Led by Israeli designer Ofir Mizrahi, Ofir Design is a New Orleans-based branding and design studio that offers a full service, from identity to tone of voice. If a prospective client ever needs reassurance about the high-quality results they’re about to achieve, all they have to do is take a look at the stunning work in the studio’s online portfolio, which includes clients across the hospitality, lifestyle, culture, corporate and non-profit sectors includes.
For example, Ofir’s award-winning real estate development site Mateo Street is worth checking out. Built with Editor X, this one-page site looks amazing without being flashy. Through the judicious use of different colored sections, it conveys a lot of information without being overloaded. And the icing on the cake is the nested scrolling feature, evoking a sleek and sophisticated feel that fits perfectly with the vintage-chic ethos of these contemporary rental spaces.
We chatted to Ofir about his design journey, what sets his studio apart and how he creates his award-winning work.
What is your background: How did you get into design?
Growing up in Israel I was always into art and figured that’s what I would do. When I went to college, I decided to give it a little detour and not necessarily study art, but an art-related subject called graphic design.
In 2007 I studied design and visual communication at a university in Tel Aviv. At this point, my focus was mostly on branding and print. And I fell in love with graphic design: the combination of creativity and the combination of a system and a grid.
After that I worked in a few studios, again mainly in branding and printing. I started out as a graphic designer at Re-Levant Studio in Tel Aviv and was later hired by David Haliva Visionary Design Studio in the same city.
When I moved to the US in 2014, I took many courses in various disciplines, from interactive design and UI/UX design to letterpress and screen printing. And I’ve never really focused on any particular direction; I just like jumping between them and doing different things.
Identity and web design for Mateo Street
Branding and website for a non-profit organization for children with neuroblastoma cancer, Shir for Life
What makes your service unique: Why do customers specifically come to you?
First, I should explain that clients don’t come to me for a particular style. In fact, if you look at my portfolio, you will see ten different websites with ten different styles. Rather than making every website the same, I want to create something bespoke that fits a specific client perfectly.
I start with thorough research about the company, what it does, and try to understand what it does or what it is trying to sell. And that’s the part I love.
I create inspiration boards, give them lots of options and really Hear so they can figure out what they want. I involve them in the process. You answer questions and see various design options. I give them plenty of room for feedback and making the changes they want, while always leading the project, so I’ll be happy with the result of the site too.
We love your page for Mateo Street! how did you create it
I have been working with The Borman Group for a long time. They are an award-winning real estate restoration company focused on preserving historic buildings and revitalizing urban submarkets in Southern California. For example, they take old warehouses and renovate them beautifully. You could turn it into creative offices, restaurants or studio spaces. They always keep something of the old building but also make it completely new.
One of their redevelopment projects took place in Compton, a culturally iconic LA neighborhood, and the concept was a hip-hop vibe that honored the neighborhood’s culture. Another project was the conversion of a police station. As such, there is always another inspiration for the design elements, which typically come from the buildings themselves.
I had to use a bit of my imagination for this project as I had to create the website before the building was even renovated. The client didn’t have many visual assets or images at the time, but said, “We still need a website. Let’s create something.” And they wanted to give it a vintage vibe. So I took textures from old papers and incorporated them into my design to give it that vintage feel.
Website of an Israeli company with a German manufacturer, City Transformer
Identity and website for Pulsenmore, a technology that enables patients to perform a self-scanning ultrasound by connecting their own smartphone to a novel ultrasound station.
And the typography has a vintage feel too.
Yes, I always pay a lot of attention to typography on my websites. I think that’s partly because of my background designing books and stuff like that. So choosing the right fonts is always important to convey the mood I want.
Amazingly, you could create a cool website without hand coding it from scratch but using a web design tool like Editor X.
Yes, when I use Editor X I don’t need to hire developers to help me write the code: I can do everything myself.
There was a time when I used web design tools like this to create websites, but they didn’t give you many creative options for presenting the website. With Editor X, however, this is not a problem: everything is really open. There are so many ways to create a website and I can be a lot more creative. So for me it was a game changer.
The support is great too. Editor X is a platform that encourages me to learn more and understand how to do things I didn’t know before. So with every website I build with it, I try new things.
Get started with Editor X today!
Editor X is a website building platform that offers advanced design and layout features for designers and web agencies. It’s completely free to create and launch an unlimited number of websites, while the premium plans give you access to the most advanced features. If you’re a designer or agency looking to spend less time manual coding and more time being creative, Editor X can transform the way you work. Get started with Editor X today.
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