Set the
direction.
Align business strategy, brand positioning and marketing priorities around what customers need and what the business wants to achieve.
Solution
Strategy, design, communications and growth for complicated businesses.
Messy
problem.
Ugly solution.
We help businesses untangle complicated problems. Bringing an outside perspective and hands-on experience across strategy, design, PR and marketing, we work with your team to find clarity and put it into practice.
01 / The problem
The work is rarely the problem.
The gaps are.
A brand that no longer fits. PR and marketing pulling in different directions. A digital experience that makes people work too hard. Plenty of activity, but too little progress.
Good people and good work can still get tangled in competing priorities, disconnected decisions, and systems that have grown complicated over time. We bring a fresh perspective, build on what’s working, and help untangle what’s getting in the way.
02 / One coordinated system
From a clear direction
to meaningful growth.
Set the
→
Connect
experience.
Bring the brand, digital products, websites and customer journey together so the experience delivers on the promise.
→
Earn
attention.
Build credibility through PR, stories and partnerships. Turn attention into demand through campaigns and paid acquisition, then deepen relationships through retention.
One strategy. Connected expertise. Shared priorities. Measurable progress.
03 / Selected work
A few problems
we’ve helped solve.
Different industries. Different circumstances. Each required us to build something new, connect a complex system or turn attention into growth.
01
Brand identity + digital products
Red Planet Hotels
Turning independently operated hotels into one scalable brand.
Justin created Red Planet’s branding, including its logo, and led its website experience and mobile UI/UX, product design and development—connecting the brand with how guests booked and stayed.
24 hotelsunified across four markets
Nearly 4Mguests served during the growth period
02
Communications + growth
Reserveage Nutrition
Helping turn an emerging wellness brand into a national growth story.
Diana worked across brand, communications, partnerships and consumer growth as Reserveage expanded rapidly through retail, media and QVC.
$70Mreported annual revenue
2×retailer sales during the growth period
03
UI/UX + mobile commerce
Target
Reinventing the shopping experience when mobile commerce was still new.
Justin handled UI/UX, product design and development for Target’s early mobile experience, connecting shopping, stores and commerce when retailers were still discovering what mobile could do.
Mobile Retailerof the Year
$67B+annual revenue during the period
04 / What we actually do
Whatever the
problem needs.
We start with the business problem, then bring together only the expertise needed to solve it. One strategy. One accountable lead.
Strategy & leadership
Define the problem, set priorities and lead the work from direction through delivery.
Brand strategy & identity
Positioning, logos and visual systems that give a business a distinctive, consistent identity.
PR & communications
Stories, media relations, partnerships and thought leadership that build credibility and attention.
Digital products & experience design
Strategy, UI/UX design and development for apps, websites and digital platforms—making them easier and more intuitive to use.
Marketing & growth
Search, paid acquisition, content, retention and measurement connected to business results.
Websites & commerce
Design and development that make it easier to understand, explore, book and buy.
Justin or Diana leads every engagement personally. When the problem needs additional expertise, we assemble the right specialists and remain accountable for the whole system.
05 / How engagements work
Close enough
to change things.
You work directly with Justin and Diana. We listen carefully, agree on priorities with you, and stay involved in the work. We bring experience and direction while respecting your team’s knowledge, capacity, and responsibilities.
Understand what’s happening
We listen to your team, look at the customer experience, and examine the results. Together, we identify what to preserve and where change would make the biggest difference.
Set the system
We align the brand, communications, customer journey, priorities and measures around one business objective.
Do the work
We lead and execute across the right mix of brand, PR, marketing, product design and development.
Learn and move
We show what happened, make the trade-offs visible and put effort behind what demonstrates value.
06 / Why Ugly Solution
Untangle the problem.
Find a clear way forward.
Businesses are messy. Ideas, people, priorities, and systems become intertwined—and when you’re close to the work, it can be difficult to see where to begin.
We bring an outside perspective, take time to understand how the pieces connect, and work alongside your team to untangle difficult problems. Then we help turn that clarity into practical action.
07 / Senior leadership
Founder & strategic lead
Justin
Lockwood
Justin connects business strategy, brand, marketing and customer experience, drawing on a career in brand identity, UI/UX and digital product design and development. He leads the work from direction through delivery, keeping it accountable to business growth.
His work includes UI/UX, product design and development for early mobile experiences at Alaska Airlines, CNN, TED and Target; launches for HBO, Visa and TOMS; and the branding, logo and digital experience for Red Planet Hotels. Across his career, his work has earned two Webby Awards.
LinkedIn ↗︎PR & communications lead
Diana
McCarley
Diana is a senior PR and communications leader with two decades of experience shaping reputation, building authority and turning complex ideas into stories that earn attention.
Her work spans brand and PR strategy, national television and media production, executive thought leadership, partnerships, major media relations and public-facing campaigns. Selected experience includes Whole Foods, Yves Béhar and fuseproject, Biokleen, PBS, QVC and Massachusetts Health Connector.
LinkedIn ↗︎Justin and Diana lead the work personally. When the problem requires additional depth, they bring in the right specialists and remain accountable for the whole system.
Have a complicated problem?
Let’s make it
usefully ugly.
Whether you need clearer positioning, stronger PR and marketing or a better digital experience, we start with the problem you need to solve.