The MOD Studio's 2010 Growth Illustrates Why Austin was named a Top Entrepreneurial Center According to Entrepreneur.com

Austin graphic and web design firm thrives during the Great Recession and experiences impressive revenue and profit growth. End Quote

Austin-San Marcos, TX (1888PressRelease) August 16, 2010 - The MOD Studio (www.TheMODStudio.com) announced today it will be moving into a new office at 1201 West 24th Street near the UT campus and Pease Park on September 1st. The move comes after the Austin graphic and web design firm has seen its project revenue for the first half of 2010 increase at a 30% clip. The design firm, which has a staff of 5 designers, recently added a new graphic designer to handle the surge in new projects.

The MOD Studio's recent success as a creative web and graphic design firm illustrates the degree to which start-ups have been able to survive and thrive in Austin despite a challenging economy. Still, achieving the rapid growth was not always easy for the Austin design firm, according the Maria Orozova, founder and principal of The MOD Studio.

"We opened just before the start of the recession, which meant we had to not just be creative but also smart about how we ran the company," Orozova says. "To keep our operating costs down, we co-leased office space and also relied on outside contractors when there were spikes in business and we needed the best talent without the high labor costs. Early on, we took on plenty of projects outsourced from other graphic and web design firms to keep busy and develop a reputation for creative yet highly professional work. At that time, it was really about survival," she adds.

An article published in the August edition of Entrepreneur Magazine may have had Orozova in mind as a business owner who was able to tap Austin's extensive entrepreneurial network for support. The article cites Austin's "progressive and proactive" entrepreneurial qualities as the reason it is the top "Creative Center" for entrepreneurs in the nation. Indeed, Orozova has long been a regular at many entrepreneurial networking events and seminars around town, including ones sponsored by Bootstrap Austin and Tech Ranch Austin, two organizations known for offering free or low-cost resources for start-ups.

Orozova gives the extensive entrepreneurial support network in Austin a lot of credit for her fledgling design firm's success. "We had world-class coaching from lots of successful entrepreneur-lead companies in Austin," she notes. "That timely knowledge, together with our relentless dedication to creative graphics design and website development, helped us create a thriving business that continues to generate positive reviews from customers and word-of-mouth referrals."

While word of mouth has been very successful for The MOD Studio in acquiring such marquee customers as AT&T, The University of Texas and Rainmaker Systems, its recent approval as a HUB certified business by the State of Texas could be a game changer. HUB stands for "Historically Underutilized Businesses" and refers to a program that encourages State agencies to work with minority or women-owned businesses. "We're optimistic about working with the State," Orozova says. "We have great talent on board with deep experience creating a variety of web and interactive solutions, not to mention marketing campaign design and development, annual reports and brand development."

In true entrepreneurial fashion, Orozova even started a second business earlier this year. After she designed the invitations for her marriage last April, she was asked to design invitations for other brides-to-be in Austin. The demand for her one-of-a-kind custom invitation designs soon became so great she decided to start a separate venture. In January, she launched MOD Paper (www.MODPaper.com), which Orozova describes as a luxury couture invitation design studio. The new-found success of MOD Paper designing wedding, corporate and party invitations has Orozova looking to bring on a new designer as early as December to gear up for the 2011 wedding season.

With an office move imminent, a new employee, a busy networking calendar and a second business launch under her belt, Orozova is a perfect example of why Entrepreneur Magazine ranked Austin as the top "Creative Center" on its list of best cities for entrepreneurs. "It's not just that The MOD Studio benefited from the many entrepreneurial resources available in Austin," she says. "We're now part of the entrepreneurial fabric that makes Austin such a special place to start a new business. We are in a great position to give back by helping start-ups the same way we were helped early on."

About The MOD Studio
The MOD Studio, founded by Maria Orozova in 2007, is a full-service design, marketing and web design studio. The MOD Studio has provide creative insight and project work for such local, national and international brands as AT&T, Rainmaker Systems, The University of Texas, Libre Digital and Mandarin Flower Company. For more information about The MOD Studio, please visit www.themodstudio.com

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