About HotSauce Design Works
About HotSauce Design Works
Design with a difference
Design with a difference
In short, we're an independent design studio with real-world business experience.
We've been entrepreneurs, shared the same struggles as most of our clients and have worked with designers and agencies along the way. The problem was that design was approached from a… a design perspective.
We believe in the creative direction coming from the business - it's about getting to know you, the founders and startup leaders, to fully understand your brand DNA.
In short, we're an independent design studio with real-world business experience.
We've been entrepreneurs, shared the same struggles as most of our clients and have worked with designers and agencies along the way. The problem was that design was approached from a… a design perspective.
We believe in the creative direction coming from the business - it's about getting to know you, the founders and startup leaders, to fully understand your brand DNA.
We believe in different
Differentiation is arguably the key driver for success. In ever more competitive markets, your offering may be similar to others - that's competition, right? - so we work to design your differentiation, so that you become the choice and not just another option.
We're not unique. We've got tons of competitors, but we go deeper, push harder and think outside the lines to ensure that you get results - isn't that why we're here?
We look at it like ketchup and hot sauce. Ketchup's a good, solid condiment that does an okay job - hell, we dunk our fries into ketchup now and again.
But, when you add hot sauce to something… well, that's when the magic happens.
Differentiation is arguably the key driver for success. In ever more competitive markets, your offering may be similar to others - that's competition, right? - so we work to design your differentiation, so that you become the choice and not just another option.
We're not unique. We've got tons of competitors, but we go deeper, push harder and think outside the lines to ensure that you get results - isn't that why we're here?
We look at it like ketchup and hot sauce. Ketchup's a good, solid condiment that does an okay job - hell, we dunk our fries into ketchup now and again.
But, when you add hot sauce to something… well, that's when the magic happens.
About Me
About Me
Where do I start..?
Where do I start..?
Well, I could give you the usual story about how I'm a passionate designer who wants to share my creative gifts with the world - which is true by the way!
Or, I can tell you who I really am and how I got here…
HotSauce Design Works is the culmination of my 35 year dream to pursue graphic design.
Now, here's the sad bit - at the age of 18 I wasn't allowed to study graphic design and was told - "you'll never make money drawing!"
So, I tried my hand at other subjects - Maths, Economics, Languages (which I was pretty good at) - but then I fluffed my university entrance and headed out in to the big wide world of work.
I've done sales, marketing, worked in hospitality, international conferences & exhibitions, e-commerce, trade associations, maritime services and even produced an award-winning short film, but all the way through I've always gravitated towards design, and especially branding.
Why? Because it just always made sense to me.
Any business without a clear identity is invisible. The identity gives it life… gives it purpose… makes it real!
So, I honed my design skills with years of self-teaching and have now built my own studio to bring businesses to life and stop them blending into the background.
Who am I? Well, my name's Karim Halwagi, but my friends call me Wags and, yes… I love hot sauce!!
Well, I could give you the usual story about how I'm a passionate designer who wants to share my creative gifts with the world - which is true by the way!
Or, I can tell you who I really am and how I got here…
HotSauce Design Works is the culmination of my 35-year dream to pursue graphic design.
Now, here's the sad bit - at the age of 18 I wasn't allowed to study graphic design and was told - "you'll never make money drawing!"
So, I tried my hand at other subjects - Maths, Economics, Languages (which I was pretty good at) - but then I fluffed my university entrance and headed out in to the big wide world of work.
I've done sales, marketing, worked in hospitality, international conferences & exhibitions, e-commerce, trade associations, maritime services and even produced an award-winning short film, but all the way through I've always gravitated towards design, and especially branding.
Why? Because it just always made sense to me.
Any business without a clear identity is invisible. The identity gives it life… It gives it purpose… It makes it real!
So, I honed my design skills with hours of self-teaching and have now built my own studio to bring businesses to life and stop them blending into the background.
Who am I? Well, my name's Karim Halwagi, but my friends call me Wags and, yes… I love hot sauce!!
Well, I could give you the usual story about how I'm a passionate designer who wants to share my creative gifts with the world - which is true by the way!
Or, I can tell you who I really am and how I got here…
HotSauce Design Works is the culmination of my 35-year dream to pursue graphic design.
Now, here's the sad bit - at the age of 18 I wasn't allowed to study graphic design and was told - "you'll never make money drawing!"
So, I tried my hand at other subjects - Maths, Economics, Languages (which I was pretty good at) - but then I fluffed my university entrance and headed out in to the big wide world of work.
I've done sales, marketing, worked in hospitality, international conferences & exhibitions, e-commerce, trade associations, maritime services and even produced an award-winning short film, but all the way through I've always gravitated towards design, and especially branding.
Why? Because it just always made sense to me.
Any business without a clear identity is invisible. The identity gives it life… It gives it purpose… It makes it real!
So, I honed my design skills with hours of self-teaching and have now built my own studio to bring businesses to life and stop them blending into the background.
Who am I? Well, my name's Karim Halwagi, but my friends call me Wags and, yes… I love hot sauce!!