Written by: Anna Rice | Writer + Communications Specialist

At Open Book, we help our clients give voice to a “big idea” at the heart of who they are and what they are building in the world. We look for something that resonates deeply with who they are today—but also propels them to live it out in new and deeper ways tomorrow. This may be a few words or a single sentence, but it’s always tied to a point of view central to an organization.

We look for something that resonates deeply with who they are today—but also propels them…

Written by: Jeremy Emmerich | Creative Director

Last evening, I was playing chess with my six-year-old son Maxwell. As we played our second game and he contemplated his next move, he looked at me with delight and said: “My mind is working really hard right now!” His little brain was sparking. The abstraction of possibility had filled his spirit with joy. He wanted to win.

At Open Book, we regularly have the privilege of working with leaders of organizations at the beginning of building something new. Hopes are high. Dreams are big. They want to invite people into something great…

Written by: Allison Flores Goebel | Design Director

This year I planted my first garden. I have found myself surprisingly invested in the success of this new horticultural endeavor — which means checking on the humble plot an unnecessary number of times each day. As I admire each new sprout, I am reminded of other types of growth.

At Open Book, one of our stated goals for 2020 is to “nurture growth.” This applies to growth in how we serve our clients; it also applies to each of us as people, too. We seek to bring our best to work…

Written by: Lauren Puchtel | Executive Assistant

At Open Book, we celebrate something called an “Openversary.”

Openversaries are celebrated each year on the day a team member began working at Open Book. There is usually a prank involved — just a little surprise to keep the lucky team member on their toes! Then the rest of the team circles around them and each shares something specific we appreciate in that person. We end with a round of applause and then hand them a card full of handwritten messages and a gift certificate to a place we know holds special meaning to them.

We also celebrate birthdays with vigor at…

Written by: Josh Sipma | Designer + Creative Content Developer

The last several Junes, we at Team Open Book have gone on a weekend retreat “up north.” It’s always early summer, when it’s just warm enough to be able to swim and spend time outside. We are from Minnesota after all, and we have to spend as much time outside as possible. We laugh. And eat. And reflect. The weekend is also preceded by a day of team development, where we get out of our comfort zones and solve problems together. And because we’re a team of writers and designers…

At Open Book, we test— a lot. In our work of solving problems and creating things, we test ideas, words, and design all the time.

We test an idea when we walk up to a teammate’s desk and tell them how we’re thinking. We test words when we ask a client if something sounds true for them. We test design when we show other people’s work we are inspired by.

This process is strategic—it’s not a game of seeing what sticks. It’s an iterative and directional process. We call it laddering.

We come to the table with an idea of…

In this time of major global events, our team has been thinking lately about small things.

In our work as a small creative team, we daily take iterative, strategic steps toward big goals. It’s little movements, building upon themselves, that allow us to take our clients to new places and drive change.

On our first day of working remotely, our team discussed how small actions are more important than ever. Because in a time of pandemic, small things are all that we have control over. And small things are still what catalyze big change.

Our conversation over Zoom that morning…

As a small creative agency, we are daily entering into the unknown. Maybe that’s due to our size, but it’s definitely due to our mentality.

We serve leaders working to build a better tomorrow—which is full of unknowns by definition. We have a strategic vision for where we’re headed; we grasp a communication gap, business problem, or possibility to pursue. But we can never predict what will happen next. We count on unknowns.

That’s true for all of us right now, too. Many of us have hopes, goals, or a vision of what life will look like at the end…