Varga Girl Design

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a Luminate Communications, a communications agency that specializes in writing the impactful content that non-profit organizations need to raise more money.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Varga Girl Design?

Many of our clients request design services to complete the projects that we write. I hired Varga Girl Design to design a non-profit annual report.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I've worked with Varga Girl Design in in the past, but in reverse, where they have hired us to provide copywriting services for websites that they designs. I've always been very impressed with their work so hiring them when my clients needed design work was an easy decision.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We provided Varga Girl Design with a complete design brief that outlined the specs, but also the feelings we wanted the report to capture. And we provided them with the final copy to read through in order to fully understand the organization's mission. She came back with four cover concepts, all of which were gorgeous and truly elevated my client's brand.

From there, the client chose one of the designs and Rachel completed the remaining pages of the report. She was open to all edit suggestions and was very quick to send a revised proof every time an edit was requested. The final product was bright and airy -- the perfect feeling we wanted to capture.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with just Rachel at Varga Girl Design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our client was thrilled with the final results, stating the report was 'airy and modern'. It will go a long way in helping them attract donors in the coming year.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Varga Girl Design was easy to work with and always responsive to my questions or requests.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The process was smooth and seamless. Rachel has a good eye for design and you can tell she has been doing graphic design for a very long time. She showed great skills and truly elevated my client's annual report well beyond their expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No. There was no negative feedback. Everything was accomplished exactly as requested.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the sole owner and founder of a growth marketing and consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varga Girl Design?

I needed a straightforward website that could promote my brand image and message to my clientele.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We kicked off our engagement with a discovery phase, wherein I laid out my objectives and design preferences to Varga Girl Design’s team. Rachel (Founder) decided on building the platform via Squarespace to fit my requirements, and she also helped me secure a domain name. 

There were available templates to work around with on Squarespace, and Varga Girl Design altered those according to my needs and brand guidelines. Rachel then designed my website from the ground up and made its backend customizable, so I could apply changes on my own.

What is the team composition?

I worked closely with Rachel throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Varga Girl Design?

Varga Girl Design was strongly recommended to me by an acquaintance. I looked up their previous work and found that they had the skill set needed to meet my needs, even though they hadn’t worked with a client in the same industry as mine before.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from June–August 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I received more organic leads upon launching my website, but what mattered more to me was how Varga Girl Design successfully promoted my online presence through their design efforts. Prior to our engagement, I only relied on referrals to keep my business afloat, but their team optimized my brand by giving me a digital platform that mirrored my marketing vision.

Additionally, Rachel did a great job in incorporating my branding and personality into the platform — even my colleagues and friends in the marketing space noticed how my identity shone through the website. Overall, I could tell through the main deliverable that Varga Girl Design took their time to understand my needs.

How did Varga Girl Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via Slack, Zoom, and email. Varga Girl Design was a responsive and patient partner to work with — we had a seamless workflow because they accommodated my needs and gave me enough time to go over their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Varga Girl Design achieved the perfect balance between lively and sophisticated design work — this spoke volumes about their craft and ability to deliver their client’s exact needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly thought they did a wonderful job — I didn’t encounter any areas that needed improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear in communicating your goals, and they’ll take it from there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of In Creative Company, a collaborative agency that works with purpose-driven businesses. We provide creative services such as graphic design, illustrations, and web design. Our team offers plenty of services, but we always work with companies that have a purpose-driven mission. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varga Girl Design?

We worked with Varga Girl and Rachel (Owner) on a graphic design project. We had a multifaceted project that needed branding, copywriting, and social media management services. Rachel provided the graphic design element of that project. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Varga Girl created brand guidelines for a collection of social media posts. They created templates that included hex codes, typography, and other elements that were unique and specific for the target brand. 

What is the team composition?

 We mainly worked with Rachel, who was the sole provider of the graphic design element of the project. 

How did you come to work with Varga Girl Design?

I met Rachel through our business network. She joined our creative community, where we got to know her. Since I knew her graphic design style, I knew that she’d be the right fit for this project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $900. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started and finished this project in August 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was organized and the deliverables were given on the correct timeline. Varga Girl did all tasks on time, and everything was approved and finalized quickly. There were minimal revisions — the overall process was smooth and seamless. 

