FAQ page

No. I operate as a freelancer and independent consultant. I do have a registered company for administrative reasons (e.g. fapiao’s in China). 

Operating as a freelancers gives me the creative freedom to take on limited projects at a time in order to deliver results within the agreed time frame.

Remark: Freelancer does not mean FREE. I do conduct my operations as a business and hope you respect mine as much as I will respect yours. 

I am currently based in Shanghai (and have been for the past 11+ years) and cater to clients from all over the world. 

I strategically chose to be active in a very wide range of disciplines – from strategy to brand identity design, to UI/UX design, in a very diverse range of sectors.

I find there is a lot of added value in this approach as I can help my clients better recognize a potential pivot and/or differentiate within their category by understanding other categories.

I choose to operate as an independent for the same reason as being multi-disciplinary made sense; I don’t want to be limited in my creative thinking.

Everything starts from the strategy and ideation. From there on, it can result in anything: a concept development, visual identity, a packaging, an app, an experience, a product or a totally new business model.  

Short answer: I do not work on hourly rate. 

Nuanced answer: I do about 95% of my client work on either project fee or small retainers. For projects that simply require creative direction and consulting, a custom hourly rate can be discussed (this rate never included actual design work unless mutually agreed upon). 

Yes you can. 

Short answer: Yes. On average each project taken on is about 90-95% executed by me. If outsourced assistance is needed, it will be communicated to the client upfront. 

Nuanced answer: For projects that require a skillset outside of my wheelhouse, I will work with personally verified freelancers in order to deliver the complete projects (e.g. app development and coding)

No, this is a curated selection of what I’ve worked on.

There are many more projects either equally interesting if not more but protected by an NDA, which I respect. I regularly work with agencies or studios and this is common practice. 

There are also some projects of which the outcome was not satisfying enough to me to enclose, but it was to the client, this happens.

Every last week of the month I make a shortlist of projects for the month to come. I vet each project for fit and evaluate things like your company’s approach to brand, team mindset, culture, and ambition. If these elements align with my approach, the chance is higher that we’ll succeed together. 

I have stopped working with clients simply for the sake of their budget or brand. This is not the right mindset for either fo us. If we do decide to work together, it will be because we BOTH worked equally hard to make the project a success. 

Yes, you and your team will have to put in the work as well. 

I am not for everyone, but I might be for you. 

You should do so only if you see fit and feel comfortable with this. 

My added value is in understanding the commercial value of building a brand (and the equity that lies in consistently building this over time) and not simply the artistic aesthetics.

I also have skin in the game when it comes to building brands as I put my own money into bootstrapping my own brands to test industries I deem interesting. 

I help clients build instruments not ornaments. But this means I also expect my clients to have done their homework on the status off their brand and where they want it to go. If they need help with this, I am more than happy to offer so. 

I deliver solutions that are functional and valuable to clients (now and overtime) who are ready to see the value of branding and not just approach it as a “center aligned 300dpi-move it to the left-make it pop” approach. 

Unfortunately, I am not a remote tool for your creative direction. Trust me. I tried and it DOES NOT WORK.

The hardest part of launching a business is beginning. You need to find the brand idea that’s right for you. Yet, it’s the most important step. Finding your business idea is like examining your DNA.

Entrepreneurs brand the time between coming up with a business idea and having a successful start-up as “The Valley of Death”

This starting period is the most valuable time you will ever have as an entrepreneur. It’s the time when you can create tremendous value out of nothing. You’re creating a new product or service where there was none before. You’re positioning the brand so it can stand out in the marketplace. You’re creating intellectual property with a brand name and with your brand’s look and feel. You’re starting to build a reputation for the new brand and for Brand You. You’re developing tangible assets such as your product, equipment, and even real estate.

I can help you with this by structuring the idea into a strategic blueprint to approach the brand as a business. From this step we evaluate the budget to create the visual identity of the brand. Not the other way around. 

You probably know what’s best for you and your company at the moment. I am not here to convince you to spend it on xyz. 

My job is to show you the value in possible solutions to help you to get where you want to go a bit more clear and efficient or to simply help you discover the right solution to a chronic problem.

If you still feel you’re not ready, you can simply hire me for a Discovery Sprint. 

This is a small scale workshop with lower commitment, where both of us engage and focus on a specific problem and see how we work together to create a suitable solution.

Yes. 

Clients who start with brand identity soon face the challenge of needing ongoing assistance in growing the brand and its equity across new touch-points. For this I offer the option of  “WellPal Beyond” as a consulting and execution service. 

“WellPal Beyond” can be used for ongoing work (outside of the scope) like art and creative direction, video production, photoshoots social media design, brand and business culture alignment, graphic work, product extensions, packaging design and production, branding company environments and more.

For some of this ongoing work I will tag in suitable verified freelancers specialized in the respective fields in order too bring you the best possible solutions.

Under  “WellPal Beyond” I can be hired on a rolling weekly or monthly basis.

Short answer: Yes

But this will be highly dependent on the scope off the project and team behind it. 

If you are not willing to hop on a video call to discuss details regarding full scope projects, I will not be the person for you.