Black Flag Creative

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Operations Specialist of Luso-American Financal

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're a fraternal benefit society that offers financial services to our members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Flag Creative to accomplish?

• User friendly-website
• Robust informational site
• Mobile-friendly

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Flag Creative?

Online Search

Why did you select Black Flag Creative over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Black Flag Creative were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Discovery & Planning: They worked closely with us to understand our brand, audience, and goals. This phase included strategic input on site structure, navigation, and features based on user needs.
Custom Website Design: They created a completely custom design aligned with our brand identity. The site is clean, modern, and easy to navigate while capturing both the professional and cultural aspects of our organization.
Content Strategy Support: They helped us reorganize and streamline our content to make it more engaging and user-friendly, ensuring information was easy to find for both new and returning visitors.
Responsive Development: The site was built to be fully responsive, ensuring a seamless experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
SEO Foundation: They built the site with best practices for SEO in mind, helping to position us better in search engines from day one.
CMS Setup: The site was developed on WordPress, with a backend setup that allows our internal team to easily make updates to content going forward.
Testing & Launch: They handled cross-browser testing, quality control, and ensured a smooth launch with minimal downtime or disruption.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Improved User Experience: Early feedback from staff, members, and site visitors has been overwhelmingly positive, especially around how much easier it is to navigate the site and find information.
Mobile Engagement: We’ve seen a noticeable increase in mobile traffic and engagement, with visitors spending more time on key pages compared to the old site.
Increased Traffic: Since launch, our website traffic has increased due to improved SEO structure and a more engaging homepage experience.
Higher Conversion Opportunities: New features like simplified contact forms, clearer calls to action, and product pages are helping drive more inquiries and interest in our financial services.
Brand Perception: Internally and externally, our brand now feels more modern, trustworthy, and aligned with our mission. 
 

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

Their project management was extremely organized and transparent from start to finish. We always knew what phase we were in, what was coming next, and what they needed from us to stay on track. They provided a clear timeline at the beginning of the project and stuck to it.

Communication was a major strength. They were always quick to respond to questions, open to feedback, and flexible when we needed to make adjustments. We never felt like we were left in the dark, and their responsiveness made the entire process feel collaborative and smooth.

They consistently delivered items on time. Their professionalism and ability to keep things moving was a huge reason this project was so successful.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Flag Creative?

Virtual Meeting

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

What impressed me most about this company was how genuinely invested they were in bringing our vision to life. They truly cared about getting it right and shared in the excitement every step of the way. Their passion for what they do is obvious, and it made the whole process not just productive, but fun. It felt like they were part of our team, not just a vendor.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Black Flag Creative could have done differently?

Honestly, none. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Program Manager of ETS

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

ETS is a nonprofit assessment organization driven by a mission to help advance quality and equity in education by providing fair and valid assessments, research, and related services. ETS' focus is on improving student learning, delivering high-quality assessments, and providing the assessment results needed by parents and guardians, educators, and policy makers to continue promoting advancements in equity and education.

ETS works with the CDE on statewide assessments for nearly six million K-12 public school students and serves as the designated contractor for the California Assessment System, which includes CAASPP and the ELPAC. ETS provides all services required to develop, deliver, and report the CAASPP and ELPAC.

Services include item and test development; LEA training and training resources; LEA support services; psychometric services; technology services to support computer-based testing; analysis and scoring; and student-, LEA-, and state-level reporting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Flag Creative to accomplish?

• Improve and Combine the CAASPP and ELPAC Websites
• Better Organize Information
• Improve the User Experience

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Flag Creative?

Online Search

Why did you select Black Flag Creative over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Black Flag Creative were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Determine the viability of merging the two websites into a unified environment or maintaining separate entities. This decision will be made in collaboration with key stakeholders, ensuring their agreement and alignment. Once the optimal approach is determined, Consultant will proceed by creating effective design solutions based on user research and valuable stakeholder feedback.

