015
持续增长
更多的人和服务
正如我们所看到的，我们的网站对我们的客户表现得有多好, we launched a new service side of the business: digital strategy and monthly retainers. We launched an array of engagement options like SEO reporting, 社交媒体管理, 每月支持. 这是一个重要的里程碑, as the monthly recurring revenue from these services stabilized our business and began to even out our cash flow.
2016
战略的第一个
商品化就在这里
We saw an emerging trend in the web world towards the commoditization of websites, 随着Squarespace和Wix等服务的推出. 我们将重点从服务转向战略. 我们加倍下注, 认真对待信息架构, 内容策略, 和用户体验设计, 扩展了我们的流程. 而不是提供一个网站作为一个产品, we began providing strategy as a service… the website was simply an outcome.
痛苦的教训
Unfortunately, this epiphany came too late, and our long run of competing on price caught up with us. Unable to sustain our overhead while making this pivot, we had to downsize by almost 50%. 每个团队成员都在几周内找到了下一份工作, and we did everything we could to ensure they were taken care of.
这是艰难的一年.
2017
设计系统
不要再重复发明轮子了
While the dust settled after our pivot and team changes, Shawn pursued a vision. 经过10多年的网站设计和建设, he saw consistent patterns in how content was structured and users navigated websites. What if we could leverage those patterns to build a layered systematized foundation as a basis for websites?
这将成为重要R的开头&D的努力, which would impact every facet of how we work: from the flexibility of our websites to the health of our agency as a whole!
2018
铁砧诞生
效率与创造力相遇
Shawn’s vision of reusable frameworks based on known content patterns, 强调不受限制的创意前端, 开始开花结果.
Codenamed “Anvil,” a WordPress-based Framework is starting to emerge. This year was one of experimentation, and the results were game-changing. 我们将每个项目的总开发时间减少了70%以上, including further reductions in UX and design as we embraced a consistent prototyping toolset.
These efficiencies allowed us to reinvest that time within our projects, for an enhanced content support process and extensive improvements in our overall QA system.
结果? Better sites, even better client experiences, and signifi可以tly reduced team stress. 这是一个三赢的局面.
2020
黑衣重现
没有债务，准备好成长
通过利用几个惊人的联邦R&我们很幸运能住在加拿大!), we could leverage the thousands of hours invested into Anvil to pull us out of the debt we’d dug back in 2016.
This also started the invisible process of transforming from a strategy company offering products to a product company offering strategies. While it may seem nuanced, it transformed the way we approach our work.
2021
可持续增长
投资于我们的流程、团队和客户
因为我们花在重复性任务上的时间越来越少, we continued to invest that time into our team and our clients.
通过在QA中添加额外的团队成员, 内容与设计, we continued our growth without sacrificing quality or client experience. This included key hires to support training, QA management, and 内容策略.
从维多利亚到多伦多共有16名全职团队成员, we were now a well-rounded and deeply experienced team rooted in a commitment to process and client success.
我们还实施了一套新的人力资源实践, 旨在支持我们的远程团队, build a sense of purpose and prioritize mental health and wellbeing.
2022
产品开发
砧块和古腾堡
这事还是保密的，但我们 可以 say that we’re currently working on our own Gutenberg-based site build called Anvil Blocks. We fully embraced Gutenberg in 2021, and its flexibility has changed everything.
继续优先考虑我们自己的R&D for the benefit of our clients, we now have a three-engineer WordPress plugin team. 我们真的迫不及待地想分享更多!