Paper Crane
About Us
Spirits have long been a catalyst for connection. Cocktails it goes far beyond the liquor itself they embody the idea of “Spirit” by creating fun and engagement. By expanding Spirit with Smoke from cocktails accessories to a full fledged brand that encompasses the entire idea of 'sprit', we can elevate the brand and the audience experience into something more meaningful.
Meet Paper Crane
Paper Crane is an innovative, platform agnostic agency that upgrades brand platforms with incredible website design, development, and a keen eye for visual identity and branding. Our specialties lie in building out award-winning, enterprise-grade infrastructure and storytelling content along with visuals that can separate you from the pack.
We aim to work collaboratively with you to reimagine a brand that elevates the cocktail experience beyond drinking itself. We understand there are myriad ways to approach a cocktail brand and we want to work with you to help you balance high-end with fun and approachability.
Design philosophy
We are fascinated with solving communication problems in order to inspire action. We create designs that our clients are proud to share. Our goal as an agency is to be your visual identity and UX design partner, exchanging ideas and collaborating with your team. We value your opinion as experts in your audience as much as you value ours as experts in design.
Development philosophy
This is your brand coming to life. After all the hard work and ideation, we finally get the result. Development to us is more than simply making the website live or printing a brochure; it is breathing life into your brand so it becomes a the moving tool that trumpets your message 24/7/365. We are passionate about excellent development practices and your materials and website will be a machine that is as efficient as it is aesthetic.
Security
Security is something we take seriously for all clients. No one wants a website that can be easily hacked or breaks with updates. With the software available to the general populace on today’s market, we have limitless capabilities in creating low-maintenance, high-security websites to reduce downtime and risk.
Online SEO
We ensure that your site is optimized for modern-day search engine algorithms. We focus on optimizing the HTML source code of the site and will make sure to recommend that keywords relevant to your business are within the new copy provided.
Flexibility
We want you to be in full control of your marketing properties. We believe the most effective marketing tools remain in the capable hands of the folks that use them every day. That is why we create websites that are easily editable and brand assets that are interchangeable and simple to integrate into your workday.
General Objectives
Our process of locating and defining your organization's brand starts with you and your team. We delve deeply into your organization to become well-versed in your values and goals.
We want to do this in a phased approach
Phase I
Phase II
Branding for Never Drink Ordinary
This process includes a strategic branding workshop for your team to translate your thoughts and wishes into an actionable brand direction. Upon our completed review of your organization's relevant strategic documents and marketing materials and the completion of our strategic branding workshop, we will:
WEBSITE UDATES
BRAND STRATEGY
BRAND DOCUMENTS AND ASSETS
WEBSITE UPDATE TO REFLECT NEW DIRECTION
TRAINING
Webflow is not open-source software. The website is required to be hosted on Webflow's AWS servers and cannot be ported to other website hosting companies outside of very specific circumstances. Please let us know if this is an issue. Webflow's hosting costs range from 14USD-40USD per month for sites with non-Enterprise levels of usage (ie. Millions of pageviews per month).
This is a general estimate that may vary based on feedback loops, illness, global pandemics, etc. Deliverable dates will be determined during the kickoff meeting.
TRAINING AND ONGOING: Up to 90 days
During the whole of the project, we will book weekly sprint meetings with you and your stakeholders to keep the project on track. These are virtual biweekly 15s and biweekly 45s. These meetings are used to present and discuss ideas as well as keep track of all deliverables.
We employ an Agility style project management approach whereby key members of our team are available to you directly. We invite you to a dedicated Slack channel and are in regular contact over email. Our goal is to reduce friction and keep your project on time.
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The clear answer here is, "Less time and money spent doing redundant tasks". Here are some of the not-so-obvious benefits:
Officially, three revision cycles at the various stages of the project. As the project evolves, there are less revisions.
