Serving an industry with the depth and breadth of the creative sector requires more than just technical skills and experience — it demands an understanding of the client’s culture. Avatar Consulting recognizes the needs of organizations and individuals may be quite different based on the creative processes by which they go from inspiration to implementation. Though each of our clients is unique, all generally fall into one of three broad categories.
Collectives
The Macintosh platform is built for creative companies with design firms, advertising agencies and film studios operating as cohesive units, or collectives. The businesses as a whole operate at various levels toward common creative deliverables, from the conceptual tasks of research and development through the refined phases of product design and marketing.
Often with limited size and limited budgets, Avatar Consulting helps such organizations leverage the agility and dynamism small enterprises overlook as a key competitive advantage. By providing services ranging from facilities planning and network maintenance to ongoing support services and client-facing technology expertise, our clients challenge their larger corporate rivals with confidence.
Island Users
As the name implies, island users operate almost autonomously. Corporate communicators, in-house graphic designers and educational clients are often insulated as the only Macintosh users within a larger organization. Despite years of self-sufficiency, even the most savvy users often stumble when faced with system migrations, hardware failures, or the challenges of cross-platform interoperability.
It isn’t always easy being one of only a handful of Macs in a predominantly Windows-based company. Acting as advocates, our consultants help island users work with their IT departments. From software licensing to upgrade strategies, we address oversights and streamline system support. Though initially reluctant, by identifying obstacles and preventing new ones, IT staffs quickly discover their once “high-maintenance” users become almost maintenance-free with our guidance.
Free Agents
Work should be personal, and with system and software prices becoming increasingly more affordable, a growing number of freelance creative professionals choose to work outside the traditional occupational structure. These free agents achieve work/life balance by complementing larger agencies as project staff or providing ongoing service for their own base of regular clients.
Free agents require the same types of service as larger companies, but at a more personal level. Whether operating as moonlighters or micro-businesses, we help freelancers make the most of existing investments in hardware and software while mindfully considering the best time to upgrade. Just because people decide to break out of the nine to five world doesn’t mean they have to leave knowledgeable and affordable technology assistance behind as well.