How did Varga Girl Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Rachel met all expectations, and the engagement was easy and seamless. As a result, this project was fun, and we experienced no hang-ups while working with Varga Girl.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Rachel had a good eye for design, and we could tell that she’d been a professional graphic designer for a while. As a result, her skill level was high, and she followed directions well. These were the boxes that we needed to check to say that it was a successful project, and she did all of them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there wasn't any negative feedback. Everything was accomplished well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Rachel has a lot of clients and projects, so contact her as soon as possible so she can schedule you right away in her calendar. Once you’re a client, she’ll make you a priority to get the work done. However, remember that like all other designers, she has limited availability; she doesn’t work 24/7, and she shouldn’t. Given that, make sure to contact her in a swift manner to ensure she has time for your project. 

As a graphic designer with her skill level, she’s definitely worth the money you’ll spend. In addition, remember that she’s not the type of graphic designer that wants to work on rushed projects. With that in mind, give her a reasonable amount of time and a fair budget. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and VP of sales and marketing for a company that is just being built. Our goal is to sell living spaces, but we will start by selling modular motorcycle garages. We will make our designs in France, but we will produce and assemble them in Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varga Girl Design?

Varga Girl Design helped me with the logo and tagline of my company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Varga Girl Design designed our logo and provided us ideas for our tagline to chose from, which was awesome. The process was very simple. Two days after we engaged, I was talking to them, explaining our mission and what we were looking for.

The first phase was done within two weeks, during which Varga Girl Design provided us with the first drafts of logos and taglines. We discussed their input, and I eliminated some options, kept others, and gave my feedback.

Rachel (Owner) did another batch of logos, and we fine-tuned the idea. On the third iteration, we decided on a logo. The whole process took about a month.

What is the team composition?

I just worked with Rachel.

How did you come to work with Varga Girl Design?

I found Varga Girl Design through an article about Rachel published by the CEO of another digital agency, so I wanted to work with her. I also saw that Clutch had awarded them, which was something that I took into consideration.

I looked at Varga Girl Design’s work on their website, and I liked what they did, so I reached out to them. Within 24 hours, I had an appointment booked with Rachel. It was a very fast and easy process.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–June 2021. I have other projects, so I’ll be working with Rachel again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback on our logo and tagline is very good — my partners and I love it. Everybody is happy with the logo because it’s original and creative, and it reflects our values. It is what we really wanted. However, I don’t have any statistics showing their impact because my website is not active yet.

How did Varga Girl Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Rachel was very organized, and the digital tools that she used were very helpful, easy to use, and straightforward. We had a seamless experience, which we really liked.

Varga Girl Design was always on time, and if Rachel wasn’t satisfied with her job, she didn’t present it to us. Additionally, she’s very good and fun to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Varga Girl Design’s human interaction was impressive. The relationship that we built with Rachel was amazing, and she even introduced me to potential customers. She knew what entrepreneurship meant, and she remembered what she went through.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend Varga Girl Design greatly. Be open to the creative process and take it on the fun side. Let Rachel guide your imagination — it’s going to be amazing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of five dental practices in Toronto, Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Varga Girl Design, and what were your goals?

We have gone through several iterations for our website over the years. We have hired big time firms and have spent thousands of dollars in the development of our websites, and each time our results were much less than we had anticipated.

A few years back, I got in touch with Varga Girl Design and Rachel. My life has truly changed after this meeting. I no longer have to worry about the little details of web design, because I know I have hired a true professional. I am not worried about being over charged for the initial product, because i know I am dealing with an honest company, and also not worried about being overcharged with every little edit.

We set out to make our website to be quick, user friendly for patients, but also user friendly for our team. We wanted to add features/ forms to allow patients to book appointments, incorporate a chat feature and google review links. Varga girl designs did this for all our website in such a cohesive manner. I really couldn't be happier.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Our first introduction to Varga Girl design was through Pointman advertising. We had hired Pointman advertising for some advertisement work for our office. Patrick at the time was brutally honest with us and told us that our website was not up to snuff. This was after we had spent over 20,000 dollars on an upgrade of all our sites. The site was slow and every little change we had to make on our site took days and cost us more money.

Patrick made the introduction to Varga girl design, and the rest we can say is history... We met at our office, she had researched our company so had already been familiar of the limitations of our website, asked a few pointed questions, and then presented us with some solutions.

She was just so honest and upfront with us with what needed to be done, and what the costs were, why the changes needed to take place. She even gave us names of other web developers who would edit our current sites instead of a compelte overhaul. Our websites were on WordPress platform at the time and one of the options was to continue to use WordPress, or switch to Sqaurespace. We reviewed quotes and honestly it wasn't a difficult decision to go with Varga Girl designs and put our trust into the hands of Rachel.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our websites in WordPress would continually breakdown. We had issues with implementing changes to it. We tried adding features and this would lead to errors or complete shut down of the site. We had a "book an appointment" feature that was quite rudimentary at the time, and it simply would cause issues and would not work. We also had a clinic selector at the top of the website, that would frequently stop working and cause the website to malfunction. We make about 20% of our appointments online, and having the website down for a couple of days to a week was costing us money.

