How do smaller studios manage multiple projects? With U.I.WD., Smith & Diction, and Carla Palette

It would be nice if you could just sit and design away to your heart’s content, wouldn’t it? Forget deadlines, client check-ins and feedback! Alas, while we can dream of an ideal world, we don’t really live in it, and must diligently attend to the deadlines of not only clients, but the wider world of printers, photographers, marketers, and so on. From ideation to final delivery, project management techniques and processes help teams meet client expectations while delivering high-quality outcomes. On top of this, the organisation required to manage multiple projects can be a trying ask for small design studios and freelancers. Balancing not only client expectations and deadlines, but the schedules and resources of the team itself requires careful planning. It’s a juggling act, for sure, but there’s no reason for it to turn into a clown show. To gain insights into how smaller teams keep things running smoothly, we spoke to two design studios and an independent creative – Smith & Diction, a design studio based in Philadelphia, Japanese-Brazilian studio U.I.WD., and freelancer Carla Palette. Priorities, priorities, priorities