Blacklead Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO & Co-Founder of a stealth company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Blacklead Studio, and what were your goals?

We hired Blacklead Studio for branding, design, and UI/UX. We wanted to revamp our logo, fonts, colors, and image. We also wanted to revamp our seller site to include the branding and messaging.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched Dribbble for agencies that specialized in modern design and branding. We came across Blacklead Studio after reviewing 20 agencies and interviewing five.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Blacklead sent us a form that helped them to understand the goals and milestones we’d like to reach. The form was easy to understand and gave us insight into how they develop brands.

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

We mainly worked with three people:

• the CEO
• Project Manager
• Designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had ten signups on our website so far. People have liked the overall brand direction and design.

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

The project management style was consistent and guided. Anastasiia was exceptional from start to finish. She showed a great deal of patience and empathy as we iterated.

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

The communication and delivered assets flow are very impressive.  They delivered assets daily and we could follow their process on Figma. The final delivery came neatly organized in Google Drive.

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

Explaining their Figma process with commenting would be helpful to start especially when it relates to multiple screen sizes.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm currently the digital director of a diamond and jewelry company. I'm also the founder of Little Black Door. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Blacklead Studio?

We hired them for UX/UI design. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Blacklead Studio has worked on the UX/UI of my mobile application. They've done all the frontend designs for iOS and Android in Figma, but didn't do any of the development. 

What is the team composition?

I've worked with the designer, project manager, Serhii (Founder & Design Director), and Roman (Head of Development & Co-Founder). 

How did you come to work with Blacklead Studio?

Blacklead Studio was initially recommended to me by a director who'd worked with them at another company. A few companies threw their hats in the ring for the job, but I got along well with Roman and liked their code. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested over $10,000 with Blacklead Studio. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement began in November 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I've never had to redo a design that Blacklead Studio has created. We've gotten very positive feedback about the UX in development and review cycles with our testers.

How did Blacklead Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Typically, we communicate through WhatsApp, Slack, and emails. We also utilize Google Meet. Blacklead Studio is incredible at managing their time — they'll work around the clock to meet our deadlines, event when the delay isn't their fault. They support us 110%. We also use GitHub to manage the code. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I didn't need to explain the project too much to Blacklead Studio. They intuitively know what we need, and their skilled designers quickly make workflows happen because they're experienced. No one on Blacklead Studio's team is learning on the job. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think Blacklead Studio's team size is a huge barrier to them. They have the relevant skill to cover large-scale projects but can't handle multiple at once. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd suggest that customers have a clear vision of what they want, so Blacklead Studio has a clear project direction to follow. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of an education technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Blacklead Studio?

I needed help turning my hand-drawn designs into UI/UX design using Figma and creating clickable prototypes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, I sent Blacklead Studio hand-drawn ideas for the product's flow. From there, they would turn those sketches into Figma designs and advice me on button placements and how to make the flow more intuitive. They helped me design a whole technology solution. Later, they also helped me design the UI/UX of our marketing website. Currently, we still work with Blacklead Studio as a resource whenever we need illustration work. 

What is the team composition?

I've worked with the founder, an illustrator, and a project manager as our main point person. There are also other people working in the background.

How did you come to work with Blacklead Studio?

I found them on Dribbble.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000–$50,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2020. Although our main projects have been finished, our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we don't have official metrics, everybody who looks at the product talks about how professional, clean, and intuitive it is; people always ask where we got the UI/UX design made. Blacklead Studio has introduced me to the group that developed the product. 

How did Blacklead Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They've performed exceptionally well from a project management perspective. Our project manager is very responsive whenever we have questions. They've also met deadlines and even worked on December 24th to meet their December 25th deadline in 2020. 

They're very communicative about the timeframe and consistently deliver what they say they will. We stay in touch via Slack, Telegram, Zoom, and Google Meet. We've also used Trello for task management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Blacklead Studio cares about the project and takes ownership of it. Sometimes, they've pushed back about certain decisions and made recommendations to improve the product. They aren't just executors; they're partners in getting our product to the most successful place possible. Moreover, they're pleasant to work with and have become a part of my team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything they need to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can make much progress with Blacklead Studio if you do your part to give them structured feedback. We're in different timezones, and sometimes I'll give them feedback at night, and by the following morning, they've already applied it. You have to keep up with them because they work fast.