IT'S ALL ABOUT AVENUE 12
Independent by design. Experienced by necessity.
Avenue 12 Design has been designing and building things since 1995.
We started on the graphic design side, working with identities, print, illustration and visual communication. As the Internet changed the way businesses worked, our work changed with it.
Websites led to HTML and CSS. Websites that needed to do more led to JavaScript, PHP, MySQL and database development. From there came e-commerce, custom applications, hosting and the technical work required to keep everything running.
More than thirty years later, Avenue 12 remains an independent studio combining design and technology under one roof.
NOT AN AGENCY
There isn't a large organization between you and the work.
Avenue 12 has deliberately remained independent. There is no large agency structure, multiple layers of account management or production department separating the client from the people actually doing the work.
That has always been important to us.
It means conversations can be direct. Decisions can be made quickly. Technical questions can be answered by someone who actually understands the code, and design decisions can be discussed with someone who understands what happens after the design leaves the screen.
Small is not a limitation here. It is part of how the business works.
DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT
We understand both sides of the screen.
Avenue 12 did not begin as a software company. It began with design.
The technology came because the work demanded it. A website needed to work. A business needed a database. An online store needed to handle orders. A client needed something that couldn't be solved with an off-the-shelf product.
Learning how those systems worked became a natural extension of the design work.
Today, that combination is one of the defining characteristics of Avenue 12. We can think about typography, layout, branding and communication, while also thinking about databases, programming, hosting, security, performance and maintenance.
The result is not design separated from technology. It is one project viewed from both sides.
EXPERIENCE
We've been through a few versions of the Web.
Avenue 12 began before the Web became a normal part of everyday business.
We've worked through the transition from print to digital, the early days of hand-built websites, slow Internet connections, browser wars, database driven websites, e-commerce, responsive design, mobile devices, social media and the constantly changing collection of technologies that now make up the modern Web.
Technology changes quickly. The fundamentals don't.
People still need to understand what they are looking at. Businesses still need to communicate clearly. Software still needs to solve a problem. And websites still need to work.
That long view is useful when deciding which new technologies actually belong in a project — and which ones don't.
HOW WE WORK
Start with the problem, not the technology.
We don't believe in building something simply because it is possible.
Before choosing a platform, framework, programming language or design direction, we want to understand what actually needs to be accomplished.
What already exists? What is missing? Who will use it? What does the business need it to do? What needs to happen behind the scenes?
Sometimes the answer is a new website. Sometimes it is a redesign. Sometimes it is a custom application, database, e-commerce system or brand identity. Sometimes the best solution is simply fixing what is already there.
The solution should fit the project — not the other way around.
DIRECT RELATIONSHIPS
We prefer working with people, not account numbers.
After more than thirty years in business, we've learned that good projects usually come from good communication.
We want to understand what the client is trying to accomplish, what constraints exist and what success actually looks like. That conversation is more useful than putting a project into a predefined package and checking boxes.
Some clients need a complete project from the ground up. Others already have a brand, website, developer or internal team and need help with a specific part of the puzzle.
We can work with either.
CANADA / COSTA RICA
One business. Two countries. Thirty years of change.
Avenue 12 began in Canada and eventually moved its operations to Costa Rica in 2005.
By then, the Web had already changed the meaning of location. A design and development studio no longer needed to be physically located beside every client it worked with.
Avenue 12 continued working with clients in Canada while building its business in Costa Rica and working with clients in other locations as well.
Today, Costa Rica is home base. The work remains international by nature.
THE LONG VERSION
1990 → 1995 → 2005 → today.
There is a longer story behind Avenue 12 — from graphic design before the Web, through the early Internet years, Toronto, the move to Costa Rica and more than three decades of changing technology.
We've put that history together separately rather than turning the About page into a timeline.
THE ARCHIVE
Thirty years produces a fairly large archive.
We've designed websites, identities, packaging, publications, advertisements, illustrations, e-commerce systems, database applications and plenty of things that don't fit neatly into a category.
Some of that work is still online. Some of the companies no longer exist. Some projects have been redesigned several times since we worked on them.
We're not interested in filling this website with hundreds of screenshots just to make a portfolio look impressive.
Every once in a while, we'll pull something interesting from the archives instead.
Not a portfolio. An archive.
HAVE A PROJECT?
Let's talk about it.
Tell us what you're working on, what you need accomplished and what you're prepared to invest. The more information you provide, the better we can determine whether Avenue 12 is the right fit.