SKEPPER: Rooted in creativity, Driven by Individuality

“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of a bad design.” – Sir Ralf Speth, Automotive Executive, CEO, Jaguar

If this statement doesn’t convince you on the essentiality of good design, just look around. Will the flowers be as attractive as they are, minus their symmetry and color? Will the mountains be as enigmatic as they are without those rough yet perfect curves and edges? Will the things and brands you admire be as attractive as they are minus their shape, size, logo, color etc? To keep it simple, design matters, whether it be a natural product or a man-made one.

To make a perfect product is one part of the battle that a company fights, to make a perfectly designed product is another crucial part that influences the consumer’s preferences. Many products win consumer preference not just because they are made right, but also designed right. And this designing part needs people who are skilled in combining business with creativity, intelligence with what’s relevant, and a big-picture thinking with detailed execution. The Living proof to this is SKEPPER, an ‘agency’ that is different, looks different and most importantly works differently from the status quo.

Be Different to Bring a Difference

SKEPPER is a full-service agency that works with game-changing brands and inspired companies. Its core strategic engagements are designed to deliver results, from branding that breathes life into a company’s story, to platform design that fosters engagement and campaigns that drive consumer action. Whether you’re just starting or evolving your brand, SKEPPER will help you grow. With specialties in campaign conception, high-level Visual Design, Impressive Video Making and flawless Web & App Development capabilities, it always delivers top-notch work for its clients with strong attention to details and creative execution.

SKEPPER was established with the belief that it will always honor its commitment to the clients, the partners, its knowledge and creativity by inspiring with its work. The framework of its business and fabric of its culture are rooted in this belief; this is what enables it to continuously go One Step Further.

When Creative Minds Come Together

Binoy S Parakat is Principal and founder of SKEPPER Creative Agency. The company’s Co-Founders include, Anoop, the Director of Design, Yasser Aarafath, the Director of Digital Solutions, and Ranjith, the Director of Animation & VFX.

A branding expert with 20 years of dedication to the craft of creative problem solving, Binoy is currently leading SKEPPER as Chief Creative Officer. Back in the early 90’s Binoy used to visit his Uncle’s design studio where he was using conventional spray painting and typesetting process to design. He got fascinated with his work and decided to pursue a career in graphic design. His uncle Mr Rajagopal mentored him in the graphic design business and he was part of his company for around 12 years before starting SKEPPER in 2013

Binoy’s approach towards brand development is very straightforward, ‘immerse yourself in the client’s business and industry, then deliver a strategic brand creative that produces meaningful results.’

His ongoing success in the field of creative development has produced award-winning materials for many brand-driven clients including Novo Nordisk, Mylan, AstraZeneca, Zydus, Abbott, Rittal, Muscle & Music, Vacxigen. In addition to the details of the design world, Binoy also holds love and a strong grasp of brand storytelling through visual identity and video production. When not focused on client work, Binoy continues to experiment with several other hats including that of a photographer, a cyclist, a trainer and an organic farmer.

Points to Ponder

The key to a great receipe lies in its ingredients. At SKEPPER, to develop great content, the team focuses on the following points:

Discover: Getting the right answers begins with asking the right questions. While there is no predetermined process for creativity, excellent work is born from a true understanding of where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going. SKEPPER’s in-depth discovery process means no stone is unturned and every opportunity is explored.

Outline: The data assembled should be synchronized to an undeniable strategy. As an outline, it characterizes points, parameters and the work calendar to accomplish the same within a period.

Create: Great work doesn’t just ‘happen,’ it’s born out of inspiration, trust and collaboration. The company is renowned for its readiness to explore; to break; to experiment and then put it all back together. Doing this sets the bar for a direction that is blindingly crystal clear and most importantly, applicable to you.

Deliver — The creative must be fine-tuned, repeatedly in the minute element before the final execution, to deliver a quality output excellently presentable.

Overcoming Adversities

There’s barely a journey that goes without a few glitches. The designing industry, albeit a growing one, has its fair share of challenges in the following form:

Huge manpower requirement: The Indian graphic and communication design industry is on the rise. There is an increasing need for graphic communication in modern-day commercial activities. With growth expected in this field, there is also a huge quality manpower requirement.

Too much competition: One of the biggest challenges faced by graphic designers is the toughness of competition. There is a plethora of graphic designers and every year the crop is increasing humongusly. Many of them start their enterprises adding to the competition turning graphic designing into a low paying job. Though opportunities are many, the oversaturation in this field is deterring the quality of these opportunities.

Presence of low-cost freelancers: Companies have got multiple choices in the form of freelancers from all across the globe through different platforms. The freelancers and beginners here bid for the projects at very low prices, making it difficult for the full-time graphic design companies to secure in-house jobs.

The Secret Weapon – Technology and People

SKEPPER uses technology to design solutions, create and publish content for print and the Web faster, more easily and more affordable than ever. It helps the company to:

• Work productively
• Simplify the workflow
• Enjoy unprecedented value

The company believes that liking what you do and who you do it with makes the work a lot better, not to mention more fun. One of the founding ideas at SKEPPER was to prioritize building a team and client base of people on mutual respect, as well as the ability to have fun together, even when the work is difficult. “Our values define a lot of the other aspects of our culture at SKEPPER, as we are consciously building community and purpose through our work,” adds Binoy.

Words of Wisdom

They say where there is a will there is a way. Any startup is a result of this proverb. In this growing economy, startups play a vital role in the development of a country. Every day there are few to many startups budding up, envisioned by entrepreneurs. A lot of support is provided by the Government for an individual or a team to commence their startup.

Binoy says, “All you need is a dream, belief on your dream that you are going to change something in people’s life and a little finance which may be self-finance or from an outside investor. With this, you are the kick starter for your startup but to transform as an entrepreneur it takes a lot of worthful effort. Dream, Take risk, Be with the team, keep investing your success…Be an Entrepreneur.”

He further explains, “Starting up a new venture in Graphic Design will be challenging and at the same time rewarding.It’s a challenge to be creative every day, but a really rewarding and satisfying one.My advice to people who are thinking of starting up a design firm is to observe as much as possible. Don’t think that technology is the answer to all of your problems. It’s a tool, but it needs a creative brain to utilise it, otherwise, it’s useless.”

Looking Forward

Team SKEPPER believes in the proverb, ‘You only reap what you sow’. It believes that an agency must find clients who believe in creativity and understands its importance and power to solve their business problems. Without such clients a creatively led agency might not survive.

The purpose of this selectiveness is not to simply make the partnership between client and agency easier, but rather it plays a key role in the constantly changing and growing identity of SKEPPER. When the client understands the importance of creativity, the end product further illuminates the agency’s future. Binoy explains, “People outside of the organization look at our work and say ‘I want to be a part of that.’ You’ll keep the quality and the calibre of your creativity within your creation high.”

The team also believes that constant learning, inquisitiveness, an insatiable curiosity and life experience are far more important than textbook advertising knowledge. This is what it fouces on when it comes to growing as an organization in the future. Binoy concludes, “At SKEPPER we focus on true willingness of the future to be more adaptive and reflective of client’s needs.Our culture is entirely about limitless possibilities and a relentless belief in a future that is bigger than the past. It’s how we started our company. It’s how we built it. It’s how we continue to evolve and innovate.”