Meet Manuel Leon of Design106 Creative Studio in Fort Lauderdale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Manuel Leon.

Manuel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My name is Manuel Leon and I am originally from Venezuela. Since I was a child I always had a passion for the arts and design and I was fortunate enough to have a family that supported and encouraged my passions. I consider myself an artist and true design lover.

Design106 started in college when I was studying Graphic Design and Advertising at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale as my personal freelance brand. After graduation, I worked for several small and big companies in Miami and Fort Lauderdale but always had the desire to create a studio that produces quality design and where client’s ideas where actually listened to.

During my experience in corporate and non-profit work, I came to the conclusion that high standards in design are often underrated and difficult to find. It is hard to find in South Florida a good quality branding studio unless you have a huge budget.

For a starter business, being able to hire an effective studio is almost impossible so their motivation and success often get blocked. This is a bad recipe not only for clients but also for designers and creatives who get paid very little and on top of that, they are subjected to lose their motivation to work in the creative industry.

Often times big companies do not realize the importance of a good effective branding or web design hence they want to pay accordingly.

When this happens, other smaller companies follow the trend and it ends up hurting both businesses and creatives. You end up with ineffective low quality work for businesses and unmotivated creatives.

When I started Design106, it was with the idea of selling high standard and quality design that would help businesses and creatives alike and that is accessible to both ends. Profitable and effective for clients and motivating and creative for designers.

I partnered with Juan Pablo Toro who like me, is also from Venezuela. We both met over 12 years ago and we had an immediate click for friendship and business. Juan’s is an economist with a master in international business from London South Bank University and an eager and very smart entrepreneur.

As a designer and Art Director, it was difficult for me to manage the business end of a studio and Juan Pablo was exactly what I needed to help me evolve Design106 from a small freelance initiative to a full studio.

After two years of work and growth, we now manage over 30 clients for services that range from only graphic design to full-on branding campaigns. We have over 9 employees and a permanent studio in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

I think our success is due to the strict division of task and better use of our expertise. I take care of all the creative and artistic aspects of our studio and Juan of everything that has to do with business development.

When it comes to our clients, what set us apart is that we ALWAYS listen to what they have to say, take their ideas into consideration and no matter how small or how big we always give it 100% in everything we do. Our motto is ”what we do, we do it right” and we try to live up to it every single day.

Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not a smooth road.

One of the biggest problems we face is the accessibility of the ”Do it Yourself” mentality. Platforms that allow clients to outsource work to designers in places like India or eastern Europe, or that let the client ”create your own website yourself” or ”do your own logo in five minutes” are more an more popular. This phenomenon has fed the idea in people that good design is something that can be really cheap or that anyone can do it an so why should it be paid properly?.

What people do not realize is that by using these type of resources not only they are undermining the industry but they are hurting themselves by acquiring low quality and ineffective design that will not help their businesses grow in the long run.

I consider myself a ”fixer”. A client would spend a decent amount of money in services that are not high standard because they do not think they should go to a studio before trying the internet freelance sites but then once they are not getting the results they need, they reach out to us to re-do it. Only this time, they have already spent half of their marketing budget and then it is hard for us to compete.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Design106 Creative Studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a full-force branding studio. Our services go from branding and logo design all the way to full websites and branding campaigns. We love to create identities. We are literally ”Logo Experts”. We believe in the process of communicating the right message through beautiful design.

One thing that sets us apart is the fact that we listen to our client’s ideas and we always go the extra mile to ensure that what they are getting is truly the best course of action for what they need. That does not mean always saying ”yes” to whatever our clients come up with but instead making them understand why they should take our recommendation and how that is going to help them.

Our clients love our honesty and understand that at the end of the day their success is our success.

Our specific services include:
-Branding
-Web Design
-Graphic Design
– Mobile App Prototyping
– Brand Campaigns

Thanks to our membership-based business model we can offer tailored services to each client at a more cost-effective amount.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Fort Lauderdale and South Florida in general. We think is a niche for amazing things and full with potential in the creative industry. Of course, the sun and the beach helps a lot 😉

What I dislike is the lack of effective public transportation. I believe that once public transportation is improved and really accessible to all it will give the city the feeling of true development it needs and kick-start way more culture and potential.

Pricing:

• Full Branding and Graphic Design Memberships starting at only $100
• Web Design Starting at only $75 a month
• Logo Design starting at only $400

Contact Info:

• Website: www.design106.com
• Phone: 9546391567
• Email: contact@design106.com
• Instagram: design106studio
• Facebook: @Design106Studio
• Twitter: @Design106Studio

Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.