Studio Malvah

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re launching a chat and social platform. My position is chief product officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Studio Malvah?

They did our full branding and app design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Studio Malvah did our full branding, including our visual identity, logo, fonts, colors, and photography styling. They designed the UI/UX of the app: the chat functionality, feeds, user profiles, and everything else. They also helped us put together a product video, and they’ve made other content for us.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Kallia (Studio Manager), who’s more on the project management side. We chat with her about scoping, costing, timing, and those kinds of things. We’re working with three designers, including one for branding and one for app UI/UX.

How did you come to work with Studio Malvah?

I heard about them through a friend who’d worked with them. The quality of their designs stood out to me, and they also seemed to have good adaptability and flexibility. We’re a startup and are changing things all the time, so working with a flexible team was important.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost is $26,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started engaging with Studio Malvah in May or June 2020, we kicked off the project in July, and it’s coming to an end in late-December 2020. We will work with them on a continuous basis after that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The key deliverables are the UI/UX and brand design files, and those are up to the standard we had in mind. Studio Malvah over delivered on our expectations.

How did Studio Malvah perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been really good in this respect. They missed one or two deadlines, but it was nothing detrimental, and they communicated in advance that they’d be running late. It’s in the nature of design work for scopes to run long.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s their flexibility and adaptability, and the fact that Studio Malvah fit themselves into our team like another piece of the puzzle. They’ve never felt like another outsourced team, but like an extension of ours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The initial scoping could’ve gone better, but that’s difficult to do. Studio Malvah never complained about it, and they’ve been super flexible. I don’t really have something bad to say about them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Transparency is a huge aspect. Studio Malvah is a transparent team as well, so clients should be open and upfront about budgets and timing. We should be realistic with timing. Oftentimes, design people will push to get the job and say yes to everything.