Design companies believe merger will strengthen client services
Two Greater Des Moines graphic design companies publicly announced an administrative merger last week that the owners say will provide better services to their clients.
Mauk and Associates and Groves Design Co. have come together to form Mauk Groves Branding and Design, located at 2655 86th St. in Urbandale, which has been the home of Groves Design and its companion company, Flying Hippo Web Creations.
“Our feeling is that we created something that is stronger than what [the two companies] were separately,” co-owner Eric Groves said.
When Groves Design, which specializes in branding, marketing and communications strategies, was being forced out of its downtown office to make way for the new Wells Fargo Financial Building in downtown, Kent Mauk called Groves simply to offer up some extra office space.
“We discussed our businesses, and ultimately realized that we had a lot in common and realized that there were a lot that the businesses could bring to one another,” said Mauk, now co-owner of the company.
Groves had been looking to expand his business and thought Mauk’s broad background in print and graphics would complement his company’s areas of specialization. Mauk was attracted to Flying Hippo’s expertise in Web site design, which he believed would be appealing to his clients.
“We mutually respect each other’s work,” Groves said. “I’ve always admired the work he’s produced and the same goes for him. We’ve been friends and business associates over the years. It made sense at one point to bring our businesses together.”
Mauk and Associates was founded as a two-person business in 1986 and has grown into a multidiscipline design firm, specializing in print media, marketing and branding. At the time of the merger, the company was in its third five-year contract with Iowa State University to produce promotional material and various print items.
Mauk said that, in addition to Iowa State, his company has done a great deal of work for many private-sector clients, including real estate developers and architects. The company publishes Iowa Architect magazine and has done publishing and design work for the Iowa chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Last fall, Mauk’s staff designed “A Century of Iowa Architecture,” which highlights the state’s top 50 architectural landmarks.
Mauk and Associates’ seven employees moved from their downtown offices Jan. 21, and the newly formed company, which now consists of about a dozen employees, sent notification of the merger to both firms’ clients on Wednesday.