Paul x Wade

This is an interview with Alt Black CEO and Creative Director Paul Gonzalez. Alt Black, formerly Studio Black NYC, has been around since 2012. Up until 2019, Alt Black had worked with some of the most well-known brands in the market like Samsung, Nike, and Audible. However, in the spring of 2019, Paul had an incredibly rewarding experience working with two passionate founders of an early stage startup in NYC. These projects captured Paul’s attention, not because they were household brand names (far from it in fact), but because these founders were driven to make a major impact in their respective industries. 

Since then, Paul has chosen to focus Alt Black’s entire business model on “designing the future” for visionary startups looking to push the boundaries of what is possible. The very nature of modern day startups is to seek alternative products, services, and solutions that impact the world, so founders will enjoy this interview of how Alt Black can make a difference too.

The following is a transcript from an interview recorded between Alt Black’s Chief Strategist, Wade Morris, and Alt Black CEO and Creative Director, Paul Gonzalez. 

Wade Morris 

Hey Paul, thanks for taking the time to give the startup community an introduction to Alt Black.

Paul Gonzalez 

Yeah 100%, I love what we do for startups and startup founders so I’m excited to talk more about Alt Black.

Wade Morris

Awesome! I’m equally as excited to let the startup world know more about Alt Black because most of the startups that we have talked to over the last several years have talked about the cultural fit being a very important factor in working with a design partner. So could you tell the founders a little bit about you and Alt Black?

Paul Gonzalez 

Absolutely, so I’m Paul Gonzalez. I’m a Puerto Rican-Ecuadorian American. I grew up in Florida, and now live in New York City. I’m a very family-based person, and overall, as the years have gone by, community has become a very big thing for me across the board in almost everything I do, from the company to even my extra curricular activities. I have communities professionally and I’m even a professional salsa dancer on the side and that has a whole community within it.

Building relationships is also very important to me and I love helping people, so I combined my passion for design and community, established Alt Back and surrounded myself with a team of talented Latinos who also love design. I think the culture we’ve been able to create has had a positive impact on our quality of work and relationship with our clients. It’s certainly a contributing factor in 70% of our clients returning for more work.

Wade Morris
Awesome. So culture is kind of like the identity of Alt Black. I love it! Now, one of the things that was super attractive for me starting with Studio Black was the large brand experience that you guys had but making a pivot to only working with startups. I kind of know the story but I’m sure many people would love to know why you decided to leave large projects with Samsung, Nike, and Audible and shift your entire business model to helping startups design the future?

Paul Gonzalez
Yeah, why startups? It’s always a question. I remember working with these large clients and just the layers and layers of just approval, like you had to get like six approvals from six different stakeholders and it would take a month to change one color on a button. It was exhausting and very difficult to make a significant impact within an established legacy brand. What I really wanted to do was make a studio that truly impacted a business. Businesses that were at the forefront of their industry. I wanted to design the future, especially for the world of tech startups. It’s exciting to be a part of the conversations that shape the brands of these new technologies. It’s also fun to work with passionate founders who are die-hards for what they’re doing. 

Wade Morris
Nice. Yeah, I completely agree. Founders always seem to wear multiple hats too. You’re trying to get a start up off the ground and in the beginning you’re not just the founder, you are a salesperson and you’re maybe some kind of makeshift designer and marketing person and you do a bunch of different things, maybe some development. I think that might be also an interesting kind of perspective to share knowing that most startups we work with have small teams with a lot of needs. So how does Alt Black help them? What sets Alt Black apart?

Paul Gonzalez
I think there’s a couple of things that sets us apart. The first is that the overall quality of work is on par with the standards of New York City and Silicon Valley, but without the big brand price tag. In terms of the ever-evolving needs of startups, we’re an agile team with a full-time staff of 20 highly talented designers, developers, project managers, copywriters, and brand strategists. Because we have clients on 4 continents, we have to be very efficient and responsive. Startups require constant and clear communication and we have the experience and global portfolio to meet their needs.

One more thing I would like to add regarding our team is that we are 99% Latino. This is important to me because when I worked in many of the top design agencies in NYC, there were only a handful of Latinos, but never represented in leadership roles. I had always wanted to start my own design studio and hire, develop, and promote talented Latinos in the US as well as Central and South America.

