Ten years of staying small, thinking big, and doing things differently.

Ten years ago, we started REGULAR ANIMAL with a handful of ideas and the belief that creativity should be sharp, strategic, and culture-aware. No templates. No noise. Just the right thoughts, the right words, and the right actions.

We didn’t grow fast. We didn’t try to.

We grew deliberately—client by client, question by question, until the right kind of reputation took shape.

This year, as we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we’re sharing 10 ideas that shaped us. They’re not lessons or slogans. They’re principles—earned slowly, in conversation with brands navigating change, expansion, reinvention, or uncertainty.

They’re what we believe now, after a decade of doing the work.

1. Clarity beats cleverness
   If you have to ask what it means, it doesn’t.
   Say less. Mean more.

We’ve seen it too many times—brands falling in love with clever phrasing or layered metaphors, hoping wit will carry the message. But clever doesn’t stick. Clarity does. The best creative work isn’t always the most complex—it’s the most precise. If people need a footnote to get it, it’s not working. Say less. Mean more.

2. Strategy is the sharpest creative tool
   The magic’s not in the moodboard.
   It’s in the thinking behind it.

The work only works if the thinking is sound. Strategy isn’t a separate step—it’s the structure that lets creativity land. We’ve never believed in beautiful-for-beautiful’s-sake. We want beautiful because it’s right. The sharpest creative decisions come from a brief that cuts deep.

3. Creativity takes resilience
   Nothing brave ever came out of a template.
   Endurance is a creative act.

Creativity isn’t a spark—it’s a rhythm. The work that moves people isn’t rushed, and it definitely isn’t recycled. It takes resilience to propose something original, and even more to stand by it. Real creative work isn’t about novelty. It’s about staying with the idea long enough to make it count.

4. Consistency builds charisma
   Loud fades. Familiar endures.
   A real brand whispers the same truth—every time.

Great brands don’t chase attention. They build recognition—through tone, rhythm, and restraint. Consistency isn’t repetition. It’s presence. When people know what to expect from you, they start to trust you. That’s charisma, the long way.

5. Small agencies make big moves
   We don’t scale. We shape.
   Boutique is an advantage when precision matters.

Being small isn’t a limitation—it’s a lens. When you’re not chasing scale, you can focus. You can listen better, think sharper, and deliver work that doesn’t feel like it came off a conveyor belt. Big agencies have headcount. We have perspective.

6. Taste is strategy
   Not everything needs to be for everyone.
   Choose who you’re for.

Taste isn’t surface. It’s a signal. It tells people what you care about—what you include and what you leave out. Strong brands don’t aim for mass appeal. They aim for recognition. Taste is how you decide who you’re talking to, and how you make sure they know it’s for them.

7. Design buys you time
   You’ve got 3 seconds.
   Good design earns you 30.
   Brilliant design? A conversation.

People decide fast. So your design has to do more than look good—it has to hold them. Great design creates pause. It signals care. It earns attention in a world that scrolls right past. And sometimes, it says what words can’t.

8. Brand shapes behavior
   What you post, how you answer, where you show up.
   That’s your brand—when nobody’s looking.

Logos are easy. Tone of voice is teachable. But real branding happens in the details—when there’s no campaign, no camera, no script. How you reply to an email. What you do when things don’t go as planned. That’s what people remember. That’s the brand.

9. Growth doesn’t have to shout
   Sometimes the most powerful shift is quiet, steady, and unmistakable.
   Grow by staying true.

There’s this idea that growth has to look like an explosion. But some of the best work happens in the quieter chapters—when you double down, refine, listen more than you broadcast. We didn’t scale fast. We grew sharp. And we believe that’s how you build something that lasts.

10. To build across cultures, listen before you speak
    Cross-cultural brands don’t translate.
    They adapt.
    They thrive in new places—without losing their accent.

We’ve worked with brands expanding across continents. The mistake they often make? Believing their message should stay identical everywhere. But cross-cultural brands don’t just translate—they tune in. They flex without flattening. They learn the rhythm of a new place, then speak with their own voice.

We’ve been lucky to grow alongside visionary clients—those who knew what they stood for, or were brave enough to find out. Like L35 Architects, who said it best:

“They don’t do branding from templates, or content that sounds like content. They ask uncomfortable questions, think like outsiders, and come back with ideas that pull you out of autopilot.”

Or NTT DATA, where we’ve partnered with teams across the U.S. and Latin America to help shape not just campaigns, but internal culture:

“REGULAR ANIMAL didn’t just bring a creative proposal. They invited us to see what we do through different eyes—and opened a new way of understanding how we communicate. We want to build a culture that doesn’t just look to the future, but inspires it.”

That’s the kind of ambition we’re here for.

Not louder brands—clearer ones. Not faster growth—right-sized growth.
Ideas that last because they’re rooted in who you really are.

If you’ve been part of this first chapter—thank you.

And if you’re building something bold, strategic, or cross-cultural, we’d love to talk.

Here’s to the next 10.

Filled with RIGHT THOUGHTS, RIGHT WORDS, RIGHT ACTIONS™