Communication Crafts

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Jobsetter, an agriculture job placement company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

I needed them to develop my website. I had all the hosting on my domain, but I needed them to develop the site and fix some of the code.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started with extant work, but they did a fair bit of code alteration. They didn't start from scratch, but they did a fair amount of work. The website is on WordPress. There's a login for both those posting jobs and those recruiting for jobs since it's both a resource hub for employers and those seeking work. There's also a map feature to filter jobs by map, which is difficult because some of these farms don't have addresses since they're really far out.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people mainly.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

I worked with them a few times with some other jobs. They did some really good work for me when I worked for another company.

How much have you invested with them?

I think it was about $2,500 AUD (approximately $1,800 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began work in July 2020, and the relationship is ongoing

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

The site functions well. They're quite speedy and knowledgeable. Whenever I was unsure about something they helped me navigate the decision-making process. They're willing to work on the project until it's done, and they've never told me to stop making requests. I like working with them more and more the more work with them.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very communicative, if I ever had a question they answered it. We mainly communicated by email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their willingness to help stood out. They went above and beyond to help me understand what was needed. I'm not an expert on websites, so I'd frequently ask them if it's possible to do this or that. They would always come back with a really great answer. They're very easy to work with and flexible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'm never quite sure what's in scope. I don't want to ask for things that I didn't pay for, so I'm always afraid that I ask for more than I paid for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you really know what you want, they'll do a great job. If you're unsure, they'll take the time to understand but it's always easier to have a clear vision.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Business Development Manager of Blu5 Labs. We provide innovative solutions to support businesses in their daily challenge to prevent cyber attacks.

For what projects/services did your company hire Communication Crafts, and what were your goals?

We hired developers from Communication Crafts to support us in the design of the User Interface for a Management application. Our goal was to reduce time-to-market.

How did you select Communication Crafts and what were the deciding factors?

We had already worked with Communication Crafts in the past and had a positive experience.

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

We prepared the project specifications, shared them with Communication Crafts team. Defined and agreed on the project plan (deliverables and schedule).

Uploaded the tasks on our Project Management System to track project progress and adherence to plan.

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

There was a project manager and two developers.

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

Cannot measure now since the product has not been launched yet. Just by showing it to customers, I can say that the feedback is positive in terms of user experience and usability.

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

The project was divided in Sprints of one week each. Every Tuesday the team would publish the new code. B5L would revise it, leave feedback on PMS.

Every Wednesday we would have a call to discuss tasks of next sprint should there be anything to clarify further.

In case of any issues arising while programming, we would jump in a call immediately to tackle the problem as soon as possible and avoid delays in the roadmap.

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

Surely the flexibility and great efforts to achieve what was required.

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

Timely communicate if the project may suffer delays from force Majeure events. Eventually adding developers if needed.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a real-estate development company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

We hired them to create a lifestyle video.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We tasked them with coming with a lifestyle video. We gave them a brief and a timeline of two weeks. They collected what we provided, purchased other lifestyle videos, and edited them for us.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from their team, including a creative director.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

I put out an RFP to a couple of companies and chose them.

How much have you invested with them?    

We’ve invested $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work took place in March 2020.

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

I was impressed. I would definitely recommend them.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

They were given two weeks but they came back in just a week. We communicated on WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

 We were only allowed two changes, and they accommodated much more than that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we were pretty happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re an organized company, so you need to know what you want to achieve with them beforehand.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director for International Publishing Services, a global publisher and packaging specialist.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

We’ve had a couple of projects, but we initially engaged them to produce videos for one of our publishing lines.

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of our books is a graphic novel, and they were first responsible for taking the books’ images and converting them into a motion video. We outlined what we wanted in broad strokes, and they came back to us with a detailed plan. They executed these videos well, so we decided to take them up for other projects, in addition to some more animated episodes.

They’ve also gone on to develop and manage our website and apps. Our previous developer had done a botched job of constructing our website, and they fixed it for us. They reengineered the iOS and web app from the ground up. The apps and website had a connected backend, so they had to navigate that in their reconstruction of them.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around 6­–7 people.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

We came across them when we were exhibiting at the London Book Fair. They approached us and introduced themselves as a service provider within the graphic video realm. They were recommended to us at a later time, and upon interviewing, they seemed very professional. We saw their impressive portfolio and decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere around $65,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in August 2019 and the relationship is ongoing, as they’ve continued to take on more projects with us.

