CHARIZMA Branding Studio

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work with a number of communications agencies to help them with their marketing and business. I also provide creative content for client campaigns.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

I needed ongoing design support across multiple projects to help produce a range of marketing and campaign materials.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted high quality, corporate materials produced, oftentimes, on a tight deadline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

He designs marketing and campaign materials for both print and digital mediums.

What is the team dynamic?

I work directly with Dawid.

How did you come to work with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

I’ve worked with Dawid for several years on a number of projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio consistently produces high-quality materials, for a range of brands and situations, to very tight campaign deadlines.

How did CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We work great together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CHARIZMA uses an extremely flexible, outcome-focused approach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

HayatMart is an e-commerce marketplace specializing in homewares. At the end of the project, I decided to shift it from decorations to color schemes for adults and children. It’s a platform where multiple sellers in Saudi Arabia can sell to the entire Middle East.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

I needed help with rebranding, naming, and design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I didn’t know what to name the company, so I explained my ideas to them. I had many ideas in my head, but they weren’t organized. Dawid (Creative Designer, CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio) gave me a five- or six-page questionnaire. The questions helped me think about my ideas, my goals, my mission statement, my vision for the future, and how people would describe my brand in one or two words.

The more questions I answered, the more attached I became to my brand. Doing it three times helped me. I did it at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end, then gave it back to Dawid. He was originally going to provide only two or three names, but he gave me seven or eight. He described the names and explained why he selected them, showing me why I should choose one over the other.

Once we chose the name, he gave me several logo options. The logo was very practical. Having something red was important to me. I wanted my logo to be very simple so that people who saw it once could remember it. He gave me three options, and I selected one. I still remember all three seven or eight months later. It was simple and smooth.

Then he started the branding. He didn’t tell me what to do; he listened to me and told me what not to do. For the first time, I loved the website design. It was just a small refinement. He created the identity, the front page of the website, the logo, the color coding, the business cards, the letters, and a PowerPoint presentation for potential clients. The presentation allowed me to have my own identity.

What is the team composition?

I work with Dawid.

How did you come to work with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

I started searching in Upwork and couldn’t find anything. I needed someone who cared. After a Google search, I contacted about 10 companies and found CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio. Their work was clear and the colors were rich. I contacted them, and we started working together.

Clutch helped me find companies in India. I was originally targeting India because of their cheaper prices, and Clutch gave me good profiles.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested €2,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2017 until February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

My brother has a startup business. When he saw the work, it inspired him to start his own. They were perfect. I'll work with them my whole life if they continue to offer the same quality.

I asked two companies for feedback about the name, the logo, and the colors. A lot of companies aren’t good with color, especially red. They see all reds as one red. Dawid, however, was great at finding the tone I wanted. No one commented negatively on the color. My friends complimented my choice and said I was lucky to find him.

Some designers work the way they think is good, but don’t listen to the client. They always need a marketer with them. I liked that had a sense of customer care. They listened to me when I talked, explained how I could improve my ideas, let me choose which I liked better. I hate when people don’t listen, but I didn’t have that problem with them.

How did CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was great, the communication was good, and everything was delivered on time. We used email and Skype. When he said he would submit something, he did. He followed up with me when I was busy. When I started working on my design, I saw that others take a long time, even with pricing. I was lucky that Dawid completed the work so quickly. I compare everyone with him.

He was flexible during price negotiations. He asked me what my budget was and told me what he could do with my budget. Other companies ask about your budget, then give you a price 10 times your budget. It’s a waste of time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

He could explain his quote more. In the beginning, I had to ask a friend what some things meant. He worked with me like I was a business professional, but a lot of startups don’t have that maturity and knowledge. They want a real partner. My knowledge has improved since then. However, it would be good if he explained the necessities to startups who didn’t have that knowledge yet.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer at Kodilla, which started as the first online programming instruction platform in Poland in May 2016. Today, nearly 1300 people have become Kodilla alumni. Our training courses are highly effective and run by professional mentors. We care about the quality of our educational materials and maintain a low entry threshold to help people love coding from start.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

We want to help students start their tech career painlessly. We needed to simplify our website, make a few changes to our logotype, and standardize our marketing materials (e.g. ads, e-mails, landing pages). Since we are a coding school, we also wanted our website to look good. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio updated our logo, main page, and landing pages. He also designed ads, an icon set, and an overall framework for our developers to apply in future expansions.

What was the team composition?

Their owner is a freelancer, so we didn’t work with a team.

How did you come to work with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

We analyzed the portfolios of about five companies, interviewed two with experience in similar projects, and then choose them because of his stronger communication skills. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement

We’re pleased with the whole website, which allows us to prioritize supporting our students. Over 75% of them have found IT jobs within three months of completing the course.