These designs will undergo a meticulous review process to ensure they meet the project goals and objectives. Upon approval of the design visuals and interactive prototype, Consultant   will develop the new CAASPP & ELPAC interface using the OpenText platform. 
 
The final implemented solution will better serve the primary audiences (as shown below) of test administrators, examiners, and parents, delivering an enhanced user experience tailored to the end user’s specific needs. The final delivery will result in a visually appealing, user-friendly, and highly robust website that meets all goals and requirements of ETS.

Deliverables:

• Discovery, UX Research, Website Information 
• Architecture, Content Strategy Phase Completed 
• UX/UI Design, & Interactive Prototype Phase Completed 
• Development/Engineering (OpenText) 50% Milestone 
• Development, Pre-Deployment Testing, Launch Phase Completed 
• 30 Day Post Launch Bug Fixes 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've received positive feedback from the California Department of Education and educators across the state that use the site Black Flag developed for us.

When I started the project, I could not imagine a website that could accomplish all the things we needed it to. Black Flag brought that vision to life. I love the product that we ended up with and it's so much better than our previous websites. I'm rewarded every time our educators tell me how much they love the new site.

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

Black Flag delivered as promised, sometimes on very tight timelines. Although the concept phase pushed well beyond the original timeline due to challenges in getting interest holder consensus on the design, they worked with us to modify the timeline and push the project out longer than initially anticipated. They were also very responsive to requests and often came up with solutions during meetings on the fly.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Flag Creative?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Black Flag carried us from concept to production on a very complex website with multiple interest holders. Designing a website for the California Department of Education means that we serve a varied user base and must adhere to the highest accessibility standards.

Black Flag took input from internal teams, educators, and other interested parties that would be accessing and using the site. They adapted their designs to meet the needs of various types of users, coming up with not only attractive design elements, but created code that added automation to eliminate some of the manual updates. Black Flag provided us with a high-quality product and were so much fun to work with along the way. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Black Flag Creative could have done differently?

I wouldn't change a thing but I do have one tip for customers considering Black Flag. Save some of your funding for ongoing maintenance because once you start working with them, you won’t want to stop!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the FOUNDER CEO of AIO MOTORS

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Make single-occupanet electric automobiles

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Flag Creative to accomplish?

• Make a website
• Make it different and unique
• Make a metaverse

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Flag Creative?

Referral

Why did you select Black Flag Creative over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned
• Other

How many teammates from Black Flag Creative were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Black Flag Creative team exceeded all expectations and delivered a fantastic experience (not just another "website") resulting in increased traffic and user engagement. The BFC crew did this through a few scheduled, efficient meetings, then sailed away providing updates and returning with rare treasures like a metaverse! I highly recommend Black Flag Creative for any project at any level. Go to https://aiomotors.com/ to find out just how good they really are...

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Deliver (on time) a high quality, unique expereience that provided user with a simple "wow" factor. 

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

Excellent project management.  They delivered on time.  Always fast to respond.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Flag Creative?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their knowledge of the industry and ability to translate the wants/needs from AIO MOTORS into a functional web expereience providing feedback and recommendations throughout the process.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Black Flag Creative could have done differently?

No, perfection is rare in this world, and Black Flag Creative delivered the project perfectly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Engineer of Syblon Reid

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Heavy Civil/Mechanical General Engineering Construction

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Flag Creative to accomplish?

• Create an easy to navigate, eye-catching, up-to-date, professional website that brings visitors back.
• Provide training on the Content Management System (CMS) to allow us to easily update and maintain the website, keeping it fresh and relevant.

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Flag Creative?

Online Search

Why did you select Black Flag Creative over others?

