8bitstudio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of CenBank

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a community bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire 8bitstudio to accomplish?

• Design a new dynamic website for the bank.
• Provide a website that is easy to manage.

SOLUTION

How did you find 8bitstudio?

Known within our community

Why did you select 8bitstudio over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from 8bitstudio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

8bitstudios designed a new website for the bank exceeding our expectations. All commitments were met regarding quality of work and project timeline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our client base has indicated a preference for the updated format and ease of use of the site through short surveys.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The 8bitstudios team was only held back on progress by how quickly we could provide the required input information. They were ahead of schedule throughout. All of our inquiries and meeting requests were met with high value interactions showing they valued our time and resources.

What was your primary form of communication with 8bitstudio?

Email or Messaging App

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

Their team was able to lead a group of bankers through the new build in a painless and productive process. All points of contact were highly professional and attentive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something 8bitstudio could have done differently?

I can't think of anything that I would have preferred to be done differently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior creative director of Sunrise Banks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 8bitstudio?

We wanted our impact report to be available in a digital format alongside our usual printed booklet, so we needed help with microsite development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

8bitstudio first helped us flesh out what the microsite would look like by making a sitemap, some mood boards, and a design that mimicked the printed booklet we were creating in tandem with the site. The team worked very closely with our in-house designer to make sure that the brochure reflected the microsite. We wanted to create an interactive experience and not just a static page, and they came up with ideas to fulfill our goal. After some iterations, they delivered the finished microsite.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Matthew (CEO), Erika (Account Manager), Alayna (Visual Designer), and Joshua (Lead Developer).

How did you come to work with 8bitstudio?

We planned on working with them in the past, but it didn’t push through due to budget constraints. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was from March–June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team produced a spectacular site design while staying with the budget and timeline. Furthermore, the feedback was fantastic — some of our customers reached out specifically to compliment the report. Overall, 8bitstudio definitely hit the mark.

How did 8bitstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The 8bitstudio team did an excellent job. The team was very agile and took on the approach we wanted. We constantly reviewed their work while they built the site instead of asking for changes at the end. We quickly assessed their progress, and 8bitstudio was quick to make any changes — as a result, everything went smoothly. To collaborate, we used InVision to review the sitemap and the screens. The process was very streamlined.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was a joy to work with 8bitstudio — they were a unique and dynamic team. Furthermore, they made sure to make it a true partnership by working very closely with us. The team was super personable and approachable, and it honestly felt like they were family. The team knew me by name and constantly reached out to me to check in, which was different from my previous experiences with other vendors. 8bitstudio also shared our mission of supporting our community, so it was really fulfilling to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I only have great things to say about the team. They never took any of my feedback negatively.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go in with clear objectives, and the team will work toward them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a graphic designer & coordinator at the Minnesota State Transportation Center of Excellence. We’re an educational organization that works with the state colleges and universities within Minnesota. I also perform some administrative tasks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 8bitstudio?

We wanted an online platform where people could find information. Our previous site had little content, and we wanted a content-heavy website to direct people toward.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

8bitstudio built the website from scratch using WordPress. Their team created the architecture of the entire site, providing our team guidelines for content. They designed the website and delivered wireframes.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of four, which included developers and designers.

How did you come to work with 8bitstudio?

There are eight centers of excellence in the state. One of the agricultural centers used 8bitstudio, and that’s how we heard about them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with 8bitstudio from January until September 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our internal team and people outside of our company love the new website. We’re still working out some kinks and doing revisions, but the first version is running smoothly.

How did 8bitstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Their organized team responded to any questions. Their project management was excellent. We communicated with 8bitstudio through phone calls and emails but had one in-person meeting.

What did you find most impressive about them?

8bitstudio went above and beyond on our website.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, 8bitstudio is a fantastic team to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing manager for August Schell Brewing Company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 8bitstudio?

