FAQ

Where does the name Hella come from?

When we founded the studio, we simply needed a name asap. Our eyes fell on the literally nearest – and dearest: our faithful companion Hella, slumbering peacefully on her pillow. That's how Hella Studio was born.

How did Hella Studio come to be?

Hella Studio was created in 2018 after Joëlle Lehmann and Kasper Kobel had been tinkering with ideas and realising projects together for almost a decade. The two decided to quit their jobs during a five-month road trip through the USA and focus fully on Hella Studio.  Old but gold ;-)

Thanks to their great network, they were able to realise smaller projects with a national character from the outset, and then larger ones over time.   

Kasper had previously worked in various agencies and is familiar with the often harsh conditions in the industry: time pressure, profit pressure and overtime are often part of everyday working life. These experiences motivated him to create a place where people can work creatively and effectively and where there is a supportive and humane working atmosphere. Together with Joëlle, who studied media and art with a specialisation in photography at the ZHdK and has travelled a lot in the art scene, Hella Studio naturally became an intersection of art and commerce – which is probably what makes Hella Studio so unique!

From the very beginning, it was important to Joëlle and Kasper to build a young, diverse team that combines different backgrounds and skills. They placed particular emphasis on encouraging the exchange of ideas and lively discussions within the team. Today, Hella Studio is an established creative agency characterised by team spirit and an unmistakable style.

Guiding values

To be honest, we don't have a charter of values that we rigidly stick to - our structures and culture are constantly evolving, molding and changing. Nevertheless, we do have some guiding values that characterise our work, our approaches and our dealings with customers and each other.

They are not inspired by any entrepreneurial or organisational theories, nor are they based on long research campaigns or workshops. Instead, they are the result of our experience and a sense of how we want to work, how we want to shape our industry and what kind of “imprint” we want our work to leave. 

Advertising! Or how we choose out customors.

We don't shy away from the term ‘advertising’: the fact is, we do advertising. And we use it to create solutions that pursue precise goals. It is very important to us what kind of clients we take on board. Our compass here is that we love to work for industries and companies that prioritise impact over profit, that act sustainably and with empathy. We also prefer projects that are fun, in the sense that great people are involved, or the projects are appealing from a creative and agency perspective.

Collaboration. At eye level. 

We love working and creating with new people and companies. From projects with a small budget to larger clients – a humane approach, clear communication and collaboration based on an equal footing are most important to us in this regard.

Openness to change Or (attention trend word:) Agility.

We are a small, rather young team. We combine many different experiences and are also very open to learning new things. And we want it to stay that way! Never grow up! Jokes aside: we always want to be open to change, remain in dialogue and take constructive input seriously – whether it comes from within the team or from outside. This way, we ensure that we always keep moving and don't get rusty.

What about artificial intelligence? 

We use AI when it brings added value. But we are firmly convinced that creativity cannot (yet) be replaced by AI tools. Our work thrives on human contact, relationships, dialogue and creative ideas. 

Work culture

Our team is manageable, and we like that. It is important to us that everyone feels comfortable. If that's the case, an effective, motivated environment for great work is created. 

Transparent structures 

While roles are clearly allocated, we aim for a transparent and hierarchically flat working environment. All projects are communicated openly and are often discussed and conceptualised by the whole team. In addition, input and project suggestions are always welcome.  

 Room for individual growth and ideas

We are excited when employees pursue their own projects and support each other with resources, skills and advice. Here are some of the recent projects of our team:

Lars Luginbühl designed and printed a zine about his cycling holidays with the help of Simon's connections and Kasper's input.

Michèle Räz has entered several competitions in recent months - in poster design, and, listen up, for the SNB competition for the design of the new Swiss banknotes. Accompanied by a lot of office hype!

For Michelle Becht's indie rock band FEMMEMEUF, the team is designing wild merch for the EP release in summer.

And finally, our “rising star” in the font business: Simon Trufer was able to work on his own font during his internship – MT-SHIFT. It is designed to bring movement into the typeface and, with 6000 individually calculated animations, breaks the traditional boundaries of variable fonts. He even won the Inscript Innovation Grant with the font . See here: https://motiontype.xyz/

Office 

Our office space is truly a dream come true. After a year of working from the legendary Löscherturm - where the winters were cold and the summer days were more bearable thanks to the many breaks in the Aare - we now feel very, very cosy and at home in our bright, spacious studio by the Aare. (Löscherturm, we <3 you.) 

The space allows for retreats for calls, scene changes from the table to the sofa to the window front and great team and public events. In summer, we work outside under the yellow marquise. Or sit by the Aare. Not too bad, right? You're welcome to drop by for a coffee.

How we live creativity

Beauty in chaos, inspiration from the everyday and the imperfect

We don't create in isolation in the office, but with a view to the outside world: Our everyday lives, our encounters, but also our interactions with artists and, yes, social media, serve as sources of inspiration for us day in, day out. We are particularly attracted to unpolished places and things that have character and allow for a change of perspective. We bring these sources of inspiration into the office, exchange ideas and incorporate them into our work.

Creation process 

Once we have got to know the client, we carry out extensive research. We gather information about the industry, target group and competition. Based on this information, we usually develop several conceptual approaches. During the creative process, we attach great importance to harmonising design and communication to create a consistent image. Here, too, the exchange of ideas is important: we collect ideas within the team and allow them to go a little crazy in the first collection round. Once the ideas have been collected, they are again reduced, discussed and narrowed down to possibilities and customer requirements. Repeat, repeat, repeat until a customised solution emerges.

