Hey, Hey, We're the Monkis
Who We Are
Test Monki is an award-winning branding studio that specializes in strategy, brand development, marketing, design (print and digital), and all things creative.
Look into our soul
Get to know us better
As design thinkers, we use our powers (for good) to help your business, product, or people—sound, look, sell, and smell better. Yes—even smell better. With many of our clients, we’re not just a “vendor”, we’re an extension of their creative department. In some instances, we are the creative department. We’ve even been outsourced CMO’s for a few. Our passion is in the creation, nurturing, and refinement of authentic brand identity systems that fit your business, connect with your audience, and are worthy of engagement and sharing.
Test Monki builds visual identities with backbone.
We don’t do generic. We don’t do safe. We build strategic, bold, and unforgettable branding that actually work—because we’ve been doing this long before Canva, TikTok, or aesthetic trends tried to turn branding into a weekend hobby.
For over 16 years, we’ve helped business owners, specialists, and expert-led teams shape brands that mean something—brands that outlast trends, outsmart noise, and outsell their competitors.
You bring the guts. We’ll bring the clarity.
Our work starts with the truth: who you are, what you believe, and how you show up in the world. Then we turn that into a brand identity that people feel the second they land on your site or walk into your office.
We’re not trying to win design awards (even though we do).
We’re trying to win you recognition, authority, and longevity.
Speed Date Profile
Quick Glance
WE ARE
WE ARE NOT
WE ARE
- An award-winning branding studio.
- Radically honest.
- A woman-owned business.
- Motivated by finding creative solutions.
- Believe in strategy before design.
- Voice strategies that sound like you (not everyone else)
- Brand ecosystems that hold up under pressure
Takeaway
We create brand identity system—not for art’s sake, nor based on the latest trends—but as a way to solve strategic business challenges for our clients, delivering ideas that help our clients best position their businesses in the marketplace for the long haul.
Working for the man every night and day
How can we work together?
Potential clients ask all the time, “How can we work with Test Monki?”. Since there are so many ways to create a valuable working relationship, we never thought to try and answer that question on our website—until now. Below are several different ways we can successfully work together. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and start the conversation.
For small-to-medium businesses, we offer brand and naming packages. These can be customized for your needs and serve as a starting point for an amazing brand identity.
Sir Mix-A lot said it best. “We like big projects and we cannot lie…” We took some liberties with the lyrics, but you get the point—we only work on projects if they’re big. There is so much strategy that goes into every project we work on that doing a one-off, small postcard for a non-client isn’t worth our time or the money you’d invest.
We’re available to rent by the hour—but not like a cheap motel room. Our definition of a retainer involves hiring Test Monki to perform our services for a specified length of time (at least 6-month engagement), with a pre-determined set of monthly hours at a pre-determined cost, billed at the start of each month.
Here are a few benefits to a retainer with Test Monki:
No rush fees. If you need something within 24 hours, no hay problema and more importantly (for you), no rush fees!
Budget management. You know exactly how you’ll pay every monthly. Booking time in advance saves money, compared to budgeting projects one at a time.
Better brand consistency. Having the same people (especially brand experts) touching your brand touchpoints (in an appropriate way) month after month helps ensure a more consistent brand experience.
Discounted rates. The more you spend per month with us, the less our hourly rate will be.
More experts but less cost. We have a whole team of experts on staff that are at your disposal. How much would it cost to hire each of your own experts as employees?
More effective. Working with multiple companies, it can be difficult to maintain cohesion and fluidity. With retainer services, it’s much easier for everyone to stay on the same page and focus on the same end-goal. This type of model allows you to work with one agency, while effectively collaborating and controlling the process more efficiently by working closely with the people who are actually creating everything for you.
Priority access. You have priority access to yours’ truly and don’t need to worry about whether we’re already booked with another project when you need us.
More creativity. A longer-term relationship supports experimentation and optimization. You are not locked into working on just a certain project—you can spend your allocated monthly hours however you like—digital marketing, on-going strategy, social media management, graphic design projects, etc…
Yes, you read that right. Our Rent-A-Monki is available in a half-day or full-day session. During the session, you can pick our brain on anything. Really…anything! It’s your time to use as you see fit. But when time’s up, it’s up.
Many times, clients want an intensive, hands-on, interactive experience. We offer brand workshops, digital workshops, social workshops, naming workshops—I think you get the point. Test Monki will create exercises that the whole group will participate in. No boring slide decks here.
Our house or yours. BYOB. Bring your own brain! You can have your team come to our office (to boost morale) or we can come to yours for a one-hour lunch and learn where food is served, and minds are blown.
Yes, we’ve been flown out on corporate jets to give presentations at corporate events. #humblebrag But, it’s not “mandatory” that you use the corporate jet—we’re happy in First Class. Just kidding. If you’re buying, we’re flying, however you’ll have us. We can do keynotes, breakout sessions on brand and brand systems, or anything else we can conjure up together to create value for your organization.
Nom de Plume
What's the name about?
So many people ask us “how’d you come up with the name” that we thought the answer warranted a full explanation. The name did take 6 months of strategy and research. Here’s the short version on how the name, Test Monki, was conceived.
Whelp, one grueling day at working in the corporate world, one of the partners was getting pretty annoyed with work and let out a scream, “Argh. I feel like a test monkey sometimes!” The light bulb went off, the other partner loved it, and Test Monki was born.
And come on, who doesn’t love a monkey? 🐒
A brand is a living entity—and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures.”