As we were doing an entire brand redesign, we were looking for a company that could help us redesign our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

8bitstudio met with our team to go over our goals and requirements, and then started designing and developing a new UX for our e-commerce website on WordPress. We worked in four phases, and their team recapped each phase as they wrapped up. They added a lot of new functionality and refreshed the overall the design, and also simplified the usability of our distributor portal for our product distributors.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Matthew (Founder and Director, 8bitstudio), as well as a designer and backend developer.

How did you come to work with 8bitstudio?

A marketing firm recommended them to us. After talking to their team and comparing their bid to others, we felt they were the best fit and thoroughly understood our goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from around June 2017–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the work they've done. 8bitstudio implemented designs that effectively made our site more modern, user-friendly, and responsive to the needs of our target audience.

How did 8bitstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great about staying on track and being communicative, yet not pushy. They did a good job of walking us through the process, thoroughly explaining each step and their next plan of action. The majority of our conversations were through email and by phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were genuinely passionate about our brand and our project, which showed through in the final product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything; they were great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There were times when our own team held up the schedule, but 8bitstudio was very patient with us. In addition to coming as prepared as possible into the relationship, I'd recommend being very honest with their team about the goals of the project, and allow them to help where they can.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the HR and Communications coordinator for the Washington County Community Development Agency. We’re a county level agency that handles affordable housing and economic development, as well as facilitates private development and activity in these areas. The county is home to around 250,000 people and we have an annual budget of $20 million.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 8bitstudio?

We had a website that was developed about four years earlier that had served the agency well for a while, but we found it difficult to manage. It also didn’t work well with the transition to responsive coding, so we were struggling with our mobile site as more and more people started accessing the internet with their phones and tablets. We were looking for a firm that could help bring us an interface that was more modern, relevant, and easy to maintain, but also give our audience a good UX. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a few initial conversations to outline what our needs were, what we liked about our current website, what we were struggling with, who our audiences were, and what content needed to be highlighted for them. Taking all that into consideration, they developed a wireframe that we tweaked a little bit.

The website is built using WordPress. We’re able to make updates in one spot and have it populate across a PC, phone, or iPad since they used responsive coding for the website. Even my user experience on my computer will change depending on how wide I make my browser window. We also have a much easier time previewing layout changes, making an update and being able to see how it would look on our mobile site and our tablet site. The general functionality is a lot more building blocks. We can update a content module and deploy it on the homepage, or somewhere else, and it doesn’t require me to rebuild or rewrite the content again on a separate page. It allows us to manipulate our own content in ways that help us to keep our website a little more current and fresh.

We have a couple of ongoing service relationships in terms of maintaining WordPress and updating templates, on an as needed basis. I can build pages, but I can’t change the wireframe or move menus around. When we need help, they do that on an hourly basis.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was their Director, but I also talked with a web programmer from their side, as well as someone who was more involved with the actual building and development of the site. They also had other individuals who were involved with the text on the site, and compiling documentation.

How did you come to work with 8bitstudio?

An outside branding and marketing expert we use vetted three different web firms for us, and out of their three proposals, we felt the most comfortable moving forward with 8bitstuido’s.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2017 until December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of the design, we very much got something in the style that we asked for. I wanted to be careful to not over estimate my own knowledge, so we were very happy to let them drive this. The end product we got is probably better than what we would’ve gotten had we tried to micromanage the process.

We have a website that’s much easier to navigate, and we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the design, layout, and feel. There’s a tendency in the public sector to use websites as file cabinets, so we were happy that they gave us a website that helped us steer away from the from that. We were very clear in identifying who our audiences were and they were excellent about giving us a product that really meets the needs of those people.

