An idea rarely comes into the world fully formed. That sentence describes quite well how we work at KreativSchmëdd. People rarely come to us with a completely developed solution. Sometimes it is a book, sometimes an idea for a brand, a printed product, a website, software or something that does not yet even have a fixed name. Often there is only an idea of what should exist in the end. That is why, for us, the work does not begin by turning it into a quotation as quickly as possible, but by understanding what it is actually about. What is already there, what is really needed, what makes sense, what is economically reasonable, and is there perhaps a better or simpler way than the one that first came to mind?

Openness is one of the most important principles for us. If something is expensive, we explain why it is expensive. If a cheaper solution has disadvantages, we do not hide them. If a large quantity lowers the price per item but at the same time creates an unnecessary financial risk, that is also part of our advice. And if someone does not need a particular service from us at all, then we do not want to sell it to them either. We have little regard for offers that look particularly cheap at first glance while the actual conditions only become visible later. For us, a good price is only a good price when it is clear beforehand what will actually be paid in the end, what is included and what consequences a decision may have.

This attitude applies to every area of KreativSchmëdd. To publishing just as much as to printing, to design just as much as to a website or a technical development. Not every project has to be thought of on a large scale from the outset. Sometimes a small first solution is more sensible because it leaves room to gain experience and develop further later. In other cases, it makes sense to plan on a larger scale right from the beginning. We do not want to make that decision for our customers, but to give them the facts they need to make the decision themselves. For us, that also means that a project remains with the person it belongs to. A book remains the work of its author, a brand remains the company’s brand, and a technical solution should not artificially tie a customer to us simply because we developed it. Of course, clear agreements, rights and responsibilities are necessary, but we do not want to create dependencies. People should continue working with us because the collaboration works, not because they have no other choice.

That is also why we do not work according to a fixed formula. Two customers may come to us with a very similar question and still receive two different solutions. One book may need a small print run, another a larger one. One company may need a completely new design, another only a clean revision of what is already there. Software does not need twenty functions if three solve the problem perfectly. For us, the aim is not to make a project artificially bigger, but to find out what is genuinely useful. Sometimes that also means disagreeing with an idea. If we believe that something will not work in the way it is planned, then we say so. Not to make an idea smaller, but because advice only has value when it is honest. And in the same way, we say when we do not know something or when someone else can do something better.

Perhaps that is exactly one of the reasons why publishing, printing, design and development do not function as separate worlds for us. Ideas rarely respect departments. A book suddenly leads to a website, a logo develops into an entire brand, a problem in a daily workflow becomes an idea for software, and a printed product may become a completely new concept. For us, that is not confusion, but development. We do not want to force projects into rigid categories, but to allow them to develop further wherever it makes sense. At the same time, our customers, authors and partners should always be able to understand why we recommend something, what it costs and what alternatives exist.

Of course we are a company, and of course we also have to earn money. But we believe there are different ways of earning it. We do not want to profit from someone making a poor decision because important information was missing. We want to earn money by doing good work and by having people want to work with us again afterwards. That is also why we do not promise anything that no serious person can promise. We cannot guarantee that every book will become a bestseller, every brand will be successful or every idea will work on the market. What we can promise is that we will take a project seriously, think about it, speak openly, calculate carefully and work together to find a solution that makes sense. And if something does not work, that is also part of being honest.

KreativSchmëdd should therefore be a place where an idea can become something without the person behind that idea losing control along the way. Not according to a formula, not because that is simply how things are done, but in the way that is right for that particular project.

An idea rarely comes into the world fully formed. And that is exactly why it should be given the freedom to develop.