A Global Perspective on Creativity from Chile
Introducing Chica Branding & Design
Our creativity is shaped by our education, experiences, and various influences such as culture, music, literature, history, upbringing, and our real-time perspectives on the world. Embracing our creativity, we venture into business to share our passion with others. In the realm of commerce, we compete with fellow designers and creative agencies created with similar aspirations. Globalization has shown us that we are not alone—creative communities exist worldwide, but until now, they have mostly worked in isolation within their local ecosystems.
In 2019, a group of design companies in Santiago, Chile, contemplated the concept of creativity as a universal currency with the potential for translation across borders and around the globe. They considered whether advancements in technology, design experience, improved project processes, and refined operational management could enable their creativity and design skills to be 'exported' beyond their country or even their continent. Intrigued by this proposition, the Economic Development Ministry of the Chilean government (CORFO) decided to participate in seeding this venture by exploring the possibility of this and eventually bringing other Chilean design companies together to see what could come out of it.
Marawan El-Asfahani, a former co-founder of Oxygen Design Agency and Jacknife Design, and a former RGD board member, now works as a creative industry management consultant at Bobby Sugar. He was brought on board to lead, mentor, and facilitate business strategies for this collective of design companies, which later grew to include eleven of the top branding design firms in Chile. What once were competitors now collaborate as a united group.
Together with Marawan, these companies explored the possibilities of globalizing their creativity for markets outside South America. They collectively chose to merge all eleven design firms into a single agency called Chica Branding & Design. As a unified agency, Chica combined their talents, resources, segment expertise, and diverse portfolios, and developed a unified process for working with clients in North America. Managing Partner at Chica, Juan Pablo Schiattino, commented, "Our team is excited to bring our unique South American approach to the Canadian design scene and capture the synergy between these culturally rich regions."
Chica prides itself on its diverse, talented team of hardworking, multilingual individuals boasting a wide range of creative skills. This diversity cultivates creativity in every project and offers added value to their clients.
Nine of Chica's graphic designers have been selected as the top female designers in Latin America after a comprehensive two-year survey of over 500 designers across 20 Latin countries. Their exceptional, diverse, and powerful work was showcased in the La Tina 001 publication.
Chica provides a range of comprehensive design services, including branding, editorial work, environmental design, illustrations, packaging, and immersive digital experiences. This integrated approach ensures clients receive all their design needs from under one roof.
The agency's impressive designs and innovative strategies have earned them favour with global leaders in various sectors such as education, mining, transportation, pharmaceuticals, and media. Their notable clients include Harvard University, Nike, Nestle, Barrick Gold, Latam, MIT, Santander, and Majen.
Chica embodies the core values upon which the company was established, drawing inspiration from their South American perspective and experience. Their team and award-winning portfolio beautifully exemplify these values, aligning with every designer's aspiration to contribute distinctive, impactful, and meaningful creative solutions. Chica is "Principal" run but is also run by "Principles".