How did 8bitstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

We were a bit flexible on completion because it was more important to us to get it done right than quickly, but they were very good about meeting deadlines. They also provided reminders in instances where they needed something or I may have overlooked some content that needed to be written, etc. They made sure we were moving in a natural and logical way towards the outcomes we wanted. We mostly communicated via email or shared through Google Docs. It was very much an interactive process, and they were driving the ship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really good partners and they led very effectively. They provided knowledge and input in areas where we may have an intuitive sense about what we think should work, but don’t necessarily have any real data to back it up. There were times our intuition was right and there were times when our intuition may have been off base. They were very good about helping to steer us in a direction that would give us what we wanted, and not the thing we thought we wanted. Whenever they suggested something, they explained the reasons why they were suggesting it. We were able to tap into their expertise, but they very much treated us like a partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the beginning, they went through their presentation and provided reasons for dropping or amending some functionalities, most of which had to do with time and cost constraints. When we got the initial website, it very much looked like what we thought we were going to get, but there were a few things that were missing that we hadn’t talked about. A little heads up as to why it was missing would have helped. They did have very good reasons for why they did those things though, and it all made sense in the end.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To the extent that people are willing to listen, it improves the process immensely. The best thing you can do as a client is recognize what strengths you bring to the table and what strengths your partner brings. Give them your trust. They did a very good job of earning our trust upfront, and it made the process go a lot smoother. We trusted their expertise, even if it imposed a little bit of a learning curve on us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the General Manager at Wissota Skate Sharpeners, an international e-commerce store that manufactures and sells skate-sharpening machines and accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 8bitstudio?

A complete overhaul of our website was necessary. Our old site was neither user-friendly nor fully functional.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Using WordPress (integrated with WooCommerce), they completely redesigned and built a new website capable of processing large value payments. The overhaul increased the viability of our company on all fronts. They developed fully functional shopping carts that calculate domestic and international shipping costs, integrated our QuickBooks Online account, set up a ShippingEasy account, and migrated old customer accounts to the new site.

They also created a mailing list and blog to facilitate faster shipping and improve customer marketing, respectively. They collaborated with a marketing agency on our SEO but we have another company taking care of that for now.

What is the team dynamic?

I interacted primarily with one project manager who led a team of designers and developers.

How did you come to work with 8bitstudio?

They were recommended to us by a marketing agency we had begun to work with. The idea being, revamp the website before moving forward with a marketing plan.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They were contracted in August 2017, and the project was complete by early October 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Early analytics show a doubling of daily traffic. Order processing is much easier. Customers have shown positive feedback as well, saying it’s easier to navigate. The new layout is aesthetically pleasing and markets our machines effectively.

How did 8bitstudios perform from a project management standpoint?

They were easy to work with and explained web development processes in an easily accessible way. They were completely transparent with the status of the project for its duration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of customer service was unlike any company we worked with previously. It was great having someone to answer any question in a concise and helpful manner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think any, no.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Xact Data Discovery provides data management and computer forensic services, extracting data out of computers and other electronics, to be used as evidence in courts of law. We're a 60-million-dolar company working primarily with law firms, helping them obtain evidence from electronic systems.

I am the Vice President of Marketing and Branding for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 8bitstudio?

The overall goal was to take the brand that had been built 10 years ago and bring it to life on our website. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from the competition in terms of personality and brand identity, as well as to provide a place for housing our educational content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I have been involved in web development in the past and was able to work together with 8bitstudio's team to delegate roles. We had an overall strategy and a thought process. 8bitstudio was tasked with helping us improve this, from both the overall site architecture as well as a usability perspective. 8bitstudio proactively provided ideas on an open-ended approach. I was responsible for fine-tuning the site's format.

How did you come to work with 8bitstudio?

I came back to the company after a 10-year hiatus, so I wasn't involved in the selection process. I was impressed with what 8bitstudio was able to achieve over the course of a year, prior to me becoming involved. The person from our side in charge of the project wasn't able to handle it, but we were able to take our ideas further after I rejoined the group. The project was finalized 2 months after I came in.

How much have you invested with 8bitstudio?

The original scope of our project was $15,000. After I looked at the work that had been already done, I realized that the project was worth more than that, and we bumped up the cost to between $25,000 and $30,000. I didn't simply want to spend more money, I wanted to do the work right. We've created a world-class website which can function, grow, and be responsive. We're very happy with the cost; the same site would have cost closer to $50,000 with another firm.

What is the status of this engagement?

