Los Angeles, July 7th, 2021

Based in Los Angeles, Zajno is a digital design and development studio that creates unconventional websites and apps with cutting edge custom graphics, photos, videos, and animations.

The agency believes openness and honesty are necessary qualities to create amazing products.

Sasha Turischev is the co-founder and CEO at Zajno. In an interview with TIA, he described the main qualities that differentiate the agency from the rest and highlighted its creative team.

He went through some of Zajno’s recent work and immersive experiences he is excited about.

To kick things off please can you describe to us a little bit about your city and why it is a great place to work?

I think Los Angeles is good for its weather. 330 days of sunshine a year – can’t beat that. The next best thing about Los Angeles is variety. There are so many different cultures in this city that you can go crazy. There are so many interesting and unique experiences that you can find almost anything you want in one form or another here. It really spurs your creativity and development.

Attracting and retaining talent is one of the constant pursuits that every great agency faces. What is your approach to motivating and developing talent?

I strive to create an open and comfortable environment for everyone working at Zajno. It’s friendly, warm and cozy here. Lots of light and love. Every time we take on a new project, we make sure that it’s one our team will enjoy working on. For example, if there’s an offer of a very profitable project but we know there’s a high chance it will lead to the burn out of our team, we reject it because we put people over profit.

We certainly don’t underestimate the importance of the financial side of the issue too to give our team a good pay. We are non-corporate, no-bullshit and independent. We are passionate about our work and love what we do. We put underground over the mainstream and believe that openness is the basis of effective human interaction. These values appeal to many and are shared by all Zajno crew members.

Working with the right agency can be a valuable partnership. What attributes do you want people to associate Zajno with, and how do you align business decisions with your values every day?

I’ve mentioned our values above and they do appeal to our clients. Another thing that is key in our partnership with clients is that they do not need to micromanage us. All we need is the client’s vision of the end result and the freedom to do what we’re best at.

When clients decide to do a project with us, they don’t just buy a set of skills we possess, they pay for the Zajno experience – an enjoyable process with minimal client involvement and a brilliant result. To give a clearer idea of how our values are translated through our work, we’d like to share a couple of reviews left by our clients:

• “Professionally speaking they’re responsive, thorough enough, and love what they do. Artistically, they deeply care about their work. Technically they’re sophisticated enough to do whatever is needed well. I’ve been mostly hands-off, refusing to micromanage the process, and the results are stunning.” Adam Young, Founder of Ringba
• “All you need to do is clearly articulate your goal and let them run with it.” Andrew Gazdecki, CEO at MicroAcquire
• “Zajno was a pleasure to work with! The entire team is professional and produces top-notch, high quality work. We really appreciated Zajno’s transparency and their openness to provide suggestions on how to improve our concepts.” James Fazio, CTO & Co-Founder at Flume, Inc
• “It’s great to work with an agency that doesn’t feel like an agency, but instead feels like one team working toward the same goal. We look forward to continuing our partnership far into the future.” Kevin Bass, CEO at Chance

Of all the projects your agency has produced, which one are you most proud of?

I am proud of absolutely every project crafted by Zajno. But if I need to highlight one of them, it will be Micro Acquire. Built from the ground up, it continues to grow and deliver great results.

MicroAcquire is a startup acquisition marketplace. Simply put, it’s a product that helps startups find buyers. During our collaboration, we made the product from scratch creating a web application that connects startup sellers with potential buyers.

Following the web app, we made a website to present the product with all its benefits to the world.

On the day of release, the website and web app became #1 on Product Hunt. Over 12,000 startups and buyers already do business on MicroAcquire. On a regular basis, we get requests from businesses asking to basically create a copy of MicroAcquire for them which we obviously say no to because it is a form of cheating. But the mere fact of such requests is a good indicator of a product’s success.

Here’s what CEO of MicroAcquire, Andrew Gazdecki, says about our collaboration “Zajno’s efforts have been met with high praise. Knowledgeable and creative, the team is filled with masterful designers. Our visitor to sign-up rate is about 40%. We get compliments from people all the time.”

Learn more about MicroAcquire in our Case Study https://zajno.com/cases/microacquire

Every experience has an emotional component, and using products is no different. What is your approach to design positive emotions to keep users happy and engaged?

To begin with, I will put myself in the shoes of the person who will use the product like an actor before filming a movie. I’ll live the role and imagine myself using the product in all possible situations and circumstances. I will get rid of all corporate and empty copyright and use slang instead if it’s more appropriate. I’ll communicate like in real life, perhaps even add a joke. I’ll make the experience as transparent, fast and easy to navigate as possible. The baseline rule is to make the digital world as close to the real one as possible.

What advice would you give to a new nonprofit startup that is looking to establish a
brand from scratch?

I am convinced that it is important to broadcast your real self. Therefore, you need to come up with packaging for your brand which you’ll be absolutely comfortable with. An avatar. A kind of shell where you’ll feel in your element. It has to be something that does not restrict or limit your individuality in any way but, to the contrary, allows you to feel free to experiment.

Can you outline the three most crucial skills any Designer should possess?

– Empathy
– Mindfulness
– Taste & aesthetic sensitivity

What new ideas in immersive experiences are you excited about?

I really like the direction that the guys from The Mill explored at some point. I’m talking about the STRATA project. I believe that immersive experiences can be very helpful in dealing with mental disorders or as a meditation assistant – https://www.themill.com/work/case-study/strata/

Which artists from around the world are you currently most excited about?

Recently, I’ve been following REO quite closely. Here’s his Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thisreo/

Is it better to be good and on time or perfect and late with your work?

Obviously, good and on time is better if we are talking about commercial projects.

Which unusual skill do you pride yourself in having?

I am a master of artistic stress.

Don’t miss the Zajno music project! 
They’ve recently launched ‘Crappy Explanation’ – a series of Zajno Music Playlists to share awesome tunes. The website is styled on the 80s vinyl records store aesthetic and it has won a few awards including FWA Of The Day.

Learn more about Crappy Explanation on their Case Study

Thanks Sasha!

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