By DAISY SAMPSON daisy.sampson@theresidentgroup.com
In the current economic climate, tales of redundancies and businesses folding are rife leaving many who once had secure employment having to look in new directions for work.
Designer Suzi Steinhofel, herself a “victim of the crisis” has now left Atelier do Sul, a company she dedicated 25 years of her life to, and is now focused on her own design company where she is fighting to prove that Design Works!
Based in Boliqueime, Suzi is now running Design Works! offering clients a design consultancy service working either in person or via the internet.
“I am going back to basics with design now and offering three different services to clients; a design service, consultancy service and also a design course,” she said.
Working with Atelier do Sul, Suzi had been used to dealing with large national and international companies who were looking for complete design services.
However, she has now changed her target market to reflect the changing face of business, especially in the Algarve.
“Instead of targeting the larger clients I used to deal with I am now looking at smaller businesses to design anything from stationery, leaflets and business cards to logos, emails and web sites while also offering advice on the best route to achieve their objective,” she added.
Guidance
Design Works! originally began when Suzi Steinhofel realised a gap in the market in dealing with small companies in the Algarve.
It was while attending an Algarve Women´s Business Network meeting that Suzi saw the possibility to utilise her design talents outside Atelier do Sul.
“One of the members stood up and said ‘advertising doesn’t work’ and it was at this point I decided to make it my mission to prove that good design really does work, hence the name Design Works! was created as a statement of fact and later adopted to front the business.”
She added:” When I saw the example of the advertising being used by the member I had to agree that she was right. In her case she had wasted her money because the piece was so poorly designed and targeted that it was just not productive, however with a little advice and guidance every business can make design work for them.”
As part of Design Works! Suzi is currently writing her own design course aimed at small business owners who are looking to do the majority of their own design work. The course will be held over four days and is to cover everything from the basics design principles to the psychology of advertising.
“Design works when you know what you are doing. Everyone wants to produce their own design these days to try and cut down on costs but simply having a computer and some clip art does not make for a good advert or promotional material. After all, if you don’t have the knowledge of a surgeon you wouldn’t perform an operation would you?”
If you would like further information about the services offered by Suzi Steinhofel and Design Works!, please call 917 203 850, email
design@suzisteinhofel.com or visit www.suzisteinhofel.com
(available in English).