• High ratings
• Good communication

How many teammates from Black Flag Creative were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Black Flag Creative's initial tasks included interviewed our Management/Marketing team to gain an understanding of our industry, the goals of the website, and the look and feel we were going for. They then developed an interface for us to use to provide them content (text/narratives, media, and documents). They were also helpful in providing experience-based recommendations throughout the process. 
Preliminary webpage designs/layouts were shared with us early on for review, comment, and approval; making any necessary changes and adjustments. Finally, the website was launched in time to share at a tradeshow we were attending. Follow up tasks included making last minute tweaks to the website and providing our team training in the use of the WordPress CMS.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Once the website was launched, we began to receive positive input from existing and prospective clients, as well as inquiries from those seeking a potential career with us. We also monitored a good amount of visitor traffic using Google Analytics, and saw a spike during the tradeshow we attended.

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

Black Flag Creative's management did a good job listening to our needs, communicating, turning around their tasks, and keeping us on track to fulfill the tasks on our end during website development and design.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Flag Creative?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are a young, energetic, quirky group; they were knowledgeable about effective website design.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Black Flag Creative could have done differently?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Fasanarock LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We curate high quality exotic minerals and crystals to sell to collectors of all levels, through online platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Flag Creative to accomplish?

• Elevate our website to stand out in the design.
• break through Shopifys generic features and designs to add colors, gift card feature
• make the shopping experience fun and personal for the client, share our story

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Flag Creative?

• Referral
• mutual friendship recomendation

Why did you select Black Flag Creative over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Black Flag Creative were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We were looking for a team of professionals to take out bare bones Shopify theme and completely redesign it to look high end, and unable to even tell its Shopify. a unique scheme of colors, designs, graphics, were added to submerge the customer into a crystal cave. which is the very essence of our business. we strived to keep navigation easy, so current and new clients can read our story, and what we have to offer for sale.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Overwhelming response from clients on the designs. 
• Sales and giftcard sales are increasing. 
• More traffic from Google searches.

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

Always on time, using checklists that I can easily view in google drive. all project progress is trackable through these lists. communication through Email is efficient and quick to respond. is rescheduled meetings were needed they always accommodated.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Flag Creative?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They’re very up-to-date with design technology. Perfect fit for anyone starting a business at the current time. I felt the designs were fresh and new, and very new age.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Black Flag Creative could have done differently?

I don't have any complaints at this time. My process was easy and painless.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Black Flag Creative, and what were your goals?

Our website was 3 years old and we used a Do-It-Yourself online program. It looked cheap and unprofessional

SOLUTION

How did you select Black Flag Creative and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Black Flag based on their past performances, their clean, modern style and their presentation.

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

They provided a clear strategy at the very beginning that included a timeline with clear milestones. They established expectations up front and had clear communications at all times with us.

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

We worked with the owner and various designers and engineers all of which were extremely professional, knowledgable and creative.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work was clean, simple and easy to maneuver. The initial planning meeting was extremely helpful, and they covered all bases including a schedule with milestones, industry standards we should consider and their vision for our site based on industry research they performed.

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

Throughout the process they have been flexible and met every timeline. They’ve stayed in regular contact with us throughout the process, meet all timelines and mostly importantly, they listened to us and our ideas. Their work has been nothing less than superb and they have a lifelong customer with our firm.

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

They get it! They are open to suggestions and have a great balance between using their ideas and ours.

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

not at all

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of marketing for Sunworks, Inc. We construct solar systems for agricultural, commercial, and residential markets, but we were founded as an electrical contractor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Black Flag Creative, LLC?

We needed to build a new website, one with an interactive layout and updated content and framework.

What were your goals for this project?

As we grew, we realized our website failed to showcase our work the way we desired. We wanted our website to tell a story about our commitment to quality work and customer experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We needed an exceptional web design company that understood our industry's challenges. We interviewed several candidates, looking through their past experiences and asking for a site update proposal with navigational suggestions.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Black Flag did the structural setup and then designed, developed, configured, and launched the site. We started the project with a discovery meeting where we conveyed our goals, needs, and desires and developed a mutual understanding of what was required.

Black Flag started development after presenting a solution outline and a complete scope of work. We tested and made adjustments to the site's functionality and interactive aspects on a staging site.

What was the team composition?