Wade Morris
I agree. I love our team. Very diverse backgrounds and just a fun but professional work culture. Ok, I want to come back to a motto that you love to share with our team and our clients. “If your company is impacting the world, your brand should reflect it.” I feel like that quote speaks to the type of clients that choose to work with us and also speaks to the core of what distinguishes Alt Black from other agencies. Can you talk more about this?

Paul Gonzalez
Yeah, it’s interesting because I believe that startups find us at a very specific time. They’ve successfully tested their product or service in the market and they find themselves at an intersection of growth potential. Many have not really invested in quality design whether it’s visual identity, a website, or application. They have been successful up to this point because of their talented team and innovative product. They may have invested in an MVP or worked with some freelancers but they haven’t really thought about the brand overall. But they just raised a new round of funding and need some direction. Many early stage startups think of design as just aesthetics, and don’t realize the importance of aligning their entire visual system with their values and brand strategy. 

And this is where we come in. We meet startups where they are at and help to put their suit and tie on. Our job is to first understand their business and their 5-10 year goals. Once we have established those key goals and metrics, our strategy team helps to develop or redefine their brand identity. This is very crucial not just for establishing a measurable vision and mission but it will be the foundation for defining the positioning and messaging strategy. Once the verbal identity is approved. Then, my visual identity team creates a cohesive visual system and graphic language to speak to the customer. 

Wade Morris
Yes, I think having that comprehensive and collaborative approach really sets us apart. Now, I know that when we ask startup founders what’s most important to them — they say pricing. Is the number one factor. Sure, there are other things, but they always come back to pricing. Founders want to know that design is worth the investment. Why is it so important to invest in a visual identity, website, or app that matches their business goals and vision, rather than just getting something nice out there?

Paul Gonzalez
Yeah, I think that question comes with experience. It really depends on what stage they are in. Sooner or later investors are going to strongly recommend them to establish their brand because the most common language we share is visual. The look and feel and especially the consistency of that look and feel determine whether a company is taken seriously or not. If you are a pre-seed startup then I do not suggest you invest heavily into branding. A small agency or freelancer would be fine. Otherwise, invest in your brand now both from a strategy standpoint and from a visual identity perspective or you will have to constantly change as you grow.

If you’re a startup founder and are looking for design that scales, then it’s especially important that your positioning strategy and visual identity consider the next 3-5 years at the very least. We strive to make your strategy and visual identity forward thinking. It needs to look and feel like it’s from the future, not just on par with your competitors or industry in general. Most of our clients stress the importance of looking and feeling trustworthy, and certainly that’s always accounted for, but where Alt Black shines is helping startups to evoke a curiosity and excitement from their audience.

Wade Morris
Great answer. So, this might be a great question to close out here. You love talking about the future and how Alt Black is on a mission to design the future. What I want to know is what are you most excited about for the future of Alt Black and are there any particular areas or industries that you think are going to be a big thing in the future?
Paul Gonzalez
Yeah. First, of all we are very excited for the new rebrand. The transition from Studio Black to Alt Black. It’s been a long time coming. I felt like in the last two years we’ve outgrown the name because our services have changed. Now, we offer strategy, development, UI/UX, prototyping, copy and content writing, social media, audience development, etc. The word studio started to feel limited because we’re now partnered with larger startups. Because of our growth our team is growing. The diversity of the team is growing. 

In terms of the future of industry, there are a couple of spaces that we’re super excited about. 

First, the AI space. There’s unlimited possibilities in AI space. A lot of our clients, even in the early days, are in the artificial intelligence space. Originally, AI spanned a handful of industries, but now they are from all different sectors, from fintech to cargo ships, to medical. Obviously, the fintech and cryptocurrency space must continue to evolve with the ever-changing economic climate as well as the transition to Web 3 technologies. 

I think my favorite overall is virtual reality. This is one of our fastest growing verticals and between VR, AR, and XR, this is a whole different landscape for designers to think about. It becomes more about the user experience. Branding will be more about what you do and how you do it versus how it looks. A very dynamic and engaging visual identity. And this is going to continue to challenge Alt Black to stay ahead of the curve. 

Agencies will be forced to adapt to the market, and that’s great news for startups. Even the advertisement space is moving towards click through experiences as opposed to static graphics. As you said earlier, Alt Black is super agile because we pivot as fast as our startup clients. At the end of the day, we want to impact the world and we are very optimistic about the future.