Varga Girl design suggested a solution that saved us money, and in the long run made it easier to make edits to the website. She introduced us to Squarespace and the functionality of it. If you look at our sites now they have a chat feature, a make an appointment feature, and active blog, and meet the doctors page among other pages, and it all runs smoothly, quickly and there has not been up to this point, even a second where the website was not responding properly.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

My only point of contact was Rachel Ott at Varga Girl Designs. If I had a question or a request regarding the site, I e-mailed Rachel and in about 1-2 minutes (and I am not exaggerating at the response time), I would get an e-mail back with an updated site with corrections. I have never had customer service like this. It is so refreshing dealing with someone who is so in tune with her clients and offers such excellent service.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our make the appointment page is seeing over 200% increase in patients following through with appointments. In less than 2 weeks I think the project paid for itself. We would have so many issues with making appointments on line, and now with the integration and adding the links and have them all functioning properly has provided us with so much relief. I no longer have to do spot checks of the website, and I no longer get messages from staff saying the website is off line. We also have a chat feature added, that has made it easier for customers to reach us during office hours.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Rachel will update us at least once a week with updates, she would ask us questions, and make sure we were on time with what information we had to give her. She presented the project a few weeks ahead of schedule. She asked us if all looked good and then preformed any edits in a very timely manner. She finished the project ahead of schedule.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Professionalism, honesty, integrity are the first three words that come to mind with Varga Girl Design and Rachel. I have been a small business owner for over 20 years, and Varga Girl Design is one of the few companies that have gone above and beyond to produce an excellent product, in a timely manner with NO cost over runs. At this point I would never chose another company to touch my websites again!

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Don't tell her this but Rachel simply doesn't charge enough for what she does. I had quotes of over 3 times the price for the same work. My results are about 10 times better than even what I had anticipated. I would not ask her to change anything...

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a board member of a justice foundation for music and dance therapy. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varga Girl Design?

We relied on them for all things design, graphics, and website development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were responsible for our logo, website, social media posts, and collateral for special fundraising events. Starting with the logo, we found that they needed to have just as much diplomatic acumen as creative abilities because everyone on our side had an opinion on the direction for our design work. They helped us with research on what graphics would work best to represent and educate people about our organization. The goal was for them to create something that effectively balanced professionalism and humility. 

The final site they designed and developed raised awareness about the charity as well as upcoming events, media releases, achievements, and information on the board of directors.

The charity has since disbanded, but their graphics were used for about 10 years on our website, social media postings, and email communication. In addition to the design of the website, they helped us register the site name, provided hosting, manage SEO, and do periodic site updates. They later taught us how to make our own updates to the site as well. 

After the charity disbanded, I continued to use their services for two of my own websites.   

What is the team composition?

There were 1–3 people working on the project at any given time. We had one main point of contact, though.

How did you come to work with Varga Girl Design?

They’re very socially engaged and care about their community. At the time, they already knew our organization’s story and volunteered their work at a discounted rate. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent under $50,000 on the project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from around 2001–2011. Our relationship with them only ended after the charity disbanded.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

During one of our fundraisers, we asked attendees how they heard about the event. Some people said word of mouth, but most people heard about it through social media. They had seen the creative designs they made and shared on social media.  

How did Varga Girl Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They were perfect, clearly communicating milestones and a road map of how to get there. When deadlines were coming up, they chased us to keep everything on track. We tracked their progress using a project plan and calendar they created to manage deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand the personal and creative sides of our business. That’s a rare mix. They were very creative but understood the business perspective as well. We were very impressed with their communication and integrity. I always felt like I was being charged fairly. They’re good people. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. If we ran into any issues, we worked it out. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what success looks like for your business. If you can communicate that, they can help you reach your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I recently started my own business teaching music lessons online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varga Girl Design?

I needed a way to grow my business and recruit more students.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Varga Girl Design designed my Squarespace website and created my entire branding scheme, which included the visual design for not only my website but also my social media presence. Rachel (Owner) created all of the graphics featured on my website. As I started a YouTube channel, she also provided several folders with graphics for it, including templates for thumbnails. She also created a banner image for my Facebook page.