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

We’ve always been more than satisfied with the final product. On the rare occasion that there is something we’d like to change, they change it immediately so we never have to ask them twice.   Reactions to the videos have been brilliant.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

They do excellently. They always create a date-driven project plan that has clarified deliverables and timelines. They’ll tell us exactly what they need and when it’ll be ready. They’re absolutely spot-on with planning, which we appreciate. We communicate mostly through email and over the phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication skills are excellent. The level of detail they give you is second to none.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not from my perspective. I’m extremely happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a reliable partner that’s able to provide the value that you’re looking for.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the creative director at Two Fresh. We run a video marketing company and look after clients that are small, medium, and large in terms of providing video production services and digital marketing services. What we do is very video-focused.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

Animation is quite a complicated area in terms of creating it. We needed a good partner to execute our vision.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Communication Crafts are excellent and have been supporting us with design and animation services for a couple of years now. They are really strong at what they do. We look after a lot of the pre-production side of things and will provide them with examples of what we’re looking for. Sometimes we lean on them to come up with creative ideas as well. It’s a collaboration back and forth between us to get to the end result.

A lot of the work is shorter films, but they’ve also done longer projects for us. Our longest animation was 20 minutes long for an oil rig company, but we split it into three videos to make it more digestible for viewers.

What is the team composition?

I’m mainly in constant contact with two people.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

I think my business partner was networking and met the owner of the company. We’ve always used lots of animation partners but sometimes it is hard to find one that is great at what they do and great with communication, as well as cost-effectiveness. Communication Crafts ticked all the boxes in terms of ease of use, creativity, and good value; they’re just a good company to partner with.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $35,000–$40,000

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in November 2018, and the work is still ongoing. We have constantly been doing projects throughout this time. They are working on two different animations at the moment.

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

They get our vision, and our clients are very happy with the work we’re producing for them, which is a combination of the work Communication Crafts does and the way we manage the projects. Communication Crafts are like an extended part of our production team. We constantly get good feedback and it helps us win more work as well.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very good from a project management point of view. We get weekly updates about what they are doing and have a weekly phone call which they are often chasing me for because I know I can trust them with things. We also have a weekly Skype call, and once a year their boss will come over and we go out for dinner together. I never have any worries about project management with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the distinguishing parts of their service is that they are very good communication-wise and have creative skill sets to match it; they don’t just talk the talk. They aren’t just yes people but will challenge me if they think that what we are saying doesn’t sound right or isn’t a good idea. They’ll listen and study what we want them to do, and a lot of magic comes out of that way of working.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I like things fast, so producing things a bit quicker may be one of the factors in any service, but I wouldn’t say they’re really slow or anything like that. I am generally satisfied, to be honest.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I wouldn’t hesitate to work with them. They are good people and a good company. They are very easy to work with. I would say not to be too rigid with how you want things to be done. Adapt around them and things can work out quite nicely.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a small engineering software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

We were trying to build a web application and needed a development team to help us do that.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The application we built is cloud-enabled, so we are working with .NET technology. Their developer helped us to turn our business plan into a working application from the ground up and is continuing to support its operation.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with one .NET developer from their team.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

I originally engaged with a consultant to find the best solution for my development needs. He suggested using an out-of-house team and connected me to them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in March 2018 and are continuing to work together.

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

The application was rolled out at the end of 2018 and has been successful so far. Communication Crafts has worked very well with our team over the course of the project so far. They are hardworking and provide really top-level work, but more than that they bring an excellent attitude to the job every day.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

I communicate directly with the developer, so project management has been relatively simple. They’re always very responsive and helpful when we’re dealing with any issues. It makes my job a lot less stressful in that regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide really good work at an even better price point, which was really important to us. Having that reliability at a price you can afford is pretty rare.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their management could probably take a little more interest in the actual product outcomes rather than just the completion of the work. More regular catch-ups could help with that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have very detailed specifications, including the technology you want to use and what budget you have to do it, before you begin the engagement.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a business development manager for Blu5 Group. We’re a company based in Singapore that specializes in security solutions. Our company provides hardware and software security solutions to businesses and government institutions. We manufacture our own chips to best achieve the maximum level of security software.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

We were releasing a new product and wanted to make some videos about it. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

This was our first experience with creating videos. We really needed expert support from our supplier because we’d never written scripts ourselves. They created four videos for us. I had a storyboard, but it was too long, so we had to adjust it. We had no experience in doing that; the quote I requested included the script as well. I sent them the storyboard so they could understand what we were talking about.

I sent them additional information on the product. It’s difficult to make up a video on something technical that you’ve never seen before, especially when it comes to security. There was a bit of interaction when conveying the message, but other than that, I relied on them. I didn’t want to interfere too much.

