Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Scheel and Dario Lizcano.
“Success is doing what you love and striving to be the best. Success is not about the money you make. It is about the thrill of creation. It is about the relationship you develop with your clients.”
Starting a business and growing it requires desire, talent and — more than luck — tenacity and motivation to face the barriers that come along with it. Alison and Dario had this very clear when they founded yellobee studio in 1998, wanting to implement their own marketing and creative approach to clients’ problems. There was a big desire to bring their signature to the world of design. Everything began when a small environmental firm discovered that the best way to approach some court cases was through the use of easy-to- follow court reports and infographics. Tailoring services to the client, truly caring for each outcome and being able to translate their visions into graphics through this personalized approach became yellobee’s signature.
As with any small business, there were struggles to get new clients, to receive the opportunity to work for the “big” companies, to manage being a parent — but their belief was that if motivation and confidence exist, nothing stands in the way to see a business succeed. Endless hours of work to meet deadlines, little money to hire help … but projects always got delivered on time, within budget and, most importantly, at the highest quality expected by the client. This attention for detail — to strive to provide the best service and quality — were elements that encouraged clients to refer yellobee to others. Business was steady even through the recession years, but there was no growth, there was no clear positioning of the business, and talent was not fully utilized. yellobee’s work was limited to environmental work and a couple of brochures or package designs. In 2012, it was determined that yellobee had to be repositioned and take advantage of new trends that would align with the existing skills and capabilities. yellobee would no longer be a generic graphic design firm, but a boutique studio with areas of specialization, such as infographics and food catalog design. This would allow the desired growth and support the hiring of top designers. Yes, the goal was to grow the business, but never to lose the element that characterizes them: to maintain that one-to-one relationship with the clients. No account managers. No “filters” to capture clients’ visions.
The marketing efforts began paying off when one of the top logistic organizations gave yellobee the opportunity to use their skills transforming complex data into effective sales materials. Those skills were now transferred to logistics — to the development of sales materials where information needed to be delivered in simple but precise terms, and to the development of food catalogs where logical presentation is of the essence. Alison and Dario believe as well that employees are as important as the client as to yellobee. They need to be treated with respect. They need to have the confidence to create, but more than that, to also feel that their work is well-recognized at the professional and economic level. In addition, yellobee believes in leadership and environmental causes, and for many years has been a constant supporter of organizations such as the Chattahoochee Nature Center, GreenLaw and Leadership of Sandy Springs.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Like any business, there have been high and lows. For us, we have faced and survived:
A. Two recessions
B. To have that opportunity with Fortune 500 organizations to do the first job and prove yourself
C. To be recognized as an established business regardless of the size
D. To find committed and well-trained talent
Please tell us about yellobee studio.
yellobee, a woman owned business, was founded in 1998 and is an award‐winning, graphic design firm highly skilled in marketing and promotional communications materials. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, we maintain state‐of‐the‐art hardware and software technology to support the talent and creativity of our designers, who strive to create eye‐catching designs that transmit a clear message. We give our clients personal attention without account executives. yellobee has an extensive client list including Fortune 500 companies, and is a member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Project Management Institute (PMI) and American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).
yellobee specializes in:
- Data Visualization – infographics
• Trade-Show Display/Graphics
• Court Graphics/Technical Reports
• Interactive Presentations
• Brand Identity
• Web Design
• Event Theming
• Promotional Communications
• Package Design
• Catalog and Publications
What we are most proud of as a company is being able to maintain a personalized approach.
What sets us apart from others? For one thing, we are highly creative and able to meet clients’ deadlines with the highest quality of output. For another, we create until the client is completely satisfied with the final outcome. We are a nimble organization.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We would have diversified our target market. We were too focused on service-oriented organizations.
Contact Info:
- Address:750 Hammond Drive Building, 15 Suite 350 Atlanta, GA 30328
- Website:yellobee.com
- Phone:404 375 4897
- Email:dlizcano@yellobee.com / ascheel@yellobee.com
Getting in touch: VoyageATL 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.
