On the other hand, when it comes to more old-fashioned things I find there’s a lot of benefit to spending a little more time researching, and even spending more money upfront to get a product that was made with pride and will last forever.

A couple examples come to mind. Allen Edmonds is part of a small minority of companies that manufactures their product domestically. They focus on hand-made, quality shoes and even have a program called “Recrafting” — where they will rebuild your worn shoes like new. Like the Open bike shop, they’d rather give up the quick, reductive salesman-customer relationship for the richer one of repairer-repairee.

Sites like Design*Sponge are dedicated to DIY, furniture restoration projects — helping people turn something like their grandmother’s old coffee table into something new and fresh.

It’s not unlike the different relationships an agency can have with a client in our field. You can make a quick buck with wham-bam, here’s your logo, website, and collateral approach, or foster a longer-lasting relationship of co-authoring and evolving a brand together.