Hi guys, this is our new blog. We had many ideas for the first post, but the one that worked best was to introduce ourselves through an interview. So, we had an aperitivo and at the third margarita we were done 😉
In the coming weeks you will know each member of the glueglue™ team.
From Giò, the mountain based developer, to Pino the Spanish illustrator and surfer. Furthermore, we’ll write to you about projects, ideas, applications, web tools, user experience, digital marketing and more to try to share our mindset and spirit of work.
Let’s start the blog with the founders of glueglue™: Matteo, Fabian and Antonia.
This year glueglue™ will turn 10 years, can you tell us how you met and how you got the idea to create a web agency?
“We had no real opportunities to succeed but we really wanted to do something we cared about”
Matteo: Me and Fabian met almost by chance. We had a mutual friend, Luca De Sanctis, and right after finishing the university I found myself refusing a job offer and renting a public housing with these 2 crazy guys. We set up 3 desks and started searching for clients.
We had no real opportunities to succeed but we really wanted to do something we cared about, to express the deep passion we felt for our job. Then we met Antonia, who was essential to boost our business and to get the first clients. We wouldn’t be here If we hadn’t been so crazy and irresponsible at the beginning. You know, youth 😉
What have you learned in the past year that would shape this company in the years to come?
Fabian: 2016 has been a year of changes and revelations. Being a services company we are getting more and more aware of the fact that we need to focus on our team and our people’s personal strengths. This takes effort because it requires trusting talented people to do their thing without interfering too much. Strong and vertical skills are a real asset any service company should focus on to deliver high quality projects.
Your claim is “digital projects for real people”. Can you explain the message you want to spread?
Antonia: A claim shouldn’t be explained, I think. It should be capable by itself to create emotion, clear one’s position, be convincing. Besides, a bit of a mystery should remain in order to suggest to ‘open that door’ and discover what there is behind. So playing hide-and-seek I’d say only this: real people, who project their specific way of life every day, need, in this precise moment of Human History, a digital alter ego to be able to surf in the net and speak the right language with other surfers. In this vision, glueglue™ is your personal guardian angel who can fly in this new heaven.
Tell us how you’ve approached change.
M: Change is a constant part of our job. We work in an everchanging environment from both a user need and technology offer perspective. What is important for us, it’s our vision and approach that is always based on people’s needs. We also believe the respect and the empathy are two key values to never lose sight of in order to be relevant and effective in our daily work.
This year you started mentoring for FTA – the Accelerator for a fashion-tech startup. What is the difference in regards to the American market?
M: We had the chance to approach it only in part with FTA, but from our previous experience we can say that the American market is generally very straightforward and pragmatic. I would say ‘no frills’ as they go straight to the point also when they need to tell you that you’re doing something wrong. We try to take the best out of this approach and combine it with our Italian mindset.
How has the Italian market changed over these 10 years?
A: From our point of view – but I’m convinced that it could be the opinion of many similar communication agencies – we have realized that the gap between the ones who put a real budget on communication and the ones who don’t has widened. I don’t mean that now there is less communication. On the contrary, we’re witnessing a stunning increase of posts, snaps, videos but you need to ask yourself: how much of this stuff is really effective? Our aim is work alongside the clients who understand to the fullest that communication is a job and appreciate it in the true sense of the word. In short: we work for people who want to leave a mark. Who’s making ground noise is not our ideal client.
“we work for people who want to leave a mark.”
Tell us how do you handle the pressure and multiple deadlines?
F: Gary Vaynerchukwould say, the day has 24 hours, you just need to hustle 🙂 Beyond that, it is all about setting expectations: set realistic deadlines in order to be able to meet them. That’s it!
What is your approach to usability?
F: I’d say our approach to usability is all about intuitivity. The easier is to understand an interface, the less explaining will be needed, the faster it will be used, the better the overall User Experience will get. Intuitivity also comes from the “learned” patterns. For example, everybody knows how to use a Hamburger Menu. Besides, the more websites will use this standard, the more people will get used to it. Think of those two simple vertical lines that once had no meaning. Today everybody knows that this symbol means “pause”!
What are you really into outside of work?
F: I like to cook, I go biking and golfing – I want to try all different kinds of sports including the ones that involve me on a mental level. That’s the best way for me to switch my mind away from working thoughts and totally relax!
What’s your favorite portfolio piece?
A: I feel every piece of us as a sort of child of myself… so it wouldn’t be polite to prefer one from another. In fact, the right answer is: ‘The next to be done’.
In one word, describe yourself
F: Hustle!
The weirdest thing a customer asked?
A: The task of designing a book cover whose title is “Thinking God… or the responsibility of a Design Exhibition about Urns. We accepted both and these experiences about Otherworldly Communication made us confident that we can make it… whatever challenge it is.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
M: Doing what we are doing now with a global team made of people with unique skills. To enhance our offer for the companies that love what they do.
We’ll let you work, so to sum up: one word each for your expectations in 2017.
M: MAKE
F: PEOPLE!
A: SOUL
