Maven shines in Today article
We’ve recently been featured in a Today article saying lots of nice things about who we are and what we do.
The journalist behind the piece, Niki Gower, follows Maven’s progress from those first days designing websites for friends on the living room couch to where we are today – a fully-blown creative agency offering a complete mix of services and media solutions across web, TV and print.
The article tells the story of how ‘the Maven footprint has found its way into the identity of some of the country’s renowned brands and after seven years of operation has been instrumental in the progression of the media industries in Seychelles.’
It also mentions our work on the new Cable & Wireless website, our latest running TV commercial and even how we wove a little Maven magic in the new Eden Plaza.
Checking out that article will give a pretty good idea of where we’ve been and where we’re heading.
Maven: The creative agency raising the bar in Seychelles
Specialising in creative Design for Web, TV and Print
By Niki Gower
Some of you may not have heard of Maven, but most have surely seen the contribution this creative agency has had on the development of the quality and aesthetics of media in the country. Quietly working behind the scenes, the Maven fingerprint has found its way into the identity of some of the country’s most renowned brands and, after eight years of operation, have been instrumental in the progression of the media industries in Seychelles.
If you have used the new Cable and Wireless website, seen the new Cable and Wireless “Flex” advert (among others) on SBC or visited a few of the shops at the new Eden Plaza, then you have no doubt experienced the creative and professional touch that extends from Maven’s Providence design studio.
A visit to their studio and you will find a tranquil space filled by the gentle clitter-clatter of computer keys as a relatively young team build digital bridges between their clients and their intended target markets in a balanced mix of creative and technological expertise that has proved a winning formula for success – not only for Maven, but for the clients that they work with.
Established in 2005, the tale of Maven is a story of success, which began with a laptop, a couch, a hobby and quite by accident. TODAY in Seychelles met up with Kosta Todorovic, the company’s founder and Managing Director, to find out more about the series of fortunate events that has led the company to be one that is at the fore of its field in the country.
“Although my university degree in Computing Science and first job were very tech-oriented I was always keen on art and had pursued it throughout my secondary education. The love for both technology and art was probably the key catalyst for the company that Maven is today,” explains Mr. Todorovic. “When I quit my first job and set up Maven I really did not know where it was all heading. I was only 23 years old and I probably didn’t think things through very much at the time.”
So how then did Maven come to be?
“At the time the Internet was a booming platform and I happened to be experimenting a lot with web design as a hobby. One day a friend of mine suggested that I make a website for his father’s small yacht charter business. This, my first commercial website, turned out pretty good and the client was very happy and impressed. His word of mouth alone was enough to get a steady stream of new businesses looking for my services,” explains Mr. Todorovic. “Before I knew it I had a fairly constant stream of new customers for whom I was making websites - and the basis of a small web design company. I believe that this is the first lesson I learnt in this industry. That if you deliver a quality product or service then there is nothing more powerful in advertising than word of mouth.”
However it didn’t take long for Maven to progress from web-designs created on Mr. Todorovic’s living-room couch to expand into other areas of the media industry.
“I quickly realised that with the ever increasing workload which was now spanning from day to night I needed reinforcements. Not to mention how hard it is working in your house where the fridge and television are only a few steps away! I contacted some school friends who I knew and trusted and who were in and around the same type of industry and a small team started to take shape,” continues Mr. Todorovic.
Fast forward to 2013 and Maven is now offering clients a complete media solution that starts from initial conception and ends with final production, allowing the company to take control of the entire process and ensure that their high standard of service delivery is carried through from the client’s initial meeting through to the delivery of the finished package.
“As the team grew Maven’s capacity to take on bigger projects increased. With the expertise we had it was a natural step to expand into other media platforms like Print and TV. We now offer a full suite of creative services across various media platforms from studios in both the Seychelles and in Europe.”
The latest piece in the Maven puzzle was the recent purchase of the technology and equipment that will now allow the company to do its own in-house wide-format printing – ensuring that their high standard of design is realised in the final print product.
“We ended up with a lot of frustration not being able to control our own production. We would spend a lot of our time with our clients and perfect something and then take it to production and we get let down – the quality may not match or it’s delivered late – but it always comes back to and reflects badly on us. We wanted to maintain the Maven level of product and service,” explains Mr. Todorovic.
“We now have the facilities to take a given product or service, create its logo, build the brand around it, design the ad campaign for it, and then push it in print with magazine or banner adverts, on the Internet with websites or social media, and on TV with video commercials. All under one roof,” he concludes.