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This past April, Simpatico turned 10, and yours truly turned 40. (Pause for dramatic effect.)
Professionally and personally, aging can be scary: there’s a gnawing fear of being “past your prime,” out of touch, that you’ll be passed over for something sexier and shinier.
Or not. Or … for intellectually curious folks open to change and reinvention, aging brings a dogged confidence and self-awareness. Pattern recognition abilities from years of experience with a laser-focused sense of self.
Ten years in, Studio Simpatico’s sense of self has never been stronger. Who are we? We’re a boutique shop of intellectually curious, kind, thoughtful, sharp digital creatives. A design studio that cares a lot. We care about each other, the work, maximizing our time, and about helping our clients thrive. We authentically try to do the right thing, and make the work and ourselves as good as it/they possibly can be.
I enjoy running a business, but it doesn’t hold a candle to how much I enjoy being part of this authentic and soulful team and working with our inspirational clients. I’m so proud of everything we accomplished this year, and eager to see what 2025 brings. It just keeps getting better. Happy new year, everyone!
Winter
As the new year kicks off, we’re thrilled to launch not one but two significant website overhauls for two New York City nonprofits with incredible missions doing incredible work.
The first: the Natural Areas Conservancy (NAC), a nonprofit dedicated to preserving New York City’s natural landscapes. We embarked on a comprehensive website redesign with the goal to create an attractive, user-friendly platform that would effectively showcase NAC’s mission and initiatives. We developed a sleek, nature-inspired color palette and incorporated their extensive collection of photographs, bringing the city’s natural beauty to the forefront. The result was a website that not only engages visitors but also empowers NAC’s team to manage content with ease.
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The second: We worked with Urban Pathways, a leading nonprofit addressing homelessness in NYC, to overhaul their digital presence. Recognizing the diverse audience they serve—from potential donors to individuals seeking assistance—we designed a fresh, intuitive website that communicates their mission with clarity and compassion. By refining their color scheme for accessibility and selecting typefaces that balance professionalism with warmth, we crafted a digital platform that reflects Urban Pathways’ commitment to hope and solutions.
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As winter turns to spring, we partner with TF Cornerstone on one of our favorite projects of the year: bringing their new property management platform, Portico, to life. The engagement begins with naming and branding, where we collaborate to create “Portico”—a name that evokes the timeless elegance of New York architecture. The brand identity features a clean, architectural logo and a refined mix of Gotham and Reckless typefaces, striking a balance between tradition and modernity. Next, we design Portico’s website, weaving in subtle nods to blueprints and architectural design. Neutral tones with vibrant accents and curated photography showcase the platform’s functionality while maintaining a polished aesthetic.
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Always looking to diversify our toolkit, at the end of the season we take our first stab at using Webflow: a small site for NYC nonprofit West Street Garden.
Spring
Simpatico’s work isn’t just about working with new clients: we’re also proud to continue supporting over 30 retainer clients, helping them evolve their brands and website features. For Big Green, we’re excited to support their Big Green Bus initiative by building a bus tracker landing page. We’re thrilled to see this initiative featured on the Today show on Earth Day, April 2024!
In April, we meet and partner with the delightful marketing and design team over at ClassPass to help bring their “Best of 2023” feature pages to life.
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Energized by our ongoing partnerships with nonprofits, but also pondering how our committed partners can make a difference in 2024’s challenging fundraising climate, I decide to make a trip to Chicago to attend the Classy conference. The conversations around the lack of community in today’s estranged world leave me wondering if there aren’t more effective ways for technology (and those of us who create it) to contribute. I leave with lots of questions and not a lot of answers. That said, on a lighter note, I do appreciate the job Classy did with the event’s cohesive branding.
Summer
Not long after I return to New York City, I have the privilege of attending Hunter College’s graduation ceremonies and cheer a little too wildly as six-year Simpatico veteran Corey Donenfeld graduates with honors. Congratulations, Corey!!
And before we know it, the design contingent of Simpatico is off! We’re California-bound … to attend the Config conference in San Francisco.
In addition to collecting as much cutesy, colorful swag as possible, we immerse ourselves in myriad sessions contemplating what the advent of AI will bring to our workflows, toolkits, and projects, and ruminate not just on its possibilities but also its limitations. We also find plenty of time for team bonding, Bay Area exploration, and delicious food.
