I’m Sholom Ber (aka SB) Efune, an independent US based designer, specializing in Brand Strategy, Brand Identity and Web Design, working to help transform ambitious startups and businesses, into solid brands.

I’m Sholom (aka SB) Efune, an independent, US based, Strategic Brand & Web Designer, working to help transform ambitious startups and businesses, into solid brands.

From the bigger picture, to the finer details, from strategy to design, I combine the best of both worlds, by delivering comprehensive, strategy-led branding and design solutions, that provide a firm foundation for taking your business to the next level and marketing it more effectively, with confidence.

strategy
design

intro

Yes, thats me

I’m Sholom Ber (aka SB) Efune, an independent US based Strategic Brand & Web Designer working to help transform ambitious startups and businesses, into solid brands.

From the bigger picture, to the finer details, from strategy to design, we combine the best of both worlds, by delivering comprehensive, strategy-led branding and design solutions, that provide a firm foundation for taking your business to the next level and marketing it confidently.

I’m Sholom Ber Efune aka SB, a US based Brand Identity & Web Designer. I provide comprehensive and strategic brand design solutions that enhance both credibility and impact, thereby contributing to your success. Got a project in mind? Lets do it.

Services

01
Brand Strategy

Brand strategy involves discovering what truly drives your brand, as well as its goals and values that help shape brand culture and experience. It also involves gaining a deep understanding of your audience, the competition, and how to differentiate your business from the rest. It involves defining a brand personality, tone of voice and creating messaging frameworks that resonate and appeal to your target audience.

Brand strategy is not only foundational for informing all potential design directions, it is also essential for any marketing efforts to be effective in the long term and is key to gaining brand clarity.

Deliverables Include:
+ brand Purpose
+ Vision & mission
+ brand values
+ brand positioning
+ persona & voice
+ messaging frameworks
+ naming & tagline
+ brand roadmap

02
Brand Design

Brand Identity design, with the logo design at its foundation, also involves creating a distinctive visual style to be applied across all brand touch points, ensuring that your brands appearance and expression is always on point, in alignment with its essence.

Brand identity design is what makes your brand easily identifiable from the competition and can also increase your brands impact, trust and credibility if implemented correctly and consistently.

Deliverables Include:

Brand identity
+ Moodboards
+ logo design
+ color theme
+ typography
+ image styles
+ icons & graphics
+ patterns & textures
+ brand styleguide

Brand application
+ business cards
+ stationary
+ promotional items
+ marketing materials
+ signage
+ social media graphics
+ digital touchpoints
+ and more

03
Web Design

Stand out from the rest with cutting-edge, fully custom and responsive web design and development that is crafted for a great user experience. Effortlessly manage your site and update dynamic content with an easy to use content management system.

A good website can be a powerful sales and marketing tool, like having a salesman at your business shopfront 24/7 that can be accessed from anywhere, while you sleep. The goal is not just to have an attractive website, but ultimately one that is designed and optimized to bring more value to your business.

Deliverables Include:
+ web design strategy
+ content strategy & copywriting
+ wireframes & prototypes
+ web design & development
+ landing pages
+ domain name & hosting
+ content management system
+ client training & support

process

Process

SWIPE
01
Discover

This is the initial stage of any large project and involves discovering and learning about the project in a general sense, whether the project is doable in terms of timeline, budget and capabilities, as well as more in-depth exploration as to what the project entails in terms of vision, objectives and scope, along with any necessary research required.

02
DEFINE

The ‘define’ stage is essentially boiling down and fine tuning what we’ve learned in the discovery stage, to a clear and comprehensive project brief. In addition to having a shared objective vision of what the goals are in a written brief, certain projects may also require creating highly focused mood-boards for attaining a shared visual alignment.

03
CREATE

It’s only at this point actual design work begins. The design process often involves lots of sketching and sometimes mind mapping before moving to the actual design software. Web design projects include making the site architecture, content strategy, wireframing and prototyping, and design mock ups, before moving into web development.

04
REFINE

Once a design is presented and selected, it’s normal and expected for it to go through a refinement phase based on client feedback. The refinement phase is  the clients contribution to the project but feedback is always carefully considered by making sure it aligns with the project objectives. A productive refinement phase ensures that the refined version is even better than the  initial design.

05
DELIVER

Once all the work is complete, all final files are prepared and shared with the client via dropbox. In the case of a branding or a web design project, some initial upkeep and assistance with applying the branding correctly may be required. Often times, finishing a project leads to the beginning of something new. Ultimately, the design process is not linear - it's cyclical.

