Lazaris

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and creative director of a B2B creative services firm. we mainly focus on photography and video.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lazaris?

I needed someone to help me develop creative for my clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with them for over six years, so we’ve done many projects together. Generally, I bring Alex (Founder, Lazaris) on set as an art director to guide the shoot and put his flow on the work.

One example was a magazine project I had featuring high-end, CEO-type individuals for one of the most profitable private banks in the country. I was a bit underwater on the shoot with creative, so I booked him and we went into the studio a few different days to scope out a visual game plan and execution plan.

What is the team composition?

I just work with him. That works better with my process since my clients are smaller.

How did you come to work with Lazaris?

I met Alex at a meeting of the American Institute of Graphics Arts (AIGA) event. I’d been invited by a creative director I was doing art direction for. There was a mentorship event, and I connected with Alex immediately. He was still a year away from graduating from college, but I started teaching him about my process. We connected intuitively.

One thing I value about working with Alex is that he’s energized and properly engaged. I’ve hired a lot of creatives, and most of them are offshore and deliver inconsistent work. It feels good to now to have a partner that brings his flow to the process and keep us on task to deliver.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since April 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My business model is forward-facing with the client, so Alex generally sits back and I feed him tasks to execute. I’ve always had great feedback from clients, though. And, I’ve never gotten anything negative back about his work.

How did Lazaris perform from a project management standpoint?

He does extremely well. My process isn’t that sophisticated; I don’t’ have a 10-deep team. It’s organic and tailors itself to the needs of the project. Alex is detail-oriented and far more-process oriented than I am. He’s got a following in the design and world and is known as someone to watch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

He’s like magic. He’s inquisitive and never stops learning and gaining new experiences. He’s constantly barraging me with new creative and suggestions things we can try on our next project. It’s this great energy that keeps him looking for new ideas to incorporate into what he does. If you expect him to do one thing, he’s going to do three things. He’s never not met expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can add. He should just keep doing what he’s doing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust him and trust the creative. He’ll get you there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run a 3D visualization and product design firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lazaris?

Alex (Founder & Creative Director, Lazaris) is a creative and strategic partner in my branding and marketing work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For each of the businesses I own, we’re collaborative partners. Alex is responsible for driving a lot of brand strategy in each instance. However, he also delivers creative, graphic products, including animation work. He works with UI across different media so we can articulate the brand through many different deliverables. 

Lazaris created a go-to branding strategy for a furniture business that I own and operate. Alex has been critical in providing strategic guidance and feedback on marketing for that business. In that way, he functions outside of pure creative work.

Similarly, with my 3D visualization business, he offers strategic guidance and designs. We’ve partnered on a few projects so far. Now, we’re targeting specific market segments like the CBD market and trade show technology work. For instance, we recently did some work for a motorcycle helmet and safety company. 

What is the team composition?

Primarily, I collaborate with Alex.

How did you come to work with Lazaris?

We originally met through a mutual friend. Later, I found that we were racing motorcycles in different classes of the same organization. That brought us back together, and we’ve kept in touch ever since. After he left his previous job to start Lazaris, I partnered up with him. I was looking to try something different. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started collaborating in June 2019 and still work together. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Without his help, it would be very difficult for my company to go after larger projects. Since working with Lazaris, we’ve probably doubled or tripled our revenue. We offer one value stream and Lazaris fills in the rest. So, we provide a component of the branding package, and they take it from there. 

My visualization services are very specific, but when you wrap it up into a larger context of branding strategy, it starts to make sense for potential clients. Lazaris’s inclusion in my projects generalizes visual effects and photorealistic rendering enough for us to tackle bigger and better things.

How did Lazaris perform from a project management standpoint?

He’s a very talent project manager, understanding that organization is key. If we weren’t able to collaborate in an organized fashion, I wouldn’t keep working with him. He’s been able to shift my engineering-minded operational style, too, which has been really helpful when working with clients.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The branding solutions he delivers are unique and unexpected. I’ll suggest an idea, and he’ll come back with something that builds upon it. He’s able to translate concepts into high-fidelity deliverables. I think that’s killer.

Additionally, he’s a talent brand photographer. He does many of the shots himself in his studio, bringing brands to life in an interesting way. On top of that, his attention to detail is incredible. Once, we had record shots rendered with the incorrect green, which was off by just a few values. He was able to catch and correct the issue to most effectively convey the brand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything for him to improve upon. In our partnership, we have an interesting way of diverging and converging ideas to find the right path for a project. In terms of zeroing in on execution, he’ll squeeze every ounce of thought out of a concept. Maybe that part of the process could be a bit more efficient, but that phase also always yields good results.