When we return to NYC, we waste no time moving everything in our lives over to Figma Slides … and taking advantage of their dope features. (Shoutout to Father Bruce for introducing us to the Polls feature.)
As the AI-pocalypse continues, our small-and-mighty team continues exploring how these new tools and features might improve our work and productivity. While they may not be saving us a lot of time just yet, these tools do a decent job of making us laugh as they attempt to summarize our vital workplace meetings and conversations (see below).
Late summer also brings us exciting engagements with two insurance tech companies (thanks to friends from our Haven Life days).
First, we collaborate with Fieldtech, an insurance tech startup, to build their brand from the ground up. Our work includes refreshing their logo, developing a full visual identity, and creating a marketing website that positions them as a modern, professional, and tech-forward company.
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We also partner with the Ridgeback Group, an exclusive, invitation-only community of firms dedicated to enhancing the services provided to high-net-worth clients and advisors, as their development partner to help bring their website design to life.
In September, there’s more great news on the personal Simpaticos front: our Montana developer Nate is engaged! I happen to find myself in Missoula in early September, and have the privilege of celebrating the happy news with him and his fiancée over frosty Cold Smokes.
October ushers in a wave of exciting launches and new client partnerships, but it also brings bittersweet news: Mingwei, who has served as our rockstar project manager for the past 2.5 years, is moving on to her next chapter. I’m sad, but also proud. I always hoped Simpatico would be a place where aspiring creatives could grow, learn, refine their craft, and eventually springboard into enriching and sustainable careers. Mingwei’s departure is a testament to that, and we celebrate her next chapter with gratitude for all she’s contributed to our team and clients.
It seems downright fitting in light of Mingwei’s totally awesome tenure that a few months later, we celebrate her completion of a literal marathon.
And that’s not all … in more happy news, we find out when she returns from an incredible trip to Iceland that our wildly talented designer/illustrator Angela is engaged!!
Autumn
Autumn ushers in so many launches that, quite frankly, we don’t time to document them as case studies. (We promise we’ll get on that in January!)
In no particular order, we celebrate the following:
The Henry Luce Foundation advances knowledge, fosters leadership, and enriches public discourse through innovating grantmaking and programs. We work with our favorite colleague Jakki (formerly of Girl Be Heard) to refresh the foundation’s visual identity and website to reflect their evolving role as a hub of thought leadership and innovation.
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WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing) is a global network dedicated to improving the lives and livelihoods of informal economy workers. We partner with them to undertake a large scale migration of their site from Drupal to WordPress (including supporting their multilanguage needs with WPML), while refreshing their site’s IA and visual language.
Lastly, we team up with long-term client Subscribe (an international fintech platform transforming alternative investments) on one of the studio’s largest brand engagements to date, along with a website overhaul. We balance the trustworthiness of a classic investment firm with a tech-forward edge through bold typography, a refined navy and mint green palette, and sleek, modern design elements. The new modular WordPress website delivers a streamlined user experience, tailored messaging for diverse audiences, and dynamic client showcases. Alongside the site, we develop a suite of branded collateral, ensuring Subscribe’s identity is cohesive across digital and print channels.
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Winter
We barely notice as autumn transitions to winter, because the large-scale launches continue!
We partner with Oshi Health to modernize their brand and completely rebuild their website. The visual refresh introduces an approachable, professional look, while the new website creates a seamless, user-friendly platform that highlights their services and patient success stories. The result is a polished digital presence that reinforces Oshi Health’s leadership in virtual gastrointestinal care.
We also partner with C.A. Goldberg, PLLC, , a pioneering victims’ rights law firm, to revitalize their brand and overhaul their website. Specializing in cases against big tech and powerful predators, the firm’s new digital presence reflects their cutting-edge approach and commitment to justice. The modern visual identity and user-friendly website enhance accessibility and effectively represent their dedication to advocating for victims.
Lastly, we embark on a particularly fun naming and branding project with the team at Track C Incorporated (the folks behind Showtunes Theatrical). While we can’t reveal the details just yet as the project is in stealth mode, we’re so excited to continue our work with the team and unveil it next year.
And … that’s a wrap!
NGL, it’s a sprint to the holiday break this year, but we manage to wrap everything just in time, and are excited to break for a restorative and celebratory two weeks off.
To the next chapter! 🥂
