La Visual

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a people-enabled technology platform in the logistics space. Essentially, we’re an intermediary between truck drivers, carriers, and shippers. We coordinate the transportation of goods. Our shippers send us orders, and we find carriers to move those orders.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual?

The main function I hired La Visual for was to help me articulate my differentiation strategy in the marketplace, and develop a brand essence and brand promise. I also needed them to create a name, logo, artwork, and a pitch deck for investors. I had a concept of what I wanted our business to be, but it wasn’t functioning. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

The beginning was really just a full branding of my idea, taking my thoughts and vision for the type of organization we wanted to be. Then distilling that into a brand that resonated with the three major stakeholders: drivers, shippers, and internal employees. It was really a branding exercise from conception to execution. Beyond that, La Visual built our website, worked on API integration, and CMS integration. They are managing our entire visual marketing campaign and currently working on promotional materials.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact for branding work is Dain (Chief Creative Officer, La Visual). He has a team of people with him that focuses on artwork, copywriting, and social media. Tyron (Head of Client Relations & Brand Strategist, La Visual) and Brian (Managing Director, La Visual) negotiated what the scope would be and the cost associated with it. I also have a project manager.

How did you come to work with La Visual?

I picked a few branding agencies to explore working with in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I had interviews with five different people, after which I flew to Los Angeles and had an interview with La Visual on site. I felt very comfortable moving forward with them. I was frank with La Visual about paying for all of this upfront, by myself. It was an investment I was making into whether or not this business was viable. If it worked the way I believed it would, I had no concerns whatsoever that we’d get our first round of funding. Things didn’t go as smoothly in San Francisco because those teams weren’t expecting me to be starting from the ground up.

How much have you invested with them?

I have spent $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019 and the relationship is currently ongoing.

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

There are a few things. I pitched an idea to an investment group, and that idea was backed up by a tremendous amount of market and demographic research, as well as explanations on how to reach those demographics. The quality of the presentation netted me a $2 million seed investment. That’s quite a bit for not being in business.

I was able to hire three executives from other companies, who had each been at those companies for about 12 years. The presentation from La Visual was so eloquent that I was able to convince three executives to take less money and come work for my company.

Beyond that, everyone I’ve met that knows anything about startups can’t even fathom that we had our first meeting in January, didn’t get money until July 1st to actually start business, and were operating less than 90 days later. La Visual was a very big part of that. I’ve been in business for four and a half months, and our run rate is $8 million. We have a goal of tripling that over the next 12 months. The proof is in that. We have built the business from nothing to what it is.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint?

I found it more effective to adapt to their style of work rather than the other way around. Sometimes it was hard to schedule a meeting with them because their creative people didn’t come in until 10 a.m. They communicated mostly through email.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, picking up the phone would’ve solved things faster than back and forth emails. In that regard, I’d encourage them to understand how their client is. From the beginning they told me this would be a very different experience for them because they’re not accustomed to having a sole point of contact. Their clients have teams of people, and email is used to ensure that those teams are all brought into the loop at the same time. Since it was only me, I think they could understand how a phone call might be easier.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If the client hired them to do a job, they should just let them do it their way.

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I run all of the digital and content marketing programs at Digital Shadows. We’re a cyber security firm focused on external threats to businesses.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual? 

We were looking to redesign our website. We wanted to uplevel the brand and make it look more modern to help us stand out in the industry.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

La Visual started by doing web design and a full website rebrand. We then pulled them in to help with development work as well. They developed different templates and provided them to our web developers to apply on our WordPress site.

Next, they assisted another team wanted in creating a booklet based on the new website branding. La Visual helped design a small booklet about our industry that we can use at trade shows.

What is the team composition?

My main contact is our project manager, Kaitlin (Project Manager & Cause Marketing Strategist, La Visual).

How did you come to work with La Visual? 

We’d previously used smaller firms in trying to keep to a smaller budget. We realized that those firms weren’t up to par with what we wanted. We needed a partner that could think outside the box and get us a step ahead of the competition. We did extensive online research of top technology and SaaS companies to see who they were using in terms of web redesign vendors. 