I am not a programmer, but I am able to manage the content on our WordPress platform for 95% of the time, given that 8bitstudio simplified the process. I call them whenever I get stuck, and I also plan to involve 8bitstudio on future renditions of the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Communication was the number-one issue. We established a relationship with 8bitstudio from the start and weren't just another client to them. The team seemed personable and the communication was very proactive, consistent, and accurate. 8bitstudio was also fun to work with. We had no stressful moments.

There is a cool factor to everything that our site does, but what matters most is its simplicity. 8bitstudio built modules and widgets that made our life easy. It was likely difficult to program, but once it was done, it worked great.

How did 8bitstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

8bitstudio performed incredibly well. I've worked with another firm at a previous company, and the collaboration with our contact from 8bitstudio was a night-and-day difference with regards to immediacy, communication skills, accuracy, ability to work out problems, and so on. If I was working at a similar company, and our manager from 8bitstudio was available, I'd hire him. He's top notch with what he does, and I hope that 8bitstudio will get some big accounts.

What did you find most impressive about 8bitstudio?

In life and in business, everything comes down to communication. 8bitstudio knocked this out of the park and made my life easier. They excelled in terms of technology and ideas, but the communication was what held all of those things together.

Are there any areas 8bitstudio could improve?

Nothing stands out. The pricing, work, and team involved were all good. 8bitstudio could expand its services beyond the web development side, but this is simply a suggestion for their business model.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 8bitstudio?

Clients need to develop a personal relationship with the company they'll be working with from day one and showcase their personality, whether it's good, bad, or ugly. This lets the provider know with whom they're working. I would also recommend having clear, proactive communication, and being open to new ways of thinking. Documentation is also important for making sure you're on the same page as the developer.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a social services Christian organization.

What is your position?

My position is Planned Giving Coordinator within the Development Department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with 8bitstudio?

We needed a website for our national annual estate planning event.

What were your company’s specific goals for the project?

Our Northern Division provides this event for estate planning professionals throughout the nation from the Minneapolis Convention Center, and many of our Salvation Army Corps offices host a webcast. Our goals are to have an informative site regarding this year's event, as well as directing viewers to register for the event. During the event, the site hosts will link to the live feed from the website. After the event, the website will provide a location for viewing the program. A "library" of programs will be available on the website going forward.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

8bitstudio has worked on the following:

• Call to Action (Register) throughout website.
• General Information.
• Event agenda, including lunch options with map.
• Speakers' Bios with picture.
• Several Testimonials.
• National map with site locations.
• Ability to manage site, especially adding new site locations.
• Ability to link host sites to their registration page.
• Live event feed button.
• Presentation library.
• Analytics

How did you come to work with 8bitstudio?

I reviewed several websites online and reached out to several before speaking with 8bitstudio. In our first conversation, I felt that our professional values aligned. 8bitstudio was also able to meet our business needs within the budget and time constraints we had.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I would rather not provide this information.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started the beginning of April, and is on-going. The team was able to meet our first deadline: to have the initial site up and running within 6 weeks. The next step is the live broadcast on September 21st, 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The website allowed us to have a stand alone site for the event which allows viewers to easily register for the event for their desired location. It is a "service" we provide for over 250 sites, and the website has allowed us to provide this info easily. We have just opened up the site with registration about a week ago, so it's early for stats.

How did 8bitstudio perform from project management standpoint?

The team at 8bitstudio is truly the “Dream Team.” From the first time we met them, throughout the entire process, we were impressed by the knowledge, professionalism, and skill level of each team member. We were looking for a company who would provide exceptional service, and we found it with this team. We gave them a very tight deadline for the first phase of our project, and they met it with no problems, despite some delays on our end providing needed artwork to them.

What distinguishes 8bitstudio from other providers?

The level of service and expertise was amazing.

Is there anything 8bitstudio could have improved or done differently?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Could you give a brief description of your company and what you do?

