Our Company Values
by Stink Studios
These are Stink Studios’ first-ever company values.
They’re words that embody everything that has made us great in the past, and everything we want to continue to be in the future.
Craft
We’re here to make things that are exceptional.
The world has enough noise. Everything we create is designed to be a counterpoint. We achieve that by making things that are beautiful, useful, entertaining, or human. Craft is the key to that promise. From our internal presentations to our finished work, it shows up in everything we touch. It’s why we call ourselves a studio, not an agency.
Digital Fluency
We all speak a second language.
From our early days as a company that only made digital experiences, our team has always been technically-savvy, fluent in Internet culture, and keenly aware of how various digital platforms and trends are evolving. These days, our creative output is more varied, but we still look for that digital-first sensibility in everyone we hire, and our clients look for it from us. Whether it manifests in the work, a deep understanding of the context in which that work will be consumed, or a mastery of the digital tools that bring it to life, an ability to speak that language will always be a key part of what makes us us.
Positivity
You are here for a glorious window of time.
You are here for a glorious window of time. It might be two years, it might be ten, so make it count. Work is only fun when teams are thriving and happy, so be great in a team. Be the person whose presence generates serotonin instead of stress. Tell others when they’re doing well. Leverage your power to support your peers. Remember that it’s free to say thank you. Share the good energy. Leave your ego at the door. Make that window of time as glorious as you can, for yourself and for everyone around you.
Honesty
Honesty is a gift and a practice.
A culture of individual excellence and personal growth has to be underpinned by honest feedback. Honesty requires us to embrace difficult conversations, to get comfortable with saying that something isn’t good enough (and being open to hearing it), to be vulnerable about our own shortcomings, and to listen to each other with humanity and empathy. Being honest isn’t always easy, but we all owe it to each other. After all, feedback you don’t give just becomes gossip.
Adaptability
Change isn’t just in the water. It is the water.
We started as a production company in the late 2000s, working for advertising agencies. Since then, we’ve evolved into a full service creative studio. Everything about us has evolved in the last decade — even our name. Over that time, we’ve seen trends come and go, we’ve seen the Internet mature, we’ve seen new behaviors emerge, and we’ve adjusted every step of the way. As our clients continue to change, so will we, because adaptability is built into our story and our DNA. Change is in our blood and it will always be to our advantage.
Humanity
Advertising is not the real world.
Advertising is not the real world. Brands are not people. Humans are not demographics. This is where our POV starts. We come to our work through the lens of real people with real lives who care about culture outside of our industry bubble, and it’s from here that we design communications to engage others. We believe that this attention should be earned, and we try to come by it as honestly as we can.
Equity
We helped build the system, we must deconstruct it.
Stink Studios should be a more equitable workplace that works towards a more equitable world, or Stink Studios should not exist. As a company that benefits from the immense privilege of the creative establishment, it’s our moral responsibility to understand that not everyone has the same opportunities or the same path to get here and to address it. That means designing systems and processes that meet individuals where they’re at. It means always being open to the possibility that we might have a blind spot. It means leaving the creative world better than we found it.