How much have you invested with them?

I estimate we’ve spent $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

Work started in May 2019 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We've seen an increase in web traffic since the engagement began. The projects are technically complete but we plan to continue with them as a partner. They’re just such nice human beings. The whole La Visual team is so down to earth and willing to go the extra mile. They’re awesome people to work with.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint? 

La Visual’s project management is awesome. They’re on top of meeting all deadlines thanks to great communication and fast responses from the project manager. She’s always willing to hop on a call no matter the time of day. That’s so important because we're a global company that works closely with a team in London. One day they were online for practically 24 hours with us in order to meet a launch deadline.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Their project management skills and super clear communication really stand out. La Visual is very organized and willing to work hard. They’re able to give us the modern look and feel that we’re looking for. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, there’s nothing I can say. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

It’s important to have an open communication path. Always get good feedback so that there's not multiple rounds going back and forth. We use Slack as a tool so that we can be messaging them throughout the day.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Lucrum Real Estate Group.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual?

Our old brand didn't encompass what we were selling or the type of client we were targeting, so we wanted to rebrand our company. We were looking for a vendor to help us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we met and discussed our business and the challenges we were facing with the old brand. Then, they did their own research and a competitive analysis of our industry. They also helped us identify our ideal client. After that, they started developing a new brand and designing a new logo and print materials. In addition, they're helping us with website development and our sales deck.

What is the team composition?

I work with 2–3 members of their team.

How did you come to work with La Visual?

They were referred to me by one of my team members. We were impressed with their presentation, so we decided to give them a chance.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

The response from our internal team has been very positive. The new brand will enable us to work with other types of commercial real estate rather than limiting us to just apartment buildings.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint?

We had some small delays, but I was the reason for many of them. Even though it was a bit challenging for both of us to jump into the project and figure out how to keep the ball moving forward, we resolved those issues successfully.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I feel confident trusting their expertise and their recommendations. They back everything up with data and research, which helps us make decisions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're juggling a lot of projects, so it'd be great if they had another point of contact who is familiar with the project to help them with time management. They mentioned to me recently that they're hiring another project manager, so they're already addressing this issue.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a private money lender for non-owner investment properties. We provide short-term loans for individuals who hope to fix up properties and then either sell them or refinance with a conventional loan. I’m the director of communications.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual?

Our company is very young and in a niche market. We operate under a parent company but wanted to increase brand awareness and solidify our brand identity outside of our family of companies. We wanted to put ourselves in front of the right audience and hone a consistent and authentic image, voice, and tone for our messaging.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We just started our third project with them. The first was setting out our brand development and organizational alignment. We had a series of workshops with their team and our company’s stakeholders. Then, they went through a questionnaire process to get executive perspectives and a clear understanding of the brand. After that, they did an audience analysis through face-to-face interviews with select group of employees and a survey for the rest of our team. They analyzed the cultural perspective and got our internal point of view.

When they finished their research, they presented their findings and moved into a strategic phase. They set our taglines and messaging and built the final deliverable: a brand bible. It includes our word bank, messaging house, global corporate mantra, unique statements, and an assessment of our mission, vision, and values. It’s 100 pages long and is a very thorough reference for both internal and external use.

They also created a digital platform for the product identity we created and are currently working on deployment of our new brand identity. That includes a new logo, new colors, and a fully updated aesthetic.

What is the team composition?

Brian (Managing Director, La Visual) is my main point of contact, but I communicate with at least four team members in total.

How did you come to work with La Visual?

I worked with the founders when they were working with another company in 2005, right around their founding. I worked closely with them and really enjoyed the way they worked and communicated. They gave us great results, so I recommended them when we started this project. We went through a very thorough vetting process and interviewed about four agencies. The stakeholders liked them best, so we began working together.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first engaged with them in September 2017 and started the project that December. Because of the level of stakeholder involvement on our side, the branding was completed in July 2018. La Visual is still working with us.

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

We haven’t officially rolled out the final deliverable, but the brand bible is complete. We will publish it in the next few months, once we make sure the identity is solid and our stakeholders agree to all its points. We’re engaging La Visual throughout the launch process and they are helping us collect more internal feedback.

