Reputations accumulate through consistent excellence in each interaction, each conversation, each deliverable. The Atlas GT holiday card design makes an excellent example. Cosmic Design (http://designbycosmic.com/) accepted the small, marginally interesting assignment even though their plate was full and Thanksgiving weekend was imminent.

Along with an artwork proof, which I expected, Eric included this carefully composed photo of the mockup.  Take a minute to look that the photo:  it’s well composed, has interesting focal depth, and the color has been modified to accentuate the theme . Work went into this photo, care and attention to detail not normally warranted by an interim proof. And yet it gives the impression of effortless cool. Cosmic, again, exceeded my expectations, increased my enthusiasm for the project, and cemented another building block onto their already significant reputation.

It’s hard to focus on fine details when we’re pressed for time. Yet the value of such attention to detail is much higher than the few minutes saved by cutting corners.  I’m hopeful that we can learn from Cosmic’s example that reputations for excellence are built in small, incremental, but ultimately very valuable steps.