How LPU student Satya Rout's Onedesign is making the brand biz grand in a tight economy

Who can forget hashtags like #BleedBlue or the iconic poster of Uncle Sam? Advertising and marketing is certainly a field where youngsters can let their creativity shine. After all, that's what Satya Subham Rout did. It all started at Lovely Professional University (LPU), where the Balasore-born is currently studying. Volunteering for their annual fest, Youth Vibe, Satya wielded his self-taught designing and photoshop skills as a graphic designer. He took their Instagram followers likes to 7,200 from 2,100 through his aggressive social media plan. And that's when he knew where his heart belongs.

A glimpse inside: One eatery they really helped transform is Amigo Restaurant near KIIT. "The place was cool, but due to some reason, it wasn't doing well. We started midnight meals and made some really good creatives. We promoted it on Facebook and on the first day, they received a footfall of 49 and it only went up from there," says Satya (Pic: LPU)

Through LPU, Satya bagged the opportunity to work with various MNCs like Aditya Birla Group, BookMyShow, Godrej Group and many more. And what was his job role? He used to design annual reports and so on. "Eventually I thought, 'Why should I work under someone when I can have my own firm?'," shares the 23-year-old. Hence, Onedesign (who's parent company is Anamle Design Solutions) started in October 2017. This start-up caters to the design and other requirements of clients. Speaking of which, they have several clients in Odisha, (in fact they have made posters for a few Odia movies too), and in states like West Bengal, Jharkhand and more. But the market in Odia did not really welcome them with open arms. "When it comes to a poster, the mindset in Odisha still is design a poster and fill it with all the information there is. This information overload doesn't work anymore," says the fourth-year student of LPU.

So breaking that mindset was difficult. But with a more modern take and being more clued in on what works, they helped kickstart many businesses. Take the restaurant business for example. For a new restaurant opening in DLF Cybercity, they called food bloggers and the event was a hit. Did we mention they have worked with the Government of Odisha too? And they have international clients from Spain and the UK as well.

Look here: Another café, Cafe Koraput, started by the Government of Odisha. Onedesign helped this café as well | (Pic: LPU) 

"We are six partners and don't have a hierarchy. We all head different departments and work remotely," explains Satya, who is pursuing Mechanical Engineering. But when a client requires that personal touch, they go the extra mile and travel to meet the client. Next up, they are going to move from their small office in Bhubaneswar into a bigger studio by the first quarter of 2020. Also, they want to turn into a full-blown advertising agency soon.

For more on them, check out onedesignlabs.com