Employees are excited about the process, as it’s created a fun energy and something of a cultural phenomenon internally. They’ve set up a good environment for feedback and really mirror our corporate values. We’re a young, energetic, dynamic company and they mesh well with us.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint?

They are excellent project managers. They provided a very clear outline of the scope and broke everything down into phases. We knew what each phase would entail and how long it would take. They gave us transparent cost estimates and sprint boards to show each milestone of the project.

They were very easy to talk to, flexible, and accommodating. They went the extra mile to work with our stakeholders’ busy schedules.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They went a long way for our team and are wonderful to work with. Our senior director of marketing says often what a privilege it is to work with them. They provide an immense value to our organization and we learn something every time we meet with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

RGR LLC is an investment company that invests in fitness studios. I work with our investors as part of a software development team.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual?

Our investors were familiar with my background in software development, so they asked me to join the technology section of their software development team. As fitness technology advanced, treadmills grew capable of gathering user performance stats in smart ways. We wanted to take that data, get it into the cloud, and send it to our customers. However, we needed a way to get this across to our consumers. As a result, we approached La Visual to help us solidify our brand in addition to designing a website that could convey our services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, they collaborated with us to define our branding guidelines. They interviewed customers and internal stakeholders to better understand the business. Once they solidified our identity, they provided everything, from the visuals, logos, and colors to the naming, tone, and emotional part of our company. They’ve since moved on to the website portal. We’ve gone through the storyboards, and, now they're working on the wireframes.

What is the team composition?

Since the beginning, we’ve worked with their two founders: a software engineer and a creative designer. We also work with a person who does strategic design and coding as well as a fourth person who does marketing and customer support. The marketing lead serves as our primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with La Visual?

I’ve known the founders for a long time, and they did some work for me in the early 2000s. One of their founders worked for me as a software engineer. When I joined RGR LLC, I reached out to them to help us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2017, and the work is ongoing.

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

Though the website has yet to launch, they delivered the branding in April. Their work was outstanding, and they came up with a unique name for us. We set up a demo studio with some of our treadmills to show off the branding. Customers came in, tried out or equipment, and exercised. It was a limited exposure, but the feedback was positive. Additionally, we had a research trial to test the brand with a group of people, and they were very happy with it.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint?

Their detailed process allowed them to propose a strong branding direction. They reached out to us consistently and often held meetings to show us their progress.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve done really good work, and we’ve had no issues per se. However, any talented company should think about scaling up. I don’t know how many people they have, but I wish there were more of them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is On Assignment, and we specialize in matching qualified contractors and candidates with clients and companies that are in need of freelance, part-time, or full-time help. We work primarily with professionals in IT, life sciences, and creative services.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual?

We needed outside assistance in rebranding nearly every element of the company. We wanted a new visual identity spanning our website, business cards, collateral, stationery, etc.

What was the scope of their involvement?

La Visual conducted research into our industry, our audience, and our competitors before starting the design. They have a have an interesting design approach. Once the behavioral research and psychological work are completed, they hold an open brainstorming session where all designers in the company freehand sketch ideas, and they quite literally put all of them up on the wall of the conference room and begin to narrow them down. It’s safe to say that every employee of La Visual contributed to our project.

What is the team composition?

There was a research team headed by their director of research. There was a project manager that made sure we stayed on schedule, and there was a team of designers.

How did you come to work with La Visual?

I went through a review process of five prospective firms and narrowed it down to one. La Visual came recommended to us from two different points. First, from a member of our peer group, and secondly, we asked the team at a creative staffing company we own about which designers they liked in Los Angeles, and La Visual came up there too. We chose La Visual to be the partner and design resource.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in October or November of 2016 and wrapped up in February of 2017.

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

There are fewer things more challenging than rebranding an entire firm, and it is virtually impossible to please everybody because there is a certain amount of emotional baggage when a logo has been in place for 15 or 20 years. However, La Visual provided a great brand illumination study, and the care and concern they gave to the design was outstanding. The vast majority of the company is quite pleased.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint?