Scope can be increased at any time. If the new additions to the project increase the design or development time, we will provide a new estimate for the additional time
We will do our utmost to ensure we allow for acceptable padding per Phase of our work together. That being said, there are times when life gets busy, businesses change, and external project work can get put on the backburner - we get it.
In situations where delays arise, particularly those lasting more than two weeks at a time, we may need to revisit timelines - and if that's not an option, we will work with you to find out how to get work completed in a timely manner without blowing out the budget.
We promise to never surprise you with bills or overtime charges that have not been pre-approved.
You have 90 days after the launch of your website to bring up any glitches or bugs you may find and we will happily fix them.
We strive to keep on track once the project has begun. Rescheduling meetings is completely fine but may delay the final project delivery time.
We understand that projects of any size may require adjustment somewhere down the road. Part of one of our core values - collaboration - is finding a way to make things work to make sure you get the absolute most out of our services. We're open to re-evaluating our scope of work down the line if things change to make sure both sides come out happy.
In most cases, we provide bank details upon request for bank transfers (which can be requested here). For Canadian clients we can accept e-transfers to accounting@papercrane.ca
Project invoices will be divided evenly month over month for the duration of the project. The first month’s bill is due as deposit prior to starting work, the last months invoice is due after approval and prior to launch of the website. All other invoices will be billed on the first of the month for the prior month and are due 15 days after the invoice date. You will receive online bills from accounting@papercrane.ca.
Our hourly rate is $165/hr (CAD) as of June 21, 2024. That can be negotiated based on ongoing contracts - length of contract and volume of hours per month will both correlate with lowering the cost per hour.
We provide a comprehensive suite of services including UI/UX design, front-end and back-end development, mobile app development, database architecture, cloud computing services, and AI integration.
Depending on the tier you have chosen you will get:
A brand guide is a book with a set of rules on how to use the visual identity and voice of your brand successfully so it continues to communicate your promise effectively. It will include things like how to use the logo, color breakdowns for the brand, dos and don'ts for the voice, vision and mission statements etc.
When a brand's message is disconnected from it's visual identity, the audience becomes confused and has a negative feeling about the brand as a whole. For instance, if your brand promise was to bring calm, we would not use images of lightening.
A brand guide helps you, your team and any other agencies or freelancers you hire, keep the visual and voice message to your audience consistent.
Branding has three main components, visual, voice and promise.
Visual Identity is what your audience sees. Things like your logos, marks, fonts, layouts, photos, videos, icons, colors, uniforms, storefront etc.
Voice is what your audience hears. Things like your web copy, ad headlines, whitepapers, sales material copy etc.
Promise is the feeling those two things combined evoke in the audience. Humans absorb marketing communications through what they see and hear and make a decision about your brand by the sensation that communication brings.
For example, is your brand promise to bring joy? Then your visual identity and brand voice will reflect that and evoke a feelings of fun and delight in your audience.
If you are not happy with the direction of the visual identity or the concepts we present at the start, that is okay! We expect that there will be discussion at the onset around the direction of the brand. Sometimes, seeing someone else's ideas on how to present your business shows what you don't want and gives us room to build together what you do want to see.
We like to work with you until you are happy, within reason. We will push you to think of the target audience first and remove your personal tastes from the equation as much as possible. You should be proud of your brand, but it does not have to be your taste.
If we are well into the process and there is still disagreement on the direction, we will discuss alternatives with you.
Typically we see 2 - 4 rounds of changes for logos. After speaking with you about who your audience is and how we want you to be perceived by them, we start with between three and five general concepts and direction. These are usually about 50% correct.
From there, we refine the concepts into more solid identities along side you moving to colors, fonts and refining the shapes.
Absolutely. A short list of sites built on NextJS can be found here:
NextJS extends the latest features of React, allowing it to offer more powerful features and deeper integrations. Items like:
The separation of frontend from backend allows for greater flexibility and scalability in building and designing digital experiences. By decoupling the content from the presentation, a headless CMS enables teams to easily create and manage content, while allowing developers to use any frontend framework or technology to build and design the website or application. Additionally, a headless CMS can be integrated with other systems and platforms, such as e-commerce, CRM, and analytics, to create a seamless and personalized user experience.
