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Ueno

About the project

Experiencing the phenomenal growth of a design agency

I still remember my first call with Haraldur Thorleifsson in March 2015. He just started this new agency called Ueno and wanted me to join him for a 6 months internship. Unlike other internships offers, I didn’t know anything about the team I’ll be working with or the projects I’ll be involved in. Haraldur himself didn’t know. He wasn’t the most demonstrative person but I could tell he had a vision and he really wanted me. Sometimes you need to trust your gut, that’s what I did and it remains one of the best decisions I’ve ever taken. I did a 6 months internship in San Francisco with super-talented designers, went back home to finish my school and return as a full-time designer. I stayed there until I decided to go travel the world for my Esperanto Project.
Discover Ueno

Role

Design

Client

Ueno

Date

2015 - 2018

Showing what Ueno is all about : fun people and cool projects

01

Ueno, a full-service creative agency

Building the Ueno brand 

Along with the Ueno design team, we came up with a brand that will stand out from the crowd. We did so by having a recognizable wordmark, voice, color palette, illustrations and strong values. 

Typography
Typography
Colors
#34c1f7
#eb87ff
#01dfac
#ff504a

Ueno new space on the internet

For a long time, Ueno had a simple landing page but as the agency grew, we needed a portfolio to show our work. We knew we will have a lot of case studies so the grid on the home page was one of the first thing we needed to get right.  

Ueno’s homepage

Ueno’s header changes to feature a different project each time

Lunch Time at Ueno San Francisco. YES I don’t have shoes on and, YES some people are wearing slippers, deal with it.

Doing a 1000 case studies

I wont lie, this wasn’t the most enjoyable part of my work at Ueno. This being said, designing case studies help you to have a better understanding of the decisions you take during a project. 

Creative Direction

Haraldur Thorleifsson

Design

Jenny Johannesson
Ben Mingo
Robin Noguier

Awards

Awwwards - Site of The Day

02

A selection of projects I worked on at Ueno

Showcasing the Oculus Go headset 

While on a tight deadline, we had to come up with an immersive landing page showcasing all the incredible things you can do with the Oculus Go.

Oculus Go Website

Art Direction

Haraldur Thorleifsson

Chad Tafolla

Design

Robbin Ceinjin

Robin Noguier

Date

October 2017

Redesigning Uber.com, a new home for Uber

Uber wanted their website to tell their unique story. Together with their teams, we developed a site that would help them move from the black Uber of old to a friendlier, more colorful brand.

More info about our work for Uber.com

Creative Direction

Haraldur Thorleifsson

Design

Jenny Johannesson

Ben Mingo

Robin Noguier

Date

December 2015

Giving users a front-row access to the action with Red Bull TV

Red Bull TV is a digital video service on multiple platforms with live events, extreme sports, music, entertainment, and thrilling stories of the world’s adventurers.

More info about our work for Redbull TV

Creative Direction

Chad Tafolla

Mira Sestan

Design

Jenny Johannesson

Robbin Cenijn

Robin Noguier

Date

July 2016

Siminn, a custom-built online storage platform

Iceland’s largest telecommunications company commissioned Ueno to create an online storage platform to solve their users’ online storage issues.

More info about our work for Siminn

CREATIVE Direction

Arnar Ólafsson

Design

Meghan Regior

Robin Noguier

Date

August 2016

When I started in 2015, we were 5 people. Then, we grew a little bit...

Haraldur Thorleifsson
CEO at Ueno

Robin is everything you want in a good creative. First of all, he is great at his craft, he is a great designer, he can tell stories through his work, he can make prototypes, he can animate. But more importantly he is a fantastic team player. He happily picks up any task that need to get done, he brings energy and joy to any room, he works extremely hard and will always go the extra mile. I can’t say enough good things about Robin, he is a wonderful person, a great designer and a true team player.

03

What did I learn?

Transitioning smoothly from a small team of 5 to a big agency

When I started, we were five and we were effectively working together without much hierarchy or rules. As we grew, I could see the layers of hierarchy starting to add on, the culture evolving and the ueno brand taking a big space into the digital world. 

Working on world scale projects for big companies

By working at Ueno, I got a glimpse at many big companies I use to dream about. I also got to work on projects that will impact millions of people and at the beginning I couldn’t realize I had a sit at those tables. 

Office culture and coworkers are as important as the work.

Having good projects is indispensable to be happy at work but without nice coworkers and good office culture, you won’t stay happy for long. I feel fortunate to say that I woke up smiling every day to go to work (and have avocado breakfast with my friends).  

Job titles doesn't matter... that much

I started at Ueno as an intern and I got to design real stuff for Redbull on my first day. I could also speak directly to the CEO if I wasn’t happy about something. Moreover, at Ueno, as an intern or a full-time designer, I always had ownership on my projects and never felt like I was bypassed by someone with a higher job title.

Like this case study, every good thing must come to an end. My fellow coworkers made sure we ended on a perfect note 🎉

Let's work together!

Digging the (b)ueno(s) vibes?

Hit me up at noguier.robin@gmail.com and let’s sprinkle some magic on your project!

Keep scrolling or click to go to my next project

Robin Noguier