Our main company is Mount Olivet Rolling Acres, and we work with people with developmental and other disabilities. We provide a full range of services for them, from going into the family homes and helping them to have group homes, having adult day services and, recently, we branched out into another division of home help. A lot of times, it’s the elderly, going into their homes and helping with some cooking and cleaning. We have skilled nursing staff if someone needs home healthcare as far as nursing goes, whether it be post-operative diabetic healthcare, and so on. That’s the project that I worked with 8bitstudio on, for our new home healthcare division.

What is your role in the organization?

I’m the marketing and communications director. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

When you approached 8bitstudio, what was the business challenge you were trying to address?

We wanted to make a separate website from our main website. We’ve run our community for more than 45 years, serving people with disabilities. So, we have that recognition of an organization that works with people with disabilities. We wanted to send a kind of signal that we can help other people as well; the general population, the older population, anyone who has any sort of medical need that we need to come into their home. So, that was what we were trying to figure out how to do. One of the tasks we wanted to do was create a separate website so that it wasn’t still tied into our historical service area.   

SOLUTION

Can you tell us more about the scope of the work with 8bitstudio? Did it include design, development, training, and support?

Yes. Pretty much all inclusive. We started out with what we wanted it to look like. They gave me some ideas, we bounced ideas off of each other, and they designed it. I would send them the content of what we wanted written in each of the sections, and they put it in there. It was very easy: No fuss caused.

Is this in a separate content management system from your main site?

We are contemplating switching and having them help design or redesign our main website now as well. So, yes, it’s completely different than what we have currently for our main website.

Will you be able to edit the website yourself, or is it something that 8bitstudio will continue to maintain and update?

Yes. We’re able to do small, minor changes. I’m not going to go in and try to change graphics around or do anything like that. But, yes, I can edit some content and do the small changes, which is something that we wanted to do, too. We wanted to be able to go in there, make those changes, and not have to rely on someone else to do it for the life of the website.

What was your process for selecting 8bitstudio to work with in the first place?

We started doing some TV commercials earlier, back in November, which got me thinking. We came up with the plan to do a website, and then I talked to our ad rep for the TV station and asked for recommendations. She gave me a list of different design places that she’s worked with or that her co-workers have worked with.

I went down the list, and I went to their websites. I didn’t really like some of things that some of the other places did. We wanted to keep home health site really simple because of the people that we’re trying to reach. We just wanted it to be really clean and simple and easy to use so that they didn’t get frustrated and click off. I liked the smaller studio with 8bitstudio. The other websites that they have designed really looked what I wanted ours to look like as well. So, I gave them a call.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the initiative, either in a cost range or a personnel work-hour figure?

If I remember correctly, our total cost was between $6,000 and $7,000.

When was that completed?

We went live a couple of weeks ago. It was probably the first or second week in March [of 2014].

How long did the project take?

About three months. For a lot of that, they were waiting on our end. We didn’t have a whole lot of visitors; we were brand new. We had to go get some pictures to put on the website. We had to figure out exactly what we want to put on there. So, it took about three months to get everything coordinated and put together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you describe any initial results or qualitative feedback that you’ve received about the work?

As far as outside people, a caseworker told me it has good information that she could use for her clients that need that sort of service. Internally, within the home heath team, I think everyone’s pretty happy with it, likes the way that it looks, and that it is easy to use. My boss always jokes, “For an old guy like me, I can use it.” We’re happy with the way that it looks and flows. Now that we’re growing, hopefully, we’ll see that people will find our website and then contact us based on that.

How would you describe 8bitstudio’s performance?

They were great to work with. This isn’t something that I’ve done before, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it was great working with Matthew [Schroeder, the owner and creative director of 8bitstudio]. If I had a question, I would send him an email, and I always got a response within the same day. A lot of times, it was within an hour. I really liked that. They were really responsive to my questions because it was a learning process for me.

I would ask, “What if we do this?,” and because they know more than I do, they would say, “OK, that’s good. We can do that. Part of it we’re going to change a little bit more because this will help you in this way", whether for search engine optimization or that sort of thing. So, just the responsiveness of Matthew and his team was great. Sometimes, if you work with someone, you feel like you can be a pest sometimes if you don’t know what you’re doing exactly. I just didn’t feel that way at all when I was working with them.