Big goals, big visions

We love a good challenge – big goals and visions motivate us!

Substance first

We do not prioritise graphics and design over substance and always draw on what already exists. The credo: good things should be kept and possibly only concretised and sharpened. 

Does it make sense to invest money in advertising? 

Logically, our answer is yes. Hella yes! Advertising can often seem opaque and complex, and the question of whether it's worth spending money on is a concern for many customers. Advertising does not follow a “try and see” strategy, but clear mechanisms. These are adapted to the objectives of the advertising and can predict very well what effect the advertising will have. 

And yet not all advertising is good advertising. It takes a lot of expertise, experience and a pinch of courage. A few thoughts on this:

Risk vs. safety

Je mutiger eine gute Idee, desto grösser die Chance auf echte Reichweite. 

Paid vs. creative 

If you are willing to pay, a lot of reach can be achieved with traditional measures. If this path is chosen, the creative effort is often smaller, while the financial resources for reach measures are of great importance. 

If you want to spend less money on your advertising, you should rely on well-developed ideas – because ideas are the real currency! 

Hella Studio makes good advertising ;-)

Can something be achieved with a small budget?

Sure! A free advert, a message in a bottle or a phone call can also achieve a lot. Publishing the right message in the right place at the right time generates attention. And if you generate attention, the world belongs to you. Even without investing (much) money.

A poster with a big impact

See story here

What is your favourite thing to do?

We specialise in 

A)    Branding

B)    Communication design

C)    Advertising 

We prefer to combine these core competencies – because for us they bring together creativity, team and thought work and graphic design. 

Otherwise, we also like to go for walks with Hella, produce merch or zines

Do you also make websites? 

We definitely do! We offer a wide range of digital solutions: From web design and prototyping to the technical realisation of websites.  

We see ourselves as generalists. We implement web and motion design as well as simple technical solutions in-house; we coordinate complex online solutions with external specialists.

Ok, I'm a bit lost. What exactly do you offer? 

A lot. And we do it well. We prefer to combine several disciplines in a holistic approach - full service! We know how difficult it can be to keep track of what marketing and communications agencies have to offer or to understand them at all. That's why we'll try to give you a better understanding of our services below - at least the most important ones.

Welcome to the Hella Encyclopedia!

Creativity as a superpower

To start with: We live creativity. It is our core business, our driving force, what we are really good at. And it goes beyond mere visual design. We always combine it with a business approach. In other words, we focus on our customers' goals and aim to achieve them in the long term and sustainably – always with a qualitative approach to the output. 

Everything else builds on this. 

Brand development 

From naming and branding to a comprehensive brand strategy or a clearly defined corporate identity: we deliver the entire spectrum. For existing or newly developed brands.

Communication design

Based on existing brands or brands developed by us, we efficiently implement online and offline communication measures. Always with a high design standard.

Advertising

We develop and implement campaigns based on our clients' wishes. We specialise in measures that increase sales, visibility and image.

Communication concept 

We always start with a well-founded communication concept. This defines which measures and channels are necessary to convey the messages in a consistent and targeted manner. This also includes strategy, tonality and media planning – all with the aim of creating an effective and uniform public image.

Strategy

We pursue a different strategy depending on the goals a company is following with its communication – whether these are of an economic nature or serve to enhance its image. It is very important to us to develop measures and concepts that are worthwhile for our clients and achieve the set goals. 

Content production

We also like to use new media. We have done everything from mini-content to larger productions and look forward to further projects of this kind. Depending on the project, we realise them in-house or work with talented partners – so we have a range of styles available and can choose the right one for the client. 

Image conception 

We have many years of experience in the fields of creative direction, art direction and storytelling. Our approach here is: concept first. We select and realise a visual language to suit the project after the concept has been developed. Whether photography, illustration, graphic design, AI-generated images or archive material; whether static or moving images – we are very experienced in this field.  

Storytelling

"It all starts with the story." Based on this, we then determine how the story should be told. With an explanatory video? An entire magazine? Or an experience campaign? We've been able to realise many great story concepts and love to incorporate our diverse skills and experience into the stories. 

Graphic design

We are convinced that good ideas deserve even better graphic realisation. Our graphic design skills are versatile and an important part of our identity: graphic design is our base and we love to apply our skills in a variety of ways. And always with high design standards.

Text

Our credo is: Content before form. No matter how great it looks ... if the content is weak, the form can't save it. In communication, text is probably the most powerful tool for strong content: a gripping campaign claim, an apt description or a well thought-out media release make a significant contribution to successful communication. We write these texts in such a way that they leave an impression.

Which is the best advertising agency in Bern?

Hella Studio. We are an owner-run creative agency in Bern that specialises in branding, advertising and communication design. We aim to create unique and bold brand experiences and emphasise powerful designs with strong content that are ahead of the curve and stand the test of time. Get in touch: [email protected]

How much does an advertising campaign cost?

This depends on what our customers want, what reach and what scale the campaign should, may and can have. 

But a lot can be achieved even with a small budget! Our superpower is our creativity and we utilise this to the fullest - regardless of the budget. Get in touch: [email protected]

How do I sell more of my product? 

By planning a refresh campaign with Hella Studio. Whether this is to be broadcast nationally or in a small scale, online or offline - we support our clients from start to finish. And find a customised solution to reach the target groups. Get in touch: [email protected]

How can I design a poster?

Hella Studio can help you with all your design challenges and wishes: whether it's a poster, website or entire advertising campaign – our wide-ranging experience and expert know-how will give your ideas the needed momentum to take off! Get in touch: [email protected]