Susan Knox Hodges and Rafael Arismendi Holguin, co-founders of the full-service branding firm Ideography, first met by having friends in common and so bumping into each other several times during design school.
Hodges said that “I remember early on meeting him and I had some slides, some photographs I had taken, and I was eager to show someone. I bumped into him and we went to the Temple Bar downtown.”
At the time, Hodges was still working on her degree from the Pratt Institute and had just begun working as a freelancer. Meanwhile, Holguin was a junior designer with Gruner + Jahr, a publishing house.
Now, they each have over 20 years of professional experience, and according to Holguin “There is no way to walk around in Saratoga without seeing our work.”
Through their company, Arismendi-Knox later renamed Ideology, Hodges and Holguin have worked with a variety of clients, both in Saratoga and further.
Ideography’s clients range from Peregrine Market Access, where the pair works, to The Wishing Well restaurant down the hill from them to the Cantina in the center of town.
Additionally, they have had some pro bono accounts, such as the Opera Saratoga and Shelters of Saratoga.
“In a decade, we have imprinted our mark on the town,” Holguin said. “When you are able to impact the most popular establishments in the area, you are rooted in the community.”
He continued, “The difference about us is really our experience. Our being a boutique that could come and be strategic and infuse meaning into a brand. We are truth seekers, we’re looking at what’s the core differentiator of a brand.”
He said that Ideoraphy’s differentiator, what makes them different from other firms, was their efficiency, intuition and experience. He said “we won’t be wasting time and resources, unlike other agencies.”
Hodges added that “We work with the owners of these companies a lot of the time, and they’re sharing a lot of their vision and their insight. We are very good at listening and gaining knowledge and then helping in a very stealth way just get in there and achieve success in a very specific way.”
Ideoraphy also has various national-scale accounts, like an app being developed on the West Coast, a national fitness account based in Virginia and an international travel and hospitality account.
Hodges simplified the various accounts by saying that “it’s national, and it’s New York State.”
The reason that the pair moved to Saratoga from New York City was because Holguin was the Vice President of Design for Palio Communications at the time, and so was recruited to go to Saratoga.
While Holguin worked at Palio, Hodges continued to run the business, at the time still called Arismendi-Knox, a name created with the founders’ middle names, which existed for the next 10 years until Holguin returned and the company was rebranded with its current name.
While Hodges ran Arismendi-Knox, Holguin would work for periods of time with President and Co-Founder of Ideography companies like Futureband, which he said is one of the top three branding companies in the world, and then come back with more experience.
The reason why the pair is able to be so productive and efficient while maintaining such a small staff is largely due to their experience and willingness to adapt.
As they have seen the design market changing, they also changed so that they could incorporate both their understanding of classical design strategies and apply them to the new digital age.
Recently, the pair took on an intern from Skidmore College, Paul Vella, for research, public relations and other areas, who said Hodges and Holguin tend to be laid back, but still get things done in a timely and professional manner.
Vella said that “They are a boutique firm, but they’re not. They have all the expertise and know- how of a larger institution, which grants them the opportunity and know-how to work for and tackle these projects that are larger.”
Hodges concluded by saying that while both of the founders have quite a bit of experience in branding for pharmaceuticals, for the future of Ideology, it looked like things are moving more towards consumer products.
For more information, visit Ideography's website at www.ideographyny.com.