Yes! Next.js is used by many of the top websites in the world. See the Showcase for more info.
Text, images and links can all be changed incredibly easily via the collection system in the web portal.
Additional pages and design and layout changes are quite easy with a bit of knowledge on Webflow's interface or some developer help.
Customized Javascript are possible with developer help.
We are a full-stack development agency proficient in a variety of technologies, including but not limited to JavaScript (React, Vue, Node.js), Python, Java, Ruby, and associated frameworks. We also have expertise in database technologies like SQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.
Yes.
Webflow has few limits when it comes to custom Javascript or embedded HTML code. We have many sites with calculators, quizzes and conditional forms, pus many more custom elements.
Webflow's system is not perfect for this.
You have two options:
1) Publish changes to the subdomain in the Designer; however, if Editors (ie. blog writers) publish posts, the changes will be pushed live as well.
2) Copy over the live site to a separate project in one click, make any modifications necessary, copy/paste the sections back into the live project, and then Publish. The only issue is that some classes will change names to avoid redundancy, in which case they will have to be switched back. In that case, you can delete the copy of the site and rinse/repeat whenever there are major changes to be made.
Webflow is very good at being a surface-level website builder. We often use Webflow because it:
Udesly isn't a live connection per se. The process works by building out designs in Webflow and exporting the code, using Udesly as an adapter to modify the code for Shopify, then importing the new template into Shopify. Webflow is the design hub where all creative changes are made, whereas Udesly is the content hub where all changes to items like text, products, blogs, etc. are made.
Webflow has, arguably, the most powerful CMS for marketing sites with similar build costs. With the proper set up, your team should rarely ever have to make structural changes to the site. Collections for items like Blogs, White Papers, Webinars, Team Members, Careers, Treatments etc., can be easily added by non-technical staff.
That being said, Webflow is not a simple page builder. Although it is drag-and-drop in many ways, it relies heavily on frontend coding with HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and we strongly encourage any team member or contractor that is making large, structural changes to the site to have some semblance of Webflow training, which we are happy to provide.
To learn more about the editing experience, you can see the official page here.
Webflow sites benefit from being hosted via AWS with all of the included security protocols. Webflow also has 2FA built in for account security, and their servers go through intensive cybersecurity testing on a consistent schedule.
Webflow is integrated with Google's Analytics and Optimize applications out of the box. With no limitations on frontend Javascript, there are virtually no limits on implementing marketing scripts.
By reaching out to support@webflow.com, turnaround time on tickets tends to sit in the 2-8 hour range although we have had tickets in queue for up to 24 hours in some cases.
Alongside the official support channels, Webflow has a vibrant community of professionals on Facebook and Reddit, along with a large directory of on-demand agencies and freelancers on https://experts.webflow.com/
As an aside, we have been Webflow Partners since the creation of the program. In many cases, we can reach out to internal support teams on your behalf to resolve issues in a more efficient manner.
Webflow is not open-source software. Webflow sites are required to be hosted on Webflow's internal AWS servers and cannot be ported to other website hosting companies outside of very specific circumstances. Webflow's hosting costs range from 23USD-38USD/month.
Yes, we develop mobile applications for both Android and iOS platforms. We utilize both native development and cross-platform technologies depending on the project's needs.
Yes, as our client, you will have complete ownership of the source code upon completion of the project.
In the world of automations, there are two factors that help Zapier reign supreme:
For almost any specialized 3rd-party platform, the rule of thumb is that if they have any integrations, Zapier is going to be on the list. It has almost become a requirement for companies to prioritize Zapier API work as it means that companies can spend less development time on other integrations as Zapier does the heavy-lifting for them. Zapier has the most integrations on the market by a country mile.
