I was out for a run one day. And I was like, wow, I really wish
there was a cycling studio. It just made no sense
why every time I had to go downtown to take a cycling class.
If a downtown studio came here,
we needed to make sure that whatever came into this community would
cater to the fact that people weren‘t familiar with this kind of
workout, but they weren‘t familiar with the boutique model in
the first place. But I also knew that I lived in this community
and I was invested in making sure that we changed those lives.
I am owner and founder of Harlem Cycle.
We are Harlem‘s first and only fitness studio that focuses
on indoor cycling.
What we’re trying to solve is
the fact that we are this amazing community with such a great vibe
and such a unique culture.
And it‘s not translating to our printed materials
and things that people are seeing out in the world.
As someone who comes with no design experience,
we’re definitely looking
for someone who can kind of bridge that gap for us
and kind of help us take our stuff to the next level.
I was born in Argentina, Buenos Aires.
I have quite a story of moving around a lot.
I worked for lots of different companies.
So like startups and design agencies and, you know, every job I had,
I‘ve kind of filtered out what I really love to do and where
I want to, where I see myself like five years from now.
And really trying to understand, like,
how can I bring my true self and my personality into it.
When I first heard about this project,
it was actually through Instagram. For a while
I‘ve been thinking it would be really great to do something outside
of just my in-house work because
I just really love helping small businesses thrive
and elevating the brand.
When I first met Veronica I was like great,
a woman with spunk,
a woman who tells what she means and means what she says.
I thought, wow, she’s, she’s just like me. Just the artsy me.
So we have the two flyers in the beginning and then we have
an email header. One thing that she really felt is that she doesn’t have
enough marketing assets that feel like their brand.
The first thing she expressed was that she doesn't have
an email banner that brings
the real spirit of Harlem Cycle to life.
So she really wants something that‘s really like attention grabbing
and really shows the heart of the studio.
As the small business owner, I’ve been designer, CEO,
Head of HR, Head of Janitorial Services. I would love to see that,
just that fresh take and that outside perspective.
The conversation I had with her was very important because
I want to understand; what is the emotion behind the brand?
What is the story behind the brand? I also felt that, you know,
needed to understand what the vision, like,
where do you see yourself four to five years from now?
And what kind of values does the brand have?
What I do is I create a deck and I always bring in, you know, the brief.
What is our goal? Then I always have a mood board.
The biggest thing I worked with her was Illustrator.
She was able to look into the Illustrator file all the time. So
that was kind of big. I was actually able to edit things in real time,
which was really important, especially for the color.
As an owner sometimes I’m too,
too emotionally invested in certain imagery and certain things
and certain elements of the brand.
There were moments where she’d send over everything and I’m like,
I don‘t know if I really like this.
That’s always a struggle, being able to provide that feedback
and being able to put it out there on the table.
Each time the rounds came back
it was like very clear that she heard the feedback
and really kind of honed what I really wanted.
It’s always like a good feeling when the client is just happy with the
work and there’s just like small adjustments here and there.
I‘m hoping that it can actually bring more people in
and will give her more business.
And hopefully that will help the community too, you know.
I feel amazing about the designs.
I mean they’re already out there right. Like that’s the true telling
sign is, am I using them?
You know as a business owner
we want to put the best classes out there.
What our customers want is having a place where they feel connected
and having a place where they feel like they can belong.
And so to be able to now put both of those together
and articulate it through visuals is amazing.
It really highlights who we are as a studio and as a brand.
And I love it.