How Clique Studios built a go-to digital studio by focusing on creativity

Clique has built a two-decade legacy of human-centered digital experiences.

In 1996, a local newspaper article about the internet featured 10-year-old Derek Nelson, who had already fallen in love with the medium. About a decade later, Nelson would co-found Clique Studios , a web design and development studio, with Ted Novak, a former enterprise consultant who described himself as a “creative guy stuck in the business world.” Novak was building websites for local rock bands and small businesses as a side hustle, eventually realizing he could create a business out of doing what he loved. Novak and Nelson met for the first time over a conference call where Nelson, then a 19-year-old, spoke with a demeanor that made Novak think he was “talking to a 40-year-old man.” Nelson, in turn, was immediately drawn to Novak’s vibrant personality, which “brought a sense of forward thrust and energy to everything.” An “insatiable desire to create” united them. “We basically couldn’t stop making things,” Nelson said. “And then we started making them for other people.” Clique Studios has spent the past two decades honing the three values that define the firm today — build something, make somebody’s job easier, and be a student and a teacher — a philosophy that has landed them over 500 launches and over 100 awards. Clique’s commitment to uncovering and representing organizational identity has led them to work with Chicago stalwarts like Tootsie Roll, Chicago History Museum, and Music Box Theatre, universities like Northwestern and Loyola, leaders in technology like Chime, and meaningful causes like Beat the Streets Chicago and the Children’s Organ Transplant Association. They deliver these experiences by leveraging platforms like Webflow, Contentful, Wordpress, and other enterprise systems. It’s also translated into results for their clients. While working with the Chicago History Museum, Clique’s work resulted in a 29% increase in returning visitors for the museum, 7% increase in mobile users, and a 103% increase in traffic on their primary revenue-generating

By Alex Chen at TechNexus Venture Collaborative