Inside the studio of Claé Creatives, one notices the minimalist interior, an open plan wood-themed workspace. The place is spacious and the furniture sparse. The word ‘elegance’ comes to mind—and elegance is what this branding agency at Kathmandu’s Naxal is all about.
A subsidiary of the Century Group of Companies, Claé Creatives was founded by Ayushi Dugar in 2020. The studio offers software development, branding, digital marketing, and graphic design services. Their products are simple and ergonomic and without any flash and frills.
These can be seen on the brand designs of companies like Ecoponic Agri Tech of India and Pelvic PT of the US. Clae Creatives is also behind the logos of Cucu Cuddles of India, and Incré of Nigeria.
The studio has offered its services from startups to well-established businesses in Nepal and abroad.
One of the reasons Dugar started the company was to give designers a proper platform to showcase their talents. “I see many designers not being given the recognition they deserve, and this is particularly true if you happen to be a woman” she says. She wants to create a gender-balanced environment for designers, where everyone is encouraged to learn from each other.
Dugar majored in graphic designing and marketing as an undergraduate and did her postgraduate in UI (user interface)/UX (user experience) design. She feels that the design industry in Nepal needs to grow to put out better products and services.
“There is a misconception in Nepal that designing is an easy task, but there are many aspects and processes to it,” she says.
From coming up with logo designing to product packaging to marketing, there are many areas the studio works in. It takes a lot of research and brainstorming to create a unique brand identity.
Claé Creatives helps businesses understand how to brand themselves and shift towards digital marketing.
In terms of software development, the company creates everything from scratch. The entire software is designed around what best suits a particular company and its profile. Also accounted for are how the potential customers are going to interact with the software and how to make their experience enjoyable and engaging.
Many businesses in Nepal do not realize the importance of design and digital marketing, but this is slowly changing, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic when online stores and sales took off.
Asked if it is difficult to get clients willing to invest in branding and digital marketing, Dugar says the answer is both yes and no. While there has been an uptick in the number of companies willing to take the risk and invest in their brand designs and marketing them through digital platforms, she says “there is still a huge gap a studio like ours can fill.”
Claé Creatives itself uses digital platforms like Instagram to inform and educate the people about digital marketing and how it works, and this approach has succeeded to some extent. It has managed to gain several domestic and foreign clients. The studio is already planning to expand internationally, starting from India, to make their services more convenient and accessible for the clients abroad.
The overall goal of Claé creatives is to promote the designing industry of Nepal. Dugar says there are a lot of creative people in Nepal who are reluctant to join a company and put their talent to use. She envisions a comfortable and encouraging working environment for such talents, especially women, so that they will not have to give up on their passion due to lack of a better platform.
“It is much better to work in a team, since it presents more opportunities and learning experience,” she says
