Brand & Digital Strategy · Frankfurt / Remote
It´s never
just design
Ivana Gustec — Brand strategist, UX consultant and digital designer helping businesses think clearly, look premium, and grow intentionally.
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About
Strategic thinking.
Human-centered
results.
I'm Ivana — a brand strategist and digital designer with over 8 years of experience across agency, startup, and enterprise environments. I work at the intersection of brand clarity, UX thinking, and business strategy.
My background spans General management at BASF's Chemovator incubator - BANY, digital project management and delivery at a leading German agency - avenit AG, and independent consulting and developing through Not Just Design.
I'm trilingual (DE/EN/HR) and fully remote-capable across the EU.I believe great design solves real problems. I don't just make things look good — I make them work with intention.
Services
What I
actually do
Every engagement is tailored.
These packages are starting points, not rigid boxes.
how i work
A clear process.
No suprises.
Selected work
Projects that
meant something
01 / Project Background
Artisana House Silba is a boutique island house located on Silba, a peaceful Croatian island known for its car-free lifestyle and authentic Mediterranean atmosphere. The project started with an existing property, a personal story, historical context, photography and a name that needed to become a coherent brand and digital experience.
02 / The Challenge
The challenge was to communicate the charm and authenticity of the house in a sophisticated way — without making it feel generic, rustic or overly decorative. The goal was to translate the feeling of the island, the calm rhythm, the architectural details and the emotional value of the house into a clear brand story and website.
03 / Strategic Direction
The strategy was based on quiet island elegance. The brand needed to feel refined, warm and personal, while still being simple and functional. The visual and verbal direction focused on slow living, Mediterranean textures, privacy, calmness and the unique experience of staying on an island without cars.
04 / Scope of Work
The project included brand positioning, visual direction, logo, website structure, content development, WordPress / Nicepage implementation, inquiry form setup via Google forms, automated email notifications formated, basic guest communication and client handover. Including providing a domain and annual hosting to maintenance.
05 / Timeline & Process
The project was developed in phases: discovery, brand direction, visual exploration, website structure, implementation, testing and handover. The complete process took approximately 10–15 working days, depending on feedback rounds and content preparation.
06 / Final Concept
The final concept positions Artisana House Silba as a sophisticated island retreat with soul — a calm, authentic and personal Mediterranean home for guests who value atmosphere, simplicity and understated elegance.
07 / Result
The result is a refined digital presence that gives the house a clearer identity, a stronger story and a professional inquiry flow. The website presents the property not just as accommodation, but as a branded island experience.
Visit Artisana House Silba Website
SVI-Connect — Strategic Platform Communication & UX Concept
Translating a complex B2B defence matchmaking platform into a clear, trusted and accessible digital experience.
01 / Project Background
SVI-Connect is a strategic networking platform for the German security and defence industry. The initiative connects demand holders, buyers, system houses and qualified industrial partners within a protected B2B environment. The platform is a joint initiative by BDSV and BME and builds on the existing BME Matchmaking infrastructure. Its purpose is to create market transparency, structure supply and demand profiles, and support more resilient supply chains within the security and defence sector. My role focused on the strategic concept, content structure, UX thinking and visual communication direction for the public-facing website experience. The technical implementation was handled by an external developer and the project is currently still in development and QA.
02 / The Challenge
The main challenge was to communicate a highly complex and sensitive platform in a way that feels clear, trustworthy and accessible to different stakeholder groups. SVI-Connect needed to explain several layers at once: the cooperation between BDSV and BME, the value of the platform, the protected Defence area, the registration and verification process, the role of buyers and suppliers, and the fact that direct procurement does not happen through the platform. The communication had to be precise, serious and confidence-building — without becoming too technical or overwhelming.
03 / Strategic Thinking
The strategy was based on reducing complexity without oversimplifying the subject.
Instead of presenting SVI-Connect as a generic platform, the website needed to frame it as a structured, secure and strategically relevant networking environment for the security and defence industry.
The communication concept focused on three central questions:
- Why should users register?
- How does the protected access process work?
- What value does SVI-Connect create for both demand holders and industry partners?
The content architecture was designed to guide users from understanding the initiative, to recognizing its benefits, to taking action through registration.
04 / UX & Content Direction
The UX direction focused on clarity, trust and guided decision-making. The website structure was developed to explain the platform step by step: first introducing the purpose of SVI-Connect, then highlighting the cooperation between BDSV and BME, followed by benefits, target groups, process logic and registration. Special attention was given to the wording around the restricted Defence area, verification, access logic and matchmaking process, because these elements needed to feel secure, controlled and professional. The goal was to make the user journey understandable before sending users into the registration environment.
05 / Scope of Work
The project included strategic communication, UX structure, content logic and visual direction for the website.
Key areas of work included:
- Strategic platform positioning
- Website content architecture
- UX flow and landing page structure
- Stakeholder-oriented communication
- Benefit hierarchy and messaging
- Registration journey explanation
- Restricted Defence area communication
- Visual direction and layout concept
- Figma concept and prototyping
- Coordination with external development
- Review, feedback and QA support
06 / Process & Collaboration
The project was developed in close alignment with the platform requirements and external technical implementation. My work focused on translating complex operational and strategic information into a clear public-facing structure. This included defining how the initiative should be introduced, how the platform logic should be explained and how the registration journey should be communicated. Since the technical development was handled externally, the process also included review rounds, feedback preparation and QA support to ensure that the implementation stayed aligned with the original communication and UX concept.
07 / Timeline
The project was developed across several phases, from concept and structure to design direction and development review.
Approximate project phases:
- Discovery and requirement understanding
- Communication strategy and content structure
- UX concept and landing page logic
- Visual direction and Figma prototyping
- Developer handoff and implementation feedback
- QA review and refinement phase
08 / Final Concept
The final concept positions SVI-Connect as a trusted strategic gateway for the German security and defence industry.
The website communicates the platform as a protected, structured and purposeful networking environment that helps create transparency, connect qualified partners and support resilient supply chains.
The final communication idea can be summarized as:
Join. Connect. Strengthen.
A clear, action-oriented message that reflects the purpose of the platform: bringing relevant stakeholders together in a secure and strategically meaningful way.
more project caste studies coming soon...
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