Rachel has helped in a number of ways beyond web design and branding. She gave me the idea to start a Google Ad campaign and coached me on how to build my business.

What is the team composition?

I only work with Rachel.

How did you come to work with Varga Girl Design?

Rachel was one of my students. That made her a great fit for the project because she could approach it from the view of a potential client.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent at least $5,000 on Varga Girl Design’s services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Varga Girl Design started designing the website in June 2020, and our partnership’s ongoing because I’m adding more pieces to the platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the last month, I gained three new students. I recently started a Google Ads campaign, which contributed to that gain. However, it was important that I had a solid website before I started the ad campaign. After people visited the site, people were interested enough to contact me.

How did Varga Girl Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through email. During the design process, Rachel sent materials to me for review. She was flexible, producing a couple of different revisions of the initial designs. Once she understood my aesthetic, I didn’t send many revisions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Varga Girl Design is willing to provide advice about things beyond the normal scope of their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I honestly don’t have any complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important that you have a solid idea for the aesthetic you want to create.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I own a private consulting practice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varga Girl Design?

I hired them to update my practice's Squarespace website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Varga Girl Design designed my website in conjunction with my input. Rachel (Owner) created the logo, design, and layout. I mostly uploaded the text but Rachel also helped me create a couple of pieces.

What is the team composition?

I only worked with Rachel

How did you come to work with Varga Girl Design?

A friend of mine recommended Varga Girl Design and then Rachel and I had an initial call. I liked her personality and felt that she understood what I wanted for my website.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project during the fall of 2020. If I have any questions, however, I reach out to Rachel.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As I’m developing my private practice, I don’t have statistics yet. However, people who visit the website express how much they like it. People said the website's user-friendly, attractive, and to-the-point. I’ve received only positive feedback, so Rachel did a great job.

How did Varga Girl Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via email and phone calls. Rachel sent me documents, photos, and designs to review.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was pleased with the relationship and couldn’t be happier. Rachel was a great listener and designer. She also understood my concept immediately. I referred a friend to Varga Girl Design who was also happy with their services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything was fantastic.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with your expectations and honest about what you need from them. That’s a good rule of thumb for anyone in a business partnership.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a personal concierge and planning company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varga Girl Design?

We had a client that was launching in Canada and wanted to do some marketing to get their name out there. My company came up with the concept of doing a pop-up shop at a local market. We decided to go with a boutique, one-day shop but needed to brand the event for April Fool’s Day. Working with a PR company, we came up with an April Fool’s joke for the shop.

We wanted people to try the bread without knowing it was gluten-free. Once they saw how great it tasted, we’d reveal that it was actually gluten-free. We needed someone to create a new brand, solely for the one-day shop to make our joke work. That way, no one would know this was a bread company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

She developed every aspect of the temporary brand, handling the logo, stickers, banners, brochures, promotional tent cars. Their company had connections with printers, so they took care of that pretty quickly. This was a last-minute project on our end, so we needed all the deliverables within about a month’s time. 

Additionally, they designed graphics for social media and a website to establish a sense of a digital presence for the temporary brand. They didn’t need to do as much work as a real newly-launched company, but there was some digital marketing work involved.  

What is the team composition?

I only deal with Rachel (CEO) but know that she likely had a larger group working on the project. 

How did you come to work with Varga Girl Design?

I met Rachel through a networking group I attended years ago. We liked her style and promptness, so we tested her services out with a few other clients. She came through on the smaller test projects, dealing with business cards and smaller deliverables. Because of her early success and our enthusiasm for her style, she did some rebranding work for us and other clients including this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $8,000–$12,000 on their work. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They made the temporary company look like a legitimate business that was meant to be permanent. It looked like people had been working on the brand for months. Even though the company was fake, it looked truly convincing and professional. We ended up getting good publicity out of it.

The solutions look like they could be transferred to future campaigns, in case we wanted to do another project like this in the future.  

How did Varga Girl Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Rachel is great and always meets deadlines. That’s one of the reasons we’ve continued working together after such a long time. If emergencies come up, she’s always available to help out. I’ve even worked through problems with her on weekends. We communicated for this project daily over email and Google Drive.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

The client experience and design with them are great. Everything is on time, and they’re quick to make changes when we need them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

For what we were doing, it was perfect. We only had a month to make this happen, and they went above and beyond.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them a try and see if they understand your vision. They have good design skills and follow-through. They’re fairly flexible, up-to-date on new technologies, and talented at what they do.