How I became a startup branding addict

On my first day at the Technology University, I never thought I would end up talking about startup branding and strategic design…

During my computer science studies, I found a job as a designer in a Newspaper — that was incredibly fun, I had no idea about all this old-style process for press and how the communication between journalists and designers worked… But I loved it so much that I changed my mind and never went back to the Technology University, despite my love for computers. Instead, I signed up for a degree at the Art School.

Eventually, I finished my studies, became self-employed and, started designing book covers for a publishing house in Barcelona.

In 2008, I decided it was time for me to learn from others and work in a team. I moved to Madrid and started to send my CV and portfolio to studios and agencies. I admit it, I struggled, Madrid was a big city and there were many great designers. I was hungry for work, so I tried a more strategic approach when updating my CV, keeping in mind that hiring people probably received 100s of applications every day. So I narrowed down my CV without compromising the style. It worked, my new CV got immediate attention and secured me a designer position in an advertising agency.

Working at this agency gave me the opportunity to work with big brands like Schweppes, E.ON, or Sketchers, meet exceptional colleagues and everything seemed perfect. Nevertheless, it was not too long after I realized something was not right.

Sometime after, left the job at the advertising agency, sold my car, all other things I didn’t need, and moved to Vienna. So, what’s the plan now? None. I wanted to try new things and let things happen without forcing them… That’s how I ended up in a tiny startup in the heart of Vienna through a girl I met at a house party.

I joined TourRadar in 2013 when the company was only one table and the five of us sitting around it in a coworking space. Such a great time.

It was here when I really got to know how startups work. I was the only designer when I joined the team and by the time I left, I was Head of Brand and Design, leading a multidisciplinary team.

We are talking about one of the biggest online marketplaces in Europe handling hundreds of high-value transactions every day, and the most important touchpoint was their website, which my team and I were designing. Therefore, we had to consider carefully, the type of content, the branding, the flow, the colors… as we could easily screw up the performance by committing one little mistake. High expectations were set, so the only answer and only way to undertake this challenge was Strategic design.

When the company and its brand were big enough to fly on their own, I pivoted my life again and I was up for a new brand and new challenges and went on an explorational 6-month trip to South America, you can read my findings here.

This is how I could really make an impact and put into practice all the learnings I gathered from working with this fast-growing startup, together with the experience I got from the publishing house, working in the newspaper, and designing multinational brands.

So in 2019, together with my 3 co-founders, we founded The Branx, a boutique branding studio for startups. Ever since we have been collaborating with a variety of startups all over Europe — and recently also the US — creating their brands from scratch or revamping their current ones. No matter if the startup is still super-early stage or already a scale-up, we make ideas happen and turn them into market-ready ventures.

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