Vasil Nikolov | Strategic Designer

What I do

As a strategic designer, I am passionate about leveraging design to create successful, distinctive brands that drive sales. Building a brand involves more than just a logo or a tagline; it requires capturing a company's values and essence and transforming them into a cohesive and compelling brand identity.With my strategic design expertise,

I help businesses shape their unique value propositions and express them through experiences that align with consumers' needs and desires. Ultimately, my goal is to cultivate lasting brand loyalty and drive business growth.

Digital Transformation

I help companies with digitalising their products and services. I create engaging and user-friendly solutions that deliver value to both the consumer and the company itself, driving business growth and helping them adapt to the changing market conditions.

Seamless UX

I create seamless experiences that align with the brand's values, identity, and target audience by deeply understanding the user journey and touch points. I ensure that these experiences deliver the desired outcomes and meet the needs of the user through extensive prototyping and testing.

Driving growth

Through my designs I create strong brand identities that inspire brand loyalty, engagement and growth. I focus on identifying opportunities to acquire new users and develop solutions that retain current ones.

How I work

Model adapted from Calabretta, G., & Gemser, G. (2018)

Understanding the context

As a participative design leader, I collaborate with cross-functional teams to gain a deep understanding of the business context, including its goals, challenges, and opportunities. This involves conducting research and analysis to identify customer needs and pain points, market trends, and competitive forces. My leadership style fosters a culture of innovation and growth, enabling me to uncover new opportunities and drive change that delivers exceptional value for both the business and the customer.

Co-creating the design strategy

As a proactive design leader, I take ownership of creating and acting upon opportunities for the design function, rather than waiting for permission. I collaborate with cross-functional teams to co-create a design strategy that aligns with the business context, defines clear goals and objectives, and outlines the tactics and resources needed to achieve them. My leadership style fosters a culture of innovation and growth, enabling me to uncover new opportunities and drive change that delivers exceptional value for both the business and the customer.

Delivering value through design

As an intuitive design leader, I will build on prior experience and navigate a complex environment to deliver value through design. I design user-centered solutions that improve the usability and functionality of products and services, creating engaging digital experiences that drive user engagement and growth, and developing strategies for user acquisition and retention. By continuously monitoring and refining these strategies, I will help businesses stay ahead of the competition and drive growth.

My typical design process

User - centric approach

In all of my projects, the user is the driving force behind the design process. I prioritize understanding their needs, behaviors, and pain points, and use this information to create user personas, journey maps, and user stories that shape the definition of the problem. This ensures that every aspect of the design is centered around the user.

Focus on user needs, behaviors, and pain points
User personas, journey maps, and user stories
Validating design decisions with users

Holistic view

My approach to complex design problems is holistic, taking into account the full spectrum of user needs and preferences. This enables me to create innovative solutions that address not only functional requirements but also emotional, social, and environmental dimensions. The resulting design outcomes are impactful and meaningful, making a lasting impression on users and driving success for clients.

Emotional, social, and environmental dimensions
Impactful and meaningful designs
Co-creating with stakeholders

Strategic thinking

My design process is driven by strategic thinking with a focus on identifying new market opportunities, generating business value, and creating a competitive advantage. I approach each project with a strategic mindset, analyzing market trends and identifying opportunities to create new business value through innovative design solutions. The result is a design strategy that not only meets user needs but also delivers measurable business results.

Generating value for all stakeholders
Competitive advantage through design innovation
Defining vision and roadmap

I’m a

strategic

designer

What I do

How I work

My typical design process

User - centric approach

Holistic view

Strategic thinking

Innovation gallery:
selected projects

Gamified coffee experience

Whiff

LightMeUp

Case Studies / Blog

Problematic brands: Subway

Brand co-creation: RedBull

Let's design for a brighter future.

I’m a

strategic

designer

What I do

How I work

My typical design process

User - centric approach

Holistic view

Strategic thinking

Innovation gallery: selected projects

Gamified coffee experience

Whiff

LightMeUp

Case Studies / Blog

Problematic brands: Subway

Brand co-creation: RedBull

Let's design for a brighter future.

Innovation gallery:
selected projects