As our team grows, we want to make sure you get to know us: here you can meet one of our longest serving members, Nicolas Steip, Creative Director at iytro.
Can you tell me about your professional experience before joining iytro?
After graduating from university where I studied industrial design, I joined forces with two friends and founded an agency. It was called Beyond and the idea behind it was to use our profit to fund other creative and sustainable social projects. We shot documentaries, organized beach clean ups, worked on awareness campaigns and did just about anything you could imagine.
After working on that for a while, I joined a hardware company – I was one of the designers on their team. During my time there, I learned to automate a lot of my tasks which left me with more free time to learn new skills, the main one being web design.
Afterwards, I moved to Paris and started freelancing. I met Jonathan during that time and we started working on a few missions together. From then, one mission led to another and our partnership took shape.
Why did you choose to join iytro?
I had been working with Jon and Phil for some time. When they offered me a full time spot on the team, I felt compelled to jump in. They have a great good cop/bad cop dynamic.
It felt like the right time, too. I think it was the next step in my creative career.
What is your favorite part about working with startups?
Startups are a blast to work with. I regularly learn and discover new things. I think the work I do keeps me creative because it always changes, I'm never bored. My favorite projects to work on are rebrands. I love the challenge of having to reimagine an existing brand.
I get to do about a thousand different jobs when working with startups. I’m a brand designer, web designer, UX designer, UI tester, and so much more. Does your company need a face, voice or animation? That’s where I come in.
What are some common branding or design mistakes that you often see ?
Inconsistency is a big one. Elements like colors, fonts, and logos should be consistent across all branding. Consistency is one of the hardest things to achieve. That is why I exist. Creating brand guidelines that are easy to follow and allow for some flexibility is the best way to ensure that your brand is the same across all platforms and projects.
Among brand guidelines are other topics like typography, white space and spacing. All things which can strengthen or weaken a brand’s image and its messaging. Poor typography choices make content illegible. Crowded designs can overwhelm the audience and lead to visual chaos.
Brands should invest in thoughtful and cohesive design strategies. That way, they can enhance their visual identity, strengthen customer engagement, and create a memorable and impactful brand. A brand should be the same no matter what platform you experience it on.
If you're interested in working with one of our part-time CMOs or becoming one, Get in Touch.