01
Discover

This is the initial stage of any large project and involves discovering and learning about the project in a general sense, whether the project is doable in terms of timeline, budget and capabilities, as well as more in-depth exploration as to what the project entails in terms of vision, objectives and scope, along with any necessary research required.

02
Define

The ‘define’ stage is essentially boiling down and fine tuning what we’ve learned in the discovery stage, to a clear and comprehensive project brief. In addition to having a shared objective vision in a written brief, certain projects may also require creating  focused moodboards for attaining a shared visual alignment as well.

03
create

It’s only at this point actual design work begins. The design process begins with a lot of sketching and sometimes mind mapping before moving into the actual design software. Web design projects include making the site architecture, content strategy, wireframing and prototyping, and design mock ups, before moving into web development.

04
refine

Once the initial design is presented and selected, it’s normal and expected for it to go through a refinement phase based on client feedback which is always carefully considered by making sure it aligns with the project objectives. A productive refinement phase ensures that the refined version is even better than the proposed initial design.

05
deliver

Once all the work is complete, all final files are prepared and shared with the client via dropbox. In the case of a branding or a web design project, some assistance with applying the branding correctly may be required. Often times, finishing a project does not mean it’s the end but rather leads to the beginning of something new. Ultimately, the design process is not linear - it's cyclical.

Faqs

What is the purpose of branding?

Branding is essentially the art of managing and influencing public perception. A significant part of that is achieved through design, but in truth, every aspect of your business has a role to play for branding to be truly effective, from messaging, positioning, values, persona, experience and more. Successful branding is when the people perceive you exactly as you want them to - in perfect alignment with what you are all about.

Some branding benefits include:

1) Differentiating yourself from competitors, thereby increasing chances of customer recognition and being more memorable

2) Having a consistent look and feel that breeds trust and increases credibility which evokes the buyers confidence in what you’re offering

3) Helps your audience get to know you and people are more drawn to and like that which they know, thereby enabling a connection on an emotional level

4) Creates loyal customers and is tailored to reach the people that make up your target audience

5) As brand perception improves, people will be willing to pay more for what you offer, since they are already emotionally invested in your brand.

In summary, branding can help you charge even more people, higher prices, for a longer amount of time.

Is having good design a guarantee for success?

Good branding and design can make a good business better. However it cannot make a bad business into something good. At best it can fool people for a while, but ultimately, your success is up to you.

Do you do marketing as well?

No, but while we are on the subject it's important to understand the relationship between branding and marketing as there is some overlap and they could be classified as two sides of the same coin. 'Marketing' tends to be more executional and revolves more around getting your message 'out there,' But it's branding that establishes who exactly our target audience is and what the message should be.

Marketing without branding, could be effective in the short term at best, but if you are in it for the long run, then investing in branding is the way to go. In summary, both are needed but ideally branding should come first as it's foundational.

How do I know if it's time for a rebrand?

Some reasons for considering a rebrand include:

1) Your current branding feels misaligned with what your business has become
2) Your branding was never even done before
3) Your business is transitioning into something new / different - whether it be a new industry, niche, product, or target audience
4) You're not attracting the right clients
5) You're having difficulty charging the rates you want
6) You're having a hard time standing out

What do you charge?

There is no 'one size fits all' answer to this, as every project is different and comprises many variables which effect pricing.

Final quotes and payment terms are tailored for each project and agreed upon before project kick off.

Whats your turnaround time?

Chances are, regardless of industry, having a good website will be considerably beneficial to your business in one way or another.

Can't I just build the website myself?

Sure you can, but I would only suggest doing so under the following conditions:

1) You have no budget for it

2) You have the time for it

3) You think you have enough creative and technical ability to pull off something half decent

4) It's something you actually want to do and will enjoy it.

Wix or squarespace are a good place to start, though by now there are many such DIY site builders out there.

That being said, when a budget does become available, or you find yourself with less free time to spare, investing in a professionally and strategically built website is the better way to go.

Whats so good about webflow?

I work with webflow for standard projects and sometimes squarespace for smaller projects. While wordpress continues to power a significant percentage of sites, the design possibilities webflow allows, is unmatched. In addition, webflow site maintenance is a breeze, complete with a user friendly content management system.

However the first stage is to find the best platform to build your site on. It's entirely possible that your site requirements will be better served with a wordpress site, in which case I could refer you to web designers that do work with wordpress.

Why are you so cool?

Haha no ones ever asks me that :)

In addition to the above, I also offer brand & web design audits, as well as content strategy and copywriting assistance for web-design projects. For anything else design related not mentioned above, feel free to inquire.