welcome to Studio Simpatico
what we craft experiences that connect with our clients' audiences
Our creative team works closely with you to understand your business goals and target audience and explores how to best express your values, personality, and core messaging via a codified, holistic visual identity.
We believe that effective product design relies on: a holistic understanding of business goals; the ability to empathize with users' mindsets and grok their mental models; and a fluency with technical capabilities and limitations.
Our web design and development process accounts for not only brand and aesthetics, but also strategic marketing, messaging, search optimization, and scalability. We prefer to think of it as designing tools, not pages.
Our UX and planning process involves a deeply collaborative discovery period with content creators and editors to ensure we build them a flexible, dynamic editorial toolkit to fulfill your content and business objectives.
We build fully custom themes using Advanced Custom Fields Pro, and pride ourselves on our easy-to-maintain, intuitively organized, well annotated user interfaces within the WordPress admin area.
who we're children of the internet who love helping our clients' businesses thrive
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Tamara Olson
Owner more from TamaraPrior to starting Studio Simpatico, Tamara spent several years at Google, first as a design manager in Ads, then as the design lead for Google Classroom. Tamara has crafted experiences for Apple, The Paperless Post, and Conde Nast, and in 2009 led the The New York Observer redesign (Webby nomination, best newspaper design). Tamara holds a Master’s from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), and a B.A. from Macalester College, and previously served as adjunct faculty teaching interaction design at FIT. A WordPress and front-end developer, she regularly attends and speaks at Wordcamps around the world.
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Bruce Viemeister
Head of DesignBruce is a passionate designer with a heavy focus on brand identity, web design, and art direction. Starting as a book cover designer and moving into the digital realm, he has experience on both sides. He has worked for small boutiques, in-house startups, and larger agencies both in New York and San Francisco. When he’s not hanging out with his awesome dachshund, Pretzel, you can usually find him building something out of wood, catching a few waves, brewing a fresh batch of beer, or knitting the night away. He loves to learn new things and work with all types of mediums. Bruce holds a Bachelors Degree in Design from the School of Visual Arts.
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Amber Weinberg
Head of Development more from AmberAmber is a front-end developer based in Nashville, Tennessee who has been making websites since the mid-90s when “frames, tables and animated GIFs were the cool kids.” With over a decade of experience running her own business, Amber specializes in creating custom, responsive WordPress themes, and particularly revels in user-friendly WordPress admin interfaces that make content updating a breeze for her clients, accessibility, and code organization and semantics. She has guest written for several blogs (including her own at amberweinberg.com), spoken at and attended events in both the UK and the US. Offline, you can always find her knitting, reading a book, or traveling around the world.
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Mingwei Ma
Senior Project ManagerMingwei is a lover of planning and organizing. After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Trade and Marketing, she discovered her passion for project management and has been helping agencies work more efficiently since then. Although she loves building spreadsheets and organizing chaos, she also loves to pick up new skills in design, copywriting, and more, with the goal of being a more well-rounded team player. In her free time, Mingwei enjoys journaling, spending time with friends, pets, and family, and attending all kinds of fitness classes.
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Evan Thompson
Technical Project ManagerEvan loves crafting efficient coding solutions to interesting problems. Evan specializes in front end development, and focuses on creating intuitive experiences while maintaining accessibility for all users. A Princeton graduate and lifelong learner, Evan loves diving into new frameworks and libraries, reading fantasy novels, and playing new boardgames. He has built multiple web applications, including Scene Partner (a line-learning app for actors) and Draconis Personae (a companion app for Dungeons & Dragons).
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Corey Donenfeld
Senior DeveloperA self-taught developer/designer who loves to learn, Corey writes semantic and organized front end code, dabbles with back end development, and eagerly dives into animation work. Exploration and learning are prominent parts of Corey’s identity, and he is fascinated by extending his creative abilities. Corey likes taking complicated ideas and simplifying them into beautiful and intuitive designs. When he is not in front of a screen, you can find him playing ping pong, hiking, building with legos, baking desserts, or reading a book.
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Angela Huang
Senior Designer & IllustratorAngela is passionate about creative problem solving and works as a designer focused on web design and branding. Previously, she worked as a freelancer with experience collaborating with a wide range of clients to produce designs from digital medium to traditional print publications. She also has years of experience creating illustrations and animations. When she’s not working, you can find Angela creating handmade prints, visiting galleries, or watching movies. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Illustration from School of Visual Arts, as well as a certificate in design from Shillington Education.
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Zeth De Luna
DeveloperSimpatico is excited to welcome our first West Coast team member! A science nerd with an undying curiosity, Zeth loves picking things apart and is on a lifelong quest to answer his never-ending string of "why?" questions. After earning his Bachelors in Astrophysics, he shifted his focus from theories to tech and fell in love with the creative qualities of front-end development. When he's not working, you can find him exploring new foods, relaxing by the ocean, shooting hoops, or training to reach his powerlifting goals.
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Nate Goodburn
DeveloperNate is a developer and designer from Montana with a deep fondness for both math and art. He holds a degree in Physics and Climate Change Studies from the University of Montana. He has worked as a graphic designer and everyday problem-solver, both independently and at design agency Six Pony Hitch, where he developed an adeptness at understanding brand strategy. Never tired of learning, Nate spends many nights flipping between documentation and video tutorials, teaching himself the way things work. He also loves to play guitar, listen to baseball, carve spoons, mix cocktails, and sit in canoes and rafts with those he loves.
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Phebe Pierson
UX Designer & Creative StrategistPhebe is a graphic designer and lifelong New Yorker who loves getting to know clients and projects as deeply as possible. Museums, the streets of NYC, and nature are Phebe's favorite places to soak up inspiration. When she's not at work she's always making something creative, whether it's crochet, dinner, or a home improvement project. Phebe studied at Parsons and has a certificate in graphic design from Shillington Education. She also has prior work experience in communications and the non-profit sector.
why we've worked at the big places long enough to know that we prefer the small
craft
We embrace lifelong learning. We understand that the world and technology are constantly changing, and aim to get out and learn from others in the industry as much as possible.
constructs
We are diligent about deadlines and always aim for transparency and clarity of expectations. But—if processes aren’t working, we analyze, iterate, and make them better.
coziness
We believe the world is a better place with a large number of small businesses, rather than a small number of large businesses. We enjoy the benefits of being small: wearing many hats, concise communication, selective hiring.
clients
We find inspiration in our clients’ passion for their businesses. Working hard to partner with them and produce great work motivates us in a way that empty office perks can’t.
coworkers
We practice common courtesy, empathy, kindness, and respect. We are all teachers and students. When there’s too much to do, everyone grabs an oar and helps out.
creativity
It’s too easy to fall into ‘best practices’ that are actually ruts. To foster true creativity, we prioritize and carve out time devoted to exploration and experimentation.
how no working at arm's length… we brainstorm, imagine, and build alongside our clients
where our team is primarily based in New York City, but we work with clients across the country