As to user experience? We have familiarized our team on the platform, and any cost-savings on swapping to a competitor would easily be lost in us having to learn a brand new technology and how it operates - if it does at all - with our chosen 3rd-party applications.
We follow an Agile methodology with regular sprints and constant communication to ensure that the project stays on track. We provide regular status updates and incorporate feedback at every stage.
Yes, we provide post-launch support and maintenance services to ensure your software continues to perform optimally.
Yes, we provide complete documentation that covers the software's architecture, codebase, and functionality, ensuring you have all the information needed to maintain and update the software.
We provide a dashboard for you to easily access important files, links, and our ongoing task list to ensure you have a perfect view of how your progress is, and where we are in regards to deadlines and deliverables.
This dashboard is fully integrated with our internal Project Management system, so you will have up-to-the-day status updates on all relevant tasks associated to your project.
We accept bank transfers globally - EFT and ACH.
For Canadian clients, we can accept e-transfers addressed to accounting@papercrane.ca.
If credit card is required, it can be accepted with an additional 1.9% fee.
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"Working with Paper Crane was fast, easy and professional. The communication was well thought through and easy to understand. They were on budget and on time. Wow. That doesn't happen very often."
Working with Paper Crane has been a breath of fresh air thanks to their diligent processes and meticulous attention to detail. They really care about their clients and it shows.
"Paper Crane built the site quickly and efficiently and kept us informed throughout the process, getting my input on key components. We've had the site for a few months now and I already rank #1 on Google (above a similar named company that just raised $13million in Silicon Valley). Couldn't be happier with Paper Crane and the team."
The team was easy to work with, responsive, and delivered a beautiful website on time and on budget. What more can you ask for?
Seamless website design incorporating all aspects of our brand. Quick turn around with timely responses. Highly recommend.
Paper Crane worked with us as we were first starting our business and ensured that we had a website product that truly spoke to our vision. They are very knowledge and extremely responsive. We have referred several clients to them and feel confident that the team will always provide excellent service. Overall we have been very happy with our experience and will continue to use their services going forward!
... they've been extremely knowledgeable across the board, very responsive, and have helped to devise a number of well-thought-out solutions to some technological hurdles. We now have a much more flexible and modern solution driving our marketing website, which is critically important to our business.
I strongly recommend working Paper Crane for high quality digital assets. We worked with the Paper Crane team to turn around an upgraded commercial website on an expedited timeline and received excellent results. Above and beyond the end product, Robert and his team were extremely accommodating of our timeline and phased roll-out requirements.
"Our companies have been working with the Paper Crane team for quite some time now. What I love the most is their client service.. they are always communicating at every stage of a project and since they are the experts at what they do, I look forward to their advice and guidance on what will work."
Paper Crane Media is genuinely the best media and marketing team I've worked with. They are creative, talented and terrific collaborators. Always up for anything and they enjoy understanding and embracing the brands of their customers. They're professional and warm people that I'd gladly make part of any future team.
"Everything has been smooth sailing since we launched. We’ve made a couple tweaks through Robert. The backend and use of Elementor has made everything incredibly easy to update. Our CCASA team and our clients have reached out to say how much they love the new brand and how uplifting it is. Nothing but good things to say about it"
"My company has hired Paper Crane numerous times for different projects. In all cases, they produced extremely high quality deliverables on the time and budget they originally stated. We continue to use them for this reason."
We are absolutely thrilled with the brand work that Paper Crane has done to help kickstart Melo. The creativity and attention to detail in every element, from the can designs to the engaging website, have truly set our brand apart in the market and it's making a difference on in-store sales which is amazing. Working together was great - looking forward to some more projects in 2024!
"Paper Crane was fantastic to work with! Professional and extremely responsive to our needs!"
Paper Crane completely redesigned our corporate website. The end product exceeded our expectations, and the entire team was great to work with. We are very happy with the work they've done, and we will be sure to use them for similar projects in the future.
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