Amanda Reid, founder and lead designer of Mandarina Studio. I have over 10 years of professional design experience with a strong artistic background. I am skilled in branding, typography, editorial design and web design – providing a full spectrum of services to meet your needs. http://eworldexternal.com
Mandarina Studio is an award-winning Boston-based graphic design agency providing branding and marketing services for clients throughout the country. We partner with our clients to craft businesses that are united with meaningful messages that attract awareness and hold interest from potential customers.
Mandarina Studio’s signature style fuses together a unique mixture of clean aesthetic and hand-drawn illustrations. With a firm focus on the aesthetics of the label, we are able to produce eye-catchy and memorable brand identities while remaining easy to read and accessible.
As an award-winning design agency, we have joined forces with some of Boston’s top advertising agencies including Friend + Influence, AXIS, and Patrick Barry Creative. We also enjoy working with nonprofits as well as small businesses looking for custom design services in order to communicate their branding messages effectively.
About Amanda Reid Founder and Lead Designer Boston-based Mandarina Studio :
1. What makes your business unique?
Mandarina Studio is unique because we specialize in packaging design. In addition to our branding design services, Mandarina Studio has the knowledge and experience to apply our creative approach to package design, editorial layout and brand identity.
We can also provide marketing strategies in each of these areas. We truly have a holistic approach to graphic design — merging the varying elements into cohesive solutions that are user friendly and visually appealing.
Our passion for artistry extends beyond packaging design into other aspects of our business including branding, editorial layout and web design. We can provide a full spectrum of creative services to meet our clients’ needs. Mandarina Studio has had the opportunity to enjoy many successes in areas other than packaging design, including receiving awards from the AIGA NY, Type Directors Club and Print magazine for branding design, editorial layout and packaging designs.
2. Who is your target audience?
Because we are so flexible in our approach to graphic design, we can work with a variety of clients — from small startups to large corporations. We work with advertising agencies as well as small businesses looking for custom graphic design services in order to communicate their branding messages effectively and with style.
3. What inspires you?
People. My love for people is one of my most important inspirations — they are the reason I started Mandarina Studio. I appreciate the value of a human touch, and I believe that every business should be built upon interpersonal relationships. As well as being an inspiring source of ideas, our clients reciprocate this feeling by providing us with wonderful feedback and support!
4. What do you want to achieve in your career?
I want to achieve my goals through my work! Our team is great — we all share a passion for what we do, and we work together as a team toward our common goal: to help businesses succeed through excellent design solutions. I want to grow Mandarina Studio into an agency that is known for design excellence and integrity. I’m not just in this for the business – I’m in it for the work.
5. Tell us about your design process, step by step.
Before beginning any project, we conduct extensive research of the client and competitive analysis. We then outline our goals and define the target market in order to establish a platform upon which we can start designing. From there, we present several concepts to the client and refine until they are satisfied with the direction we should go. Then, after completing the design work, we pass it through internal quality control before presenting it to our clients.
It is very rare that we don’t receive positive feedback. This lets us know that we are on the right track!
6. Your best piece of advice for ambitious design students.
Keep your priorities straight! It is very easy to get caught up in projects that don’t move your career forward. Don’t forget the important things in life — family, friends, a healthy lifestyle and good health — because you can’t design if you are sick! Make sure to keep your stress level at bay and prioritize your health over everything else in life.
7. Our advice to young designers.
If you are interested in design, do it — don’t think about it and play it safe. I have always had a passion for art and design, and I am so glad that I didn’t wait on the sidelines to see if it was “safe” or if the timing was right. If you have a passion for design, just do it – you won’t regret it! Also, make sure to collaborate with other designers or build strong relationships with fellow creatives — having that support system is very important for young designers who are just starting out in their careers.