Several developers, photographers, and designers contributed to the project, but their CEO was my single point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Visitors stay on the site longer than they used to and report having a much more pleasant experience. We also receive more inquiries via our online forms. Our leadership has used the site to showcase our projects and work process to potential customers.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager was impressive and always demonstrated a complete understanding of our needs, goals, and priorities. He was professional and paid attention to details. Every element of development and maintenance took place promptly and within our budget and schedule. They excelled at coming up with and executing solutions equally.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The entire team was professional, knowledgeable, and extremely qualified to develop and maintain our website. The best aspect of working with them was cooperating with a professional team and a single point of contact—an organized project manager who handled everything.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

There's nothing they need to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the VP of engineering for Hallsten Corporation. We manufacture aluminum products for environmental, marine, and industrial industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Black Flag Creative, LLC?

We rebranded our company with a new logo, tagline, and colors. We then engaged Black Flag Creative, LLC to revamp our website from scratch.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to showcase our manufacturing capabilities at our annual trade show. The team needed to deliver the site about five months before the event. We also requested a simple UI and good UX.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

One of my employees had a family connection with Black Flag Creative, LLC and referred them. I then met with Corey (CEO, Black Flag Creative, LLC). The team’s proposal and ability to deliver met our needs.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

The team built a CMS and designed a responsive website for all devices. Services included layout, content development, coding, and functionality building. They also created a contact form, which served as a portal for customers to request additional information.

What was the team composition?

Corey served as the primary project manager and had a team working behind the scenes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The website was functional across devices and received a significant amount of positive feedback. Black Flag Creative, LLC provided a clean viewing experience; the displays and photography were captivating. The redesign—including the new contact portal—increased the number of visitors, conversions, and sales.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We communicated via phone calls and in-person and web-based meetings. The team was effective throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We had rough ideas for the website, but not a precise aesthetic vision. The team provided several design options and then integrated our feedback into the proposed concepts. Black Flag Creative, LLC was patient and not satisfied with the design until we were.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No. We had a pleasant experience and enjoyed the improved website. The team will not disappoint if given the opportunity to deliver.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a solutions architect for the commercial, medical, and government affairs divisions of a large pharmaceutical company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Black Flag Creative, LLC.

We needed a development firm to redesign one of our internal portals.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Black Flag Creative, LLC worked with us to overhaul an internal portal that employees use for communication and task management. While we knew the site needed to be updated, they put things in perspective by outlining how to make the final product more modern and user-friendly. They also suggested the elimination of certain elements to facilitate efficient navigation throughout the portal. After scoping out the project, they moved to the design and development stage. They built the new portal using HTML and CSS.

The portal’s current iteration functions as more than a simple task manager. It enables quick communication between departments and promotes personal growth via the career development area. It’s also a valuable tool for our sales and marketing teams because it hosts new product information and provides management resources.

What is the team composition?

We initially spoke to Corey (CEO, Black Flag Creative, LLC) and he did the early product designs. The rest of the project was delivered by two developers and a UI/UX designer.

How did you come to work with Black Flag Creative, LLC?

They have a master service agreement with our company. Some of the other business units within our firm recommended them, so we thought we’d give them a try.

What is the status of this engagement?

The main development effort took place from September 2017–April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the features they’ve implemented is a personalized dashboard. This means whenever an employee enters the portal, the system recognizes who they are and populates the dashboard with news and articles specific to their department. That functionality increased portal activity. As a result, we’ve experienced an increase in production and operational improvements on a company-wide scale.

How did Black Flag Creative, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They made sure the project had a schedule and they adhered to it. Their team consistently delivered different sections of the portal until the project’s completion. Our company has a whole project management methodology that we have to go through to get funding, but it’s largely built around Smartsheet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve worked with other companies to revamp our intranet in the past, but found Black Flag Creative, LLC’s positive attitude inspiring. We also appreciate their modern approach to UX design. They bring a unique perspective to whatever they do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring them into a project early so they can help brainstorm ideas and lay out a practical methodology.