ABOUT ANDREA, FOUNDER
I am one of the lucky few who have a career that I love.
I’ve had quite a few stops along my 20+ year design career journey. I’ve been with companies whose industries are video production, hair care, food and beverage (for both humans and pets), fitness and wellness. I’ve been a full time employee and a freelancer working on both the brand- and agency-side. People have hired me to take photos of their events, and I’ve been my own product photographer for design projects.
Being a people person means I really do care. I build relationships wherever I go and with whomever I work because it’s just in my nature. Understanding and respecting those around me, whether it business or personal, enables me to grow and strengthens my compassion. As a creative professional this allows me to know the right questions to ask and soak in various points of view without ego, resulting in meaningful, impactful and successful design.
I realized this was my best quality. That’s when I decided to start Pataro Studios. I believe successful design comes from the human interaction and understanding between the artist and the blank canvas that is the client.
METHODS FOR DESIGN
Communication is king! At Pataro Studios, we believe this should stand true for life in general, but let’s focus on design for now.
Not everyone has a vision. Our patience and understanding of this fact helps the lifecycle of a project become smoother and more time-efficient.
Even if you do have a vision, our first goal is to pull those ideas out of you using various methods. This can be using words, colors, visuals, vibes - anything that inspires. We’ll gather and showcase this collection of inspirational things as a theme or set of themes and have a chat about it. What do you like, what don’t you like, what should we remove or add, etc.. This allows us to know we’ll be on the right track from the beginning and not just designing things WE like, that you may not.
We continue by presenting rough drafts of design options and through constant communication and iteration we create something wonderful, together.
METHODS FOR BRANDING
Pataro Studios defines "creative strategy" as a plan to develop a design, brand or idea that serves a specific purpose or a set of purposes. This is where we start. Who is the audience? What insights do we have on their needs? Who else might be trying to develop this same strategy, and how do we stand out? While these are questions marketers or business partners ask themselves, they are very relevant to visual executions as well and at times it becomes the driving factor.
We start by taking a few leaps back to view the proverbial forest, ensuring the brand becomes a true ecosystem. A system where each design decision–large and small–positively affects the next. We view brands as a living entity just as the people that use them. We understand that since people evolve, the brands they love should be on that same evolutionary journey, building a memorable consumer experience with proven results.
METHODS FOR LEADERSHIP
A successful creative endeavor needs an experienced creative leader, so hiring Pataro Studios for consulting work provides a solid, reliable hub for all the spokes of a design project.
We can act as your one go-to creative director who manages the project’s team of in-house designers, freelancers, influencers, agencies, production artists, writers, web developers and photographers (the list goes on!). This can be your team, a team assembled by Pataro Studios or a combo of the two.
Our understanding of the end-to-end process is key in presenting realistic goals so there are no unwanted surprises during the lifespan of your project. This relieves stress on teams and keeps the project moving.
We have experience in building and maintaining relationships with non-creative functions such as R&D, operations and external vendors, giving us valuable background info that can help in making feasible design choices. If they can’t build or produce it, we won’t waste your time designing it.
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work with many types of brands, people, organizations and companies, however, ones with a positive mission, that strive to make us better at being humans, that lend a hand, who are proud of their humility and are accepting of others have a very special place in our heart.
Pataro Studios thrives on doing research to learn new things and taking on new kinds of projects. If you’re unsure if your creative need is within our wheelhouse, we hope you ask! We’ll always be honest and upfront and we love making new friends.