Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Ratcliff.
Hi Michael, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
Growing up with a passion for drawing along with a love of comic books and printmaking, a career in graphic design felt like a natural place for me to be. I could never make it as an artist but give me a problem to solve and I’ll design the heck out of a solution.
I took art classes all through school and studied Design Communications at Texas Tech starting in 1985. It was a great time to get into design as the industry was on the verge of maturing and being seen as an important part of marketing. It was also a time of great change as computers were coming around. In school, my portfolio was all hand-painted and hand-lettered, but as soon as I graduated I gravitated to the Macintosh which all design studios were adopting.
I had a strong portfolio coming out of college, but graduating in the middle of a deep recession made finding a first job tough. I landed at a small firm that specialized in environmental graphics. Some of the first things I designed were huge sign systems for new neighborhoods being built in west Houston. From there I bounced around to other studios and agencies till I landed at the Houston office of J. Walter Thompson. There I was an Art Director for a couple of years and got exposure to some large, national accounts. Advertising is exciting to work in but also can be a strain. Towards the end of my stay with JWT, I had gone a whole week without seeing my newborn daughter and felt this was not how I wanted to live my life.
So, I went back to a smaller, local studio where I continued to learn, grow and design some amazing work. I found that I had a knack for working in the B2B space, helping companies in oil & gas, medical and tech areas tell compelling stories about their products and services. But I wanted a little more responsibility and took on the role of Creative Director for a boutique B2B agency. Under my direction we produced a broad scope of award-winning work, things I am still proud of today.
But with the economy again taking a nose-dive in 2008, I found myself out of work. Rather than going on the dole, I hung out my shingle and started knocking on doors. There were no jobs to be had, but plenty of work. I started cobbling together a group of blue-chip clients to served. But I needed benefits that my fledgling practice could not afford, so as the economy improved I went in-house for about 10 years, first with a financial services firm then the world’s largest oilfield service provider. Both experiences opened up the world to me and advanced me further than I ever imagined.
After getting re-orged out of my last corporate job, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Rather than work for someone else, my dream has always been to be on my own, so I reopened the studio I had started 10 years prior. That was midway through 2019. I hit the ground running and started landing some projects quickly. Then more projects, and still more. I felt so good going into 2020, then the pandemic hit.
The upside for Ratcliff Creative during the pandemic is that the studio was virtual anyway. Many of my clients were overseas, so collaborating over Zoom calls wasn’t an issue. It was easy to get work done, but hard to drum up new projects. I had to get creative and really nurture my network. But we stayed afloat. As we emerged from that time there was a backlog of projects clients had held off that were now on the front burner. The studio became very busy, very fast.
Five years on and the studio is still cruising along and looking to grow.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Throughout my career I bounced around a bit, going from design studios to ad agencies to production houses to in-house. It was definitely not smooth nor a straight path. Lots of challenge to overcome.
Changes in technology has always been a driver. It’s weird to look back at leaving college with a hand-painted portfolio. Then five years later I’m coding a webpage in HTML. Or specifying type. It was a skill I learned in college but never put into practice because as desktop publishing grew, I set my own type rather than farming it out to someone else.
Of course, with all that change, it required me to study. I had to broaden my skills. This is both a blessing and a curse. I’ve always had a curious mind and love to learn new things, but looking back there are times when I went down rabbit holes and got side-tracked. Sure, in the end (or at least where I am today) this has paid off in all kinds of ways, but in the moment I can see how I took a lot of missteps as I traveled down this path.
Communication has always been key. Back in the late 90’s, I worked at the agency here in Houston, but my boss was in Dallas. It is commonplace now, but communicating virtually back then was quite a trick. Later on, when working at a multi-national corporation, I worked virtually with people all over the world. This was not how I saw myself having to work, but I had to embrace it. And have, too.
One of the hardest challenges of my career has been trying to strike a good balance between my work life and my home life. Both my wife and I had fathers who were driven professionals, and were not around much as either of us wanted while growing up. We decided early on that I wouldn’t be like that and have a much more active roll in raising our children. That was hard. I had to make sacrifices on both sides of my life, but I wanted to be there for my kids as much as possible. I know there are times it hurt my career but in the end I think it was worth it because we now have one daughter who is a thriving professional out on her own, another who just graduated summa cum laude and is in graduate school, and our son his studying to be a data scientist.
Please tell us more about your business or organization. What should we know? What do you do, what do you specialize in / what are you known for? What sets you apart from others? What are you most proud brand wise? What do you want our readers to know about your brand, offerings, services, etc.?
Even though graphic design is the core practice, I didn’t name my business Ratcliff Design, but instead named the studio Ratcliff Creative. I do so many things other than graphics that I thought this made sense. Yet everything I do is with a designed approach, whether writing, making a site, art directing or consulting on business strategy.
Most people know Ratcliff Creative does quality work and provides good service. I’ve had a fair number of clients who keep coming back with more projects. And referrals. To date, a large part of my business development has been through referrals, for which I am eternally grateful. In my view, being referred to a potential client is the highest compliment.
I do arts and cultural work but Ratcliff Creative is mostly known for B2B space, specifically working with energy, tech and fintech companies. If you have a complex technology that needs to be translated into something normal humans can understand, I’m your guy.
For larger clients Ratcliff Creative produces different ways for companies to engage with clients. Mostly trade show work, presentation design and printed sales collateral. For smaller clients, especially start-ups, I build complete visual identities for them, everything from their logo to their website and sales decks — everything they need to attract customers or investors.
I want to keep Ratcliff Creative small. I like being involved with clients personally. I get to know them, understand their concerns and help them achieve their goals. I think that when they call me to do a project for them they know they get 100% focused attention on them. Being a small studio allows me to be very nimble and not only do my best work, but give clients great service, too.
What were you like growing up? Personality wise, interest wise, etc.
As a kid I was very sick, suffering from debilitating allergies and asthma. It was not uncommon for me to go outside and play around with friends for a bit, but come back home covered in hives, gasping for air then missing school for a few days. So, I spent a lot of time indoors playing quietly. Drawing and reading comics. Building and making things were important, too. Legos, erector sets, Girders and Panels. Creating worlds that I imagined. That was a big part of growing up until I outgrew the allergies. Still suffer today but it’s much more manageable.
I was a quiet, introverted boy. I was the kid people called an “artist”. Never been comfortable with that. But I’ve always enjoyed making things, imagining possibilities then bringing them to life. Still do that today.
As I outgrew allergies and asthma became much more manageable, I took up a love of being outdoors. I especially love cycling. By the time I got into high school I was that weird art guy who went everywhere on his bike. Doing 40 or 60 miles after school was a regular occurrence. Still ride today, albeit not quite as far or fast.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ratcliffcreative.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michael_ratcliff/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelratcliff/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/misterratcliff
- Other: https://www.behance.net/ratcliff