How did CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an outstanding job.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The estimated delivery time was precise and they kept to our deadlines.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They have a lot of clients to juggle, so the process did take longer than I anticipated. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-founder and board member of Test Army Group. We test software. We have around 60 people on our team in Poland and are quite a fast-growing company in the IT industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

We started out as a local company with only a Polish website. As we grew, we wanted to increase our presence as a company in the international market by designing a new website from scratch. We wanted a more international look. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

The project itself took two months. We started with a new logo, designed from scratch. We then looked at various design proposals and agreed on one. We branded the new website based off of the logo, including copywriting ideas we wanted, as well as what kind of emotions we wanted to be connected with our brand. It was a detailed preparation of the way we wanted to be presented as a company, both professionally, as well as a company that is not only concentrated on corporate customers but also working with start-ups. 

Following that, we focused on the website's design, which was also based on the logo that CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio created. Our collaboration was more on UX and branding; coding was done internally. We also worked on our corporate presentation, creating materials for conferences, eBooks, and case studies for our internal and external purposes, we collaborate with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio.

This was the second project we did together. I am the founder of Test Army, but also the founder of another business where we do corporate investments in company evaluations, and our new website for that was also prepared by their owner, as well as for a company that I am a stakeholder in.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked with Dawid (Owner, CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio) for this particular project.

How did you come to work with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

Dawid and I have known each other since childhood. We decided to collaborate on a project when he started his business. Following the initial project, we moved onto more complex projects.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2016, and the project was finished in February 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We are very satisfied with the work. We have received positive feedback from the branding image from customers as well as people we work with.

How did CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through emails and in weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Branding is an art, it not only needs to be good and professional, but it also needs to be a little unusual with soul. This is important to us, and why I like collaborating with them. We are using them on other projects because they understand how to present more than just a nice logo, website and material; they understand marketing on a deeper level.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I hope that when they grow as a business, they will offer the same level of service as they do now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At Alpha Capital, we help companies on M&A (merger and acquisition) activities. We do corporate finance business, and we also provide valuations of companies. I’m a partner in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

We tried to design our website so clients can get the information they are looking for. Our main goal was to convert visitors into leads. We wanted the design to look professional. We know clients are looking for direct contact with us. We have to give the impression that we are a professional provider of all of our services. Our site does not have much content, so we have to make a good first impression.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We agreed they would provide everything for the new site. We had an old site from 2012, but we asked them not to look at the old site. We wanted our logo to stay the same. We wanted them to create a new site from scratch. They provided the UX design, mockups, and the graphics we needed. They also cooperated with the programmers. They took full responsibility for the site. They helped with the website and branding for the logo.

What is the team dynamic?

I was given instructions and wasn’t aware of who was working on the project.

How did you come to work with CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

I got their number from a friend of mine who introduced me to Dawid. He was very communicative and we gave them a try.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $2,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October or November 2016. The site is complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The site looks very nice, modern, and professional. When clients saw the site, they asked who designed it. We’ve received very good feedback about the site. The traffic is higher because we invested in the site.

How did CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We are very happy with how they managed the project. They took the responsibility of getting programmers from other companies. They were professional, and once they promised something, they delivered. That’s the most important aspect for us.

We had a meeting, in the beginning, to describe what we wanted. Then we communicated through email and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They produce very good quality work, and they delivered on time, which is also very important.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We are very happy with their work and have used them for other projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We have been recruiting for 5 years I am the COO at a recruitment agency headquartered in Wrocław. Our company has 5 employees. We have been recruiting for 5 years

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CHARIZMA Branding & Design Studio?

We have created a new brand of our company. We have created a new website, company visualizations, business cards and other promotional materials

What were your goals for this project?

Style fit for the company and developers. Modern look of the newly created brand of our company

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We received references from a friend, checked other offers available on the market, and compared the terms and costs.

Describe the project in detail.

STAGE I: This stage included the preparation of three proposals of mood boards and "graphic styles,” which are to bring closer suggested graphic direction for the client. The examples will contain inspirations for color, typographic, systems of elements, and shapes.

STAGE II: Here, we focused on brand design visual identification. This stage included two concepts of visual identity, each containing a logo design and a set of basic identification materials (letterhead, business cards, folder, cover brochures). We also focused on visual permanent designs, including color palettes, typography, layout constructions, key visual, suggested style of icons, illustrations and photos. We also had two rounds of corrections to the selected option; final file in vector format; a file in a printable format (CMYK); format file for use on screens (RGB); materials of visual identification, including business cards, letterhead, folder, Facebook, LinkedIn; the ability to customize design elements.

 STAGE III: The last stage concerned our website and landing page graphic design project, which included home page design (based on the content provided by the client); selection of appropriate photos, icons, and illustrations; selection of fonts, selection of colors, coherence of page elements, such as first and second degree headers, paragraphs, links and buttons; concept of the homepage presented in the desktop and mobile version (RWD); two rounds of corrections;  PSD source files; PNG preview files; recommendations regarding transitions and animations on the website.

What was the team composition?

I had contact directly with the manager of the company, along with two graphic designers, a UX resource, and an animation specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We acquired a few new clients, and each one got feedback about the fact that our visual identification is professional.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very good. We regularly met to verify the progress of work. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I am impressed by their creativity and ingenuity. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think that the cooperation was very good, and I have no objections.