Abigail Regucera
Brand & Web Designer / Creative Strategist / Content Marketer
Toronto, ON
Q What do you do?
“I’m part brand and website designer, part creative strategist, and part marketing professional...”
that is a one stop shop for modern business owners and entrepreneurs who want to develop custom brand identities, websites, and marketing collateral so they can rest assured knowing their brand positively represents them and resonates with their ideal clients and customers.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
As an introvert, a lot of the big steps I took to get where I am now are networking, being a part of a community and investing in tools and resources. Being an introvert with imposter syndrome (which I know many creatives can relate to), all these three things scares the HECK outta us. But these three things were things I was able to see help me scale. Not only in my career, but also in my personal growth.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
Not only do I care about my client's online presence and them but also everyone who interacts with it. I focus on marketing-informed designs, made human. That means that I’ll keep ALL of the humans who will interact with your brand in mind as I work, ensuring that every design is engaging, accessible, and promoting the best possible experience.
Q What are you working on right now?
Lots! The Capricorn in me always has lots of things planned on the move. On the business side, working out the structure of a mini masterclass. On the client side, I am working on a brand, web and marketing collateral revamp and also creating a brand, ecommerce shop and marketing collateral. Both for beauty brands which is one of the 2021 goals I set for myself in my business, to work with a beauty brand as it is one of my passions. I also have a print and stationery shop where I am working on new product releases for the first quarter of the year.
Q What’s your style?
My style is the sweet spot between soft and bold. I absolutely love patterns and funky shapes but I love minimalism and contemporary design. I am really inspired by the postmodernism era in design, pastel postmodernism danish and the art of Henri Matisse (I was first an artist before a designer). But I am also really inspired by the simplicity of contemporary design - the clean lines, use of texture and more. So I would say my style is definitely in between that.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
If I could, I would love to focus on more web design and development. But sometimes it's hard to create a website when there isn't a solid brand foundation so I have tried to niche down to those two but still get graphic design requests as that's what I started out with. I still like it but branding and web design fulfills me more. As for industries, I keep making it a goal to work with industries I am passionate about so health + wellness, beauty and anything innovative.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Finding the time to complete a course I have signed up for. It has sadly been on the back-burner because of how much is on the move in terms of new client projects and the back-end of the business.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Probably some VA stuff. Like, drafting the proposals, invoicing and contracts, Pinterest management (sadly have fallen behind it because of everything on the move), posting blog posts and creating the imagery for it, as well as the same for weekly newsletters.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
Don't take on every client that comes to you. I would have told myself this last year, since I was new to having more frequent potential clients come to me, I was taking all of them left and right EVEN if they didn't fulfill me. I thought if I had a lot of projects on the move then I would have a solid income but that wasn't the case. I was charging far too low and burning myself out with how many clients I took on a month and not to mention handling all the client services side. It's burnout that I am still trying to recover from. I have noticed that I feel like I don't have much energy anymore. I feel like if I never did this, I wouldn't be as burnt out as I am.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Accounting and legalities of the business side. Even better, someone to handle it for me. I do have an accountant but sometimes invoicing different currencies is a scary and confusing process so you don't mess up taxes wise.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I would love to explore more collaborations. I love working on my own but I also love working with other creatives. It definitely keeps the creative juices flowing and it helps meeting cool people along the way :). In terms of projects, more branding and website projects is the goal!
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
My ideal client is someone who understands that without strategy in design, it's just a piece of art. And someone who prioritizes human connection within their brand and real life. Overall, all of my really positive past experience clients feel like working with a friend.
Q: What is your rate?
Pricing depends on a variety of factors. The starting investment for a branding project is $3,390CAD. After the brand identity is complete, I can continue monthly support on your content marketing management with creating graphics for your blog posts, social media content calendar for a retainer fee starting at $700CAD. After our discovery call, I can provide a more accurate quote for you. As for custom Squarespace websites, this depends on a variety of factors such as the number of pages required, if you are an e-commerce based business, if you would like custom graphics, stock imagery outsourcing, etc. Custom website design projects start at $5,650CAD. After our discovery call, I can provide more of an accurate quote. For a project that has both branding and custom website design, the starting investment is $8,475CAD.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Fill out the inquiry form on my contact page!
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Alyssa Nguyen
instagram @atnndesign
I love everything that her and her studio stands for.
Abi Connick
instagram @itsabiconnick
I love how bold and bright her style is and how much of a fun educator she is to other designers.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Doodling random sh!t without any pressure. Seeing colours and patterns without a project attached keeps my creativity flowing.
This member profile was originally published in January 2022.