What is the team composition?

Initially, I was in contact with the business developer, and then I was assigned a project manager who was very reactive and responsive. She was getting feedback from me, defining what I wanted and then conveyed the ideas to the developer. I also dealt with the person the project manager reported to. He was the one who officially sent out emails on her behalf.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

I met them at a conference that I attended in London. When I was back home, I sent them an email and they responded very quickly. I had asked for quotes from the suppliers. While Communication Crafts had a slightly higher quote, I didn’t mind. I checked their website and asked them for references.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent €5,800 Euros (approximately $8,479 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on this project from October–November 2019.

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

The videos are not up and running yet. We’re launching our website, and the videos will be posted there. I appreciated the responsiveness and luckily we had enough material to act quickly as well. Since we already had a sort of storyboard, it was easier for them to understand the product and the message we wanted to convey. They were good.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a very tight schedule because I wanted to show the video at an event. I was in contact with the project manager through Skype to discuss the technicalities, and she was excellent.

The people at Communication Crafts were very organized and kept me updated on the progress of the project. They sent me records every Monday, allowing me to know exactly what was going on. They would get in touch if there were any issues or if they needed anything, or even if they needed any advice despite the different time zone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were better than some European suppliers we worked with. I am happy with my choice. Sometimes it isn’t just a matter of price.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a bit of an issue when it came to payment. I don’t know how the banking system works in India, but I don’t think it’s their fault. When you have to provide bank details to your customers, they need to know exactly what information to provide; nothing less, nothing more. If Europe is one of their markets, they need to know how payments are done from Europe to their account. Each country has its own habits, but in Europe, there are regulations which are quite common. Every time we are asked to make a payment, the details are always the same.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I have already passed on their contact information to some people I know that might have the need to make videos in the future. Trust them. Although I am very picky and demanding, I really wanted to leave it up to them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and director of a company that produces Hemisphere Think Write, which is a cursive handwriting program for schools.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

The program was in paper format, but I was being asked for an interactive whiteboard program from a lot of the educators that I work with, so I reached out to Communication Crafts to help me develop that.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Basically, I wrote down what I wanted and how I wanted it to look, and they built the program from there. It’s a PC based application that they built in Unity because of the number of illustrations and graphics capability that it requires.

There are characters in the program as well, so I provided them with illustrations and storyboards, and they did all of the animating as well as the front- and backend programming for the project.

What is the team composition?

I have regular communications with about four members of their team. They have a business manager, a finance head, a development lead, and another guy who’s their representative in the UK.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

Their UK representative was at a conference where I was exhibiting, and we started talking about a similar type of program for piano lessons that they had developed, He connected us via Skype, and I decided that they would be a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, it’s been about £30,000 (approximately $38,500 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in December 2017, and we are currently in the second phase of the program and moving into the third.

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

We took videos and followed up with the people who use the program, and they have all said that the children are significantly more engaged in the process of learning to write. They tend to get very attached to the program’s characters, and we have data that shows that handwriting improves for the school as a whole. I am very happy with the results of the project.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very organized and consistently keep to deadlines. If they’re ever not going to make a deadline, they’ll explain why well in advance, and it’s often simply because I asked them to add something else or make a change.

We have a constant interaction where they’ll send me an updated version of the program with something to review, I’ll send it back, and they’ll tell me when they’ll release it. I always know what is coming up and how things are moving along.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their business manager is incredibly responsive. Even if I sent something at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, I would still get a response by 10 o’clock at night because of the time difference. I never felt that I had to wait for them to come online; the time difference actually worked quite in my favor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. Beyond some minorly different perceptions between British and Indian English that take a second round to clarify, there is really nothing to improve on the project at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just be very specific and literal on your feedback. Leaving room for ambiguity is never a huge problem but can be avoided easily by taking screenshots or making little videos that make your requests even more clear.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and founder of Mutually Yours Limited and we’re a pre-startup real estate company at the moment.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

I was looking for someone to help with web development and ended up hiring Communication Crafts for the project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Communication Crafts is developing a web platform for me and it is due to be launched in mid-December. It’s a product for the real estate industry and it will connect buyers, sellers, and estate agents together. Effectively, it creates a search platform for properties that haven’t yet officially come onto the property market. The platform allows individual sellers to upload their properties and to test what the level of market interest and price might be.

What is the team composition?