Looking back, is there any area that you think 8bitstudio could improve on or that you would do differently?

Honestly, I don’t think so. I was really pleased with their design work, and their responsiveness was great. They had good ideas to give me because I didn’t know exactly how we wanted it to be. I just gave them a couple of ideas and websites that I liked, and they took it and ran with it. They were just fantastic to work with.

BACKGROUND

Can you give a brief description of your company and your role?

I own a human resources and organizational development consulting firm. I basically serve as the external HR resource for small businesses. I’m the president and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

When you approached 8bitstudio, what was the business challenge that you were trying to address?

I wanted to have a visible, credible website so that when I give clients my card, they have a place to go and learn more about me. I didn’t have a huge budget to work with, so I was going to try to create my own website. But, it would not have been as professional as I wanted it to be. In contacting 8bitstudio, he was able to work with my budget and give me a really nice looking site.

What were your goals for the website?

I wanted it to have a bio about me because, in my business as a consultant, it’s about the relationship that they have with me. So, I wanted it to say who I am, what I stand for, and what I can do for their business. I wanted it to list testimonials. In researching, someone takes 30 seconds to look at your website and make a judgment, so my goal was for them to see something really professional that would make them want to contact me. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of the project?

They did my website, my logo, and my business cards.

Why did you select 8bitstudio to work with in the first place?

I was actually referred to them. Funny enough, I put a posting on Facebook saying, “Does anyone know of a good Web designer that isn’t outrageously expensive that I should contact?” One of my Facebook friends said to call this place.

Can you give a sense of the size of the project, either in a cost range or in a personnel work hour figure?

I’d say my total investment for everything [website, business cards, and logo design] was within about $5,000.

How long did the project take?

It was around May of 2013 when we started working on the website. I launched it in August. That’s really because of me, taking forever with my Web copy.

Are you still working with 8bitstudio?

He does ongoing work. We just did some updates to the website. We did a new design layout for my business card. So, I’m still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of the results of the project, are there any metrics or feedback that you can share that indicate the effectiveness of the work?

People compliment me on the website and say that it’s really nice. 8bitstudio sends me, at the end of each month, my metrics from the site traffic and where it’s coming from. Each month, it gets better. I get more hits there from my Google searches and people stay on certain pages longer.

How has the work impacted your business?

When I ask someone to go to my website, I’m excited for them to see it because I think they’re going to be impressed by it. Prior to that, when I created my own, I almost tried to discourage people from going to the website. I feel good about it. I feel like people see it. Everyone who has seen it tells me they’re impressed by it.

Is there a way for you to generate client leads from your new site?  

Yes. I have a contact form. I also have an area where people can sign up for the newsletter.

How would you describe the performance of 8bitstudio?

My main contact was Matthew [Schroeder, the owner and creative director of 8bitstudio], and I know there’s a team that works there. The one thing that stands out for me is I would have these ideas, and I would call him and say, “This is what I’m thinking about doing.” He didn’t hold back in giving his recommendation and why. He talked me through it if perhaps my idea wasn’t a good idea. I always appreciated that. In the end, I have a better site because of that.

One example is on my banner pages, and trying to put too much text on them. He said, you’ve got a banner page and someone’s not going to take the time to read an entire paragraph, full caps. So, you want that to be short and sweet to catch them. I wouldn’t even have thought of that because it’s just not the field that I’m in.

I really appreciate the recommendations and just their design help in general. Even with the redesign of my new business card. I had a completely separate idea, and I sent it to him. By the time we talked through it, we ended up with something totally different that I liked better.

Is there any area that you think 8bitstudio could improve upon or that you would do differently?

Not off the top of my head. I can’t say I have any complaints.

Do you have anything else to add?

They’re obviously good at what they do. I’m happy with the work they’ve done. I am a repeat customer because I’m working with them yet again on redesigning my card and updating my site, and I’ve referred people. That’s probably the best compliment as a business owner, is someone who comes back and someone who refers people.