The key project manager gave me all of his personal contact information. If and when issues came up, I could email, text or call, and they were very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When companies look for branding work, they focus too much initially on design, and they don't focus enough on why, and I would say without hesitation that La Visual is a design and branding partner that forces the client to think about why you're doing it and who you're doing it for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We can always do things quicker, but even with the time it took to do it, they were probably as quick as they could be.

Any advice for potential customers?

A lot of companies come in with a predisposition for a color palette or design style, and those may not match the identity of the audience. Be open to La Visual’s design process. They do a great job of identifying the persona of the audience. Clients will have to let go of their personal biases and embrace their ideas.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and co-founder of LemonShark Poké, a quick service franchise restaurant.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual?

We had our company’s name, but we didn’t have any branding, logo, or even color scheme. We needed to sell franchises, and the design teams we’d previously worked with hadn’t come up with anything good. We were in a hurry to get branding material together, so we began looking for experts in the area.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our store is more sophisticated than a typical poké restaurant, and we wanted that to come across in the branding. We’re more of a Japanese styling than Hawaiian, which we call tropical modernism. We told La Visual that we drive dinner traffic and do beer and saké, and they used those details to inform our brand.

La Visual presented three different profiles, and we chose which we liked most. We then iterated on it until it became what we wanted. They ended up giving us two products: a branding book and a set of website guidelines. We gave those to a website developer who used them to build our site.

What is the team composition?

I initially worked with one person to figure out the proposal and project timeframe. After that, I worked with a team of about four people. The design lead was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with La Visual?

We found them through an online search. I liked their work and their past partners, and they were close by. Their price was competitive, and they were willing to work in a time crunch, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–April 2017.

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

I’m completely satisfied with their work. A huge part of our company’s value is tied to people’s response to the branding, and we’ve gotten amazing feedback. Before we began working with La Visual, we only had a few franchises; now we have 180.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t have any project management issues. They communicated via phone and email, and they were always on schedule. It was a great experience.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their office had a creative and design-centric feel. The whole team deeply cared about design and branding.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The more details you can provide them about your company, the better they’ll be at helping you achieve a strong branding.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing director for an entrepreneur who works in different businesses, including petroleum, convenience stores, and car washing.

What challenge were you trying to address with La Visual?

We needed help with naming some of our business projects, as well as logo and branding development. Those needs have evolved into website and mobile app development as well.

What was the scope of their involvement?

La Visual provides branding strategy, including designs for logos and other materials, as well as help with the naming convention of a couple projects my boss has become involved with. They've built a website and an app for one of our companies that's expected to launch later this year. They also conduct thorough competitor research and analysis as needed.

What is the team composition?

We work with Braven (Founder and Chairman, La Visual), Brian (Cofounder and Manager, La Visual), Dain (Partner and Director, La Visual), and a graphic designer. Dain is our main advocate on branding and Brian handles a lot of our day-to-day communications. Braven periodically meets with us and touches base with my CEO in regards to new opportunities and projects.

How did you come to work with La Visual?

I found them online and reached out to their team. As an entrepreneurial company, we're scrappy so we like that they're not a huge corporation and can be more resourceful and understanding of our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay them on a project by project basis, but are considering a monthly retainer model. Compared to other vendors, they're very competitively priced, as well as somewhat accommodating to our budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together a couple years ago and the relationship is ongoing.

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

We've been very satisfied with their work overall. Their efforts have helped us better understand consumer behavior so we can create more effective branding solutions. We've certainly been able to leverage those efforts to earn more revenue.

How did La Visual perform from a project management standpoint?

We haven't had any issues reaching them. I can text Brian if I need immediate help and he's very responsive. They're well-rounded and skilled in a variety of areas—you don't find many agencies with such broad abilities. They take a tactical, strategic to approach to each brand they work on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very strong in many core competencies, which is hard to find. They're also accessible and genuinely care about their work. They understand both marketing and technology inside and out.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent and allow them to do what they do best. Also, be open to their ideas, because they're good at balancing the creative aspect of their work with critical business elements in mind.