When Brad Cox launched his eponymous, San Jose-based architecture firm 11 years ago, he did so with a website built on one of the widely available DIY web platforms.
“It was literally just me working out of the house,” he says.
Now Cox has 11 employees juggling an array of design projects, from residential interiors to gorgeous community libraries all over California, and has struggled at times to keep up with all of that growth, coupled with managing the day-to-day nuts and bolts of the firm itself.
In an effort to reduce the growing pains and set the firm up for long-term success, he’s leaned heavily on Heath Owen, whose own eponymous web design consulting firm is familiar to a number of Mill Valley business owners who’ve said things like, “I can’t tell you how many hours of sleep Heath saved for me.”
In an intriguing twist, while Owen is propelling many of his clients forward, he’s making his own quantum leap for himself. Owen has graduated from his successful web and small business consulting firm to launch RGB Design Lab, a firm that marries his multifaceted web design work with a burgeoning talent as an aerial photographer and drone videographer.
“He was really fun and skilled and a lot of times we’d be on site with my clients and he’d do some drone footage and he was just really great with those clients – engaging and creative,” Cox says. “And he was able to let people be at ease in that setting. We’re really happy with the work that Heath has done for us,” Cox says.
“I felt like I was hitting my ceiling with Heath Owen Design and was ready to take on bigger projects,” says Owen, the former operations manager at Makers Market at the Mill Valley Lumber Yard. “I knew that I’d get to that point, I just didn’t know it would be so early. This feels like the next evolutionary step.”
“I realized that I needed to create a larger brand that was outside of myself,” Owen continues. “I really believe I can take RGB to some really cool places by marrying all of these services – web design, SEO, content creation, aerial photography and more. It’s really what a lot of my clients are looking for, and they’re seeking a trusted partner in their journey, regardless of the size of the business.”
Owen has long hung his hat on his ability to create beautiful websites that are more than eye candy, as they drive business by nailing details like being certain that you are creating a sustainable site that is efficient and fits within your business operations.
RGB Design Lab is named for the digital color spectrum, and that choice is not just a motif. “Those three colors make up anything you see on a screen essentially, and we value sustainability to the point that we are not in the market creating something that will inevitably end up in a landfill,” he says.
“Tech is moving really fast right now and the next evolution of the internet is coming fast and we’re going to be able to compete in that sphere,” he says, noting partnerships with both augmented reality and virtual reality technologies. “My target clients are small- to medium-sized businesses that have a digital presence and are ready to find a partner and an agency they can trust and that they can build a relationship with,” he says. “We want to work with people who are looking for a partnership and seeking to build longstanding relationships.”
“We’ve gotten to experience Heath’s creativity and strategic instincts firsthand with the revamp of our popular Enjoy Mill Valley website,” says Mill Valley Chamber Executive Director Jim Welte. “With Heath’s guidance, our metrics have skyrocketed and our Chamber Members are seeing significantly more exposure as a result.”