Thursday, 18 July 2019 13:22

Ideography: Helping Saratoga From Behind the Scenes

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.

Read 1137 times

Blotter

  • New York State Police The New York State Police announced that it issued 5,576 tickets during this year’s St. Patrick’s Day enforcement initiative. The campaign began on Friday, March 15, and continued until Sunday, March 17. During the campaign, funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, State Police utilized sobriety checkpoints, additional DWI patrols, and underage drinking and sales to minors detail. State Police also ticketed distracted drivers who use handheld electronic devices. State Troopers arrested 132 people for DWI and investigated 199 crashes, which resulted in 25 people being injured and no fatalities. As part of the enforcement, Troopers also…

Property Transactions

  • BALLSTON Heather DiCaprio sold property at 473 Garrett Rd to Justine Levine for $288,000 Sharon Willman sold property at 99 Jenkins Rd to Charles Lemley for $165,000 CORINTH George Montena sold property at 422 Oak St to Stephen James for $142,250 Mark Makler sold property at 313 Oak St to Sabrina Sinagra for $195,000 GREENFIELD Landlord Services of Upstate New York sold property at 1935 NYS Rt 9N to Cochise Properties LLC for $210,000 MALTA  Linda LaBarge sold property at 35 Snowberry Rd to Qu Haozheng for $270,000 Dennis Mitchell sold property at 60 Village Circle North to BGRS Relocation…
  • NYPA
  • Saratoga County Chamber
  • BBB Accredited Business
  • Discover Saratoga
  • Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association