On the planning side, there were two or three people involved in quoting the brief and getting a good idea of what the scope of the project was. In the development phase, there are four or five people. Most of the communication is actually with the development team.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

I really don’t have a lot of tech expertise, so I had the help of a digital marketing consultant who put me in touch with Communication Crafts and wrote the brief for them. We did have two or three other options, but I had the opportunity to meet one of Communication Crafts’ members who was visiting in England. I was able to physically have a conversation and just run through some of my concerns as a non-tech savvy person. They were able to convince me that they were ideal for the job.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $27,000 on their services so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them in March 2019, and the collaboration is still ongoing.

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

We’re testing the website on the consumer side at the moment and there are a few refinements that need to be made, but overall, it’s running smoothly. We aim to do the beta launch in mid-December and I’m confident that the website will be ready by then.

In many ways, Communication Crafts has exceeded my expectations. They probably managed to go beyond the brief we gave them and working with them has been very straightforward. They have bent over backward to help me, especially considering I’m a non-tech person. I can imagine some of the conversations we have had would have been a bit frustrating for them.

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Skype or email to communicate with the development team. We generally have a call on a weekly basis and they tend to all be there. Management wise, they are quite methodical. Communication Crafts provides an email following the Skype call which specifies what we discussed and the next things they will be working on. It’s very straightforward from that point of view.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communication Crafts is very helpful and genuinely wants to do a good job. If their client isn’t pleased with what they’re producing, they aren’t pleased. From a non-technical aspect, I also found it quite surprising how they managed to create on the website the ideas that I had in my head. I find it quite difficult to talk in technical terms that describe exactly what I want.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s always a possibility of miscommunication across national boundaries. Indian companies tend to take things a little more literally than you might actually mean, so clients have to be careful with how they communicate in order to avoid problems. We’ve experienced some minor issues like this. For example, we wanted to create a pop-up guide that displays how the website works to the customer, and that was taken quite literally.

They came back to us with almost a step-by-step guide illustrating which lines to fill and so on. I was actually thinking of a page where we would describe what the icons mean and where the user needs to go to see the results.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They are very practiced in the process they have, and I think it works very well. I don’t necessarily see any issues in anything where they need to drastically improve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is Air Rewards TV and my position is the CEO. We are a social impact business that allows individual content creators to earn money from views on their content that they might not be able to get money from on more traditional platforms like YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram.

What challenge were you trying to address with Communication Crafts?

We had already developed about 75% of our iOS and Android application but needed to tidy up and make some small adjustments, like integrating our new video player and writing a bit more of the app backend in Native programming languages.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’d made all of the infrastructure, but we had to develop our core video player separately from all of that, so the main thing Communication Crafts was involved in was integrating those sides of the product. Essentially, they took out a box with all the tentacles of code joined up to it and put in a new box and reattached all the tentacles.

What is the team composition?

I had direct communication with one of their business executives, their tech lead on my project, and a couple of other more specialized developers working under them.

How did you come to work with Communication Crafts?

I met their team at a trade show in London, and at the time, I was looking for a development team to take over some of the nitty-gritty work from my development team in Poland. They were very proactive in pursuing my business, which impressed me, so I decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The total investment was about $6,000–$8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on the project from about June–September 2019.

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

The bottom line is that we haven’t had any crashes or fails with the program since they got involved in the project. What they built is stable, and I’m incredibly satisfied with the quality of the work that they’ve delivered.

The other element is that they are completely focused on the business relationship that we are developing rather than on making a quick profit. They performed both research at the beginning and tweaks at the end of the project that they have not charged me at all for, just because they wanted to provide as good a final product as possible.  

How did Communication Crafts perform from a project management standpoint?

The guys at the top are absolutely excellent at keeping you up to date and at being completely transparent and honest, which I really like. I also have direct contact with the head tech guy, who has been available for absolutely every element of the process, even in helping me select the third-party provider that we used to produce the video player.

We had weekly calls during the majority of the development process and were communicating regularly outside of that as well. They were incredibly reliable and are in touch with me even now when I don’t have any work for them to do. As soon as we move on to the next stage of our process, they’ve got the gig because I know I can trust them to do a good job with it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I just feel like I’m getting real value and I’m being treated like a partner and not a bag of money. I’m not a big business, so I need flexibility, and they give that. They celebrate the long term rather than the quick win.

Their team also understands that there’s a little bit of time and risk they’re going to take on for me to come back, and the ability to do that is based on the mutual respect between us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really think there is anything I wish they would do differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would just advise people to expect the cultural differences between Indian and UK companies and to be ok with the fact that they will work a little differently from what you might be comfortable with. Start off small and allow them to prove themselves, and they will deliver above and beyond what you are looking for.