Ferroconcrete: A Strong Foundation By Design

Posted June 29th, 2011 / By John Kostrzewski in Curated, Featured, Interviews, Studios & Motionographers

How do you fall in love?

Yolanda Santosa and her crew at Ferroconcrete know the answer to this question, because each time they take on a project they fall in love with it. They spend countless hours memorizing each detail, even the smallest, most trivial piece. They go past what’s on the outside and find what’s underneath–the true, unbiased story–and then, without thinking, they make it their own. They find the personality in whatever they are working with, then, and only then, they create something truly beautiful–something that will stand the test of time.

It’s this attention to detail and love of creation that has solidified Ferroconcrete, a branding studio located in Los Angeles, California, as a go to company for creating excellent brands, and it shows in their past work with companies such as Pinkberry, Hustler, éple and, most recently, TBS.

A Solid Foundation

This foundation was set in place early in Yolanda’s life. She was always inspired by great branding and knew it was something that she wanted to be a part of. After graduating with a degree in Graphic Design, she got a job in a large branding firm where she worked on strictly on logos day after day. She soon tired of the monotony and yearned for more ways to express her passion which lead her into the world of motion graphics and a home at yu+co.

Working with motion was something that rejuvenated Yolanda and proved to be a integral part of her career. Through the six and a half years she spent in motion graphics she learned the importance of story and the impact motion can have on design. This all culminated in such memorable projects as the end credits for the feature film 300 and the title sequences for Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, to name a few.

Some of Yolanda's work at Yu+co

The Start of Something Beautiful

However, Yolanda felt something was missing. Seeing great brands taking off such as Apple and yearning to get back into her first love, Yolanda set off to create her own company, something she wanted to do since she began working in the industry. When she heard that Pinkberry was looking for a branding company, she jumped at the chance. She took vacation time off from work and got in touch with the company and, in that week, she created and presented her idea to Pinkberry, who loved it. With that, Yolanda left her job at yu+co and Ferroconcrete was born.

At Ferroconcrete, she was finally able to express her passion without restraint, bringing out the personality in the products that she chose to work with. However, she knew she couldn’t do it alone. Needing to hire employees and understanding a company is only as good as the sum of its parts, Yolanda gathered together a group extremely talented designers from different fields who shared her love of creativity and story. Not wanting to create more cogs in the system like she had been when she first started out, she gave them all creative say in the initial design of the brand making an energetic, friendly and competitive work environment. Finally, Ferroconcrete had a truly solid foundation to support it. And, with that, they transformed Pinkberry from a one store shop into an over 70 store national chain (for more on this, check out the great AIGA video on how she created the brand).

Ferroconcrete

Since its grand opening in 2006, Ferroconcrete has gone on to create brands for companies all over the spectrum including Coola suncare products, Skywatch watches, TFO Architecture, City Center on 6th and even Hustler Toys. In each project, they managed to bring a full sense of design and personality to it, capturing just the right elements and bringing them to the forefront. This can be seen in everything they have created from menus and brochures to packaging and labeling; from websites and photos to motion graphics and video. Even shirts and bags. All along the way, they have fallen in love over and over again.

By the time Ferroconcrete was hired to rebrand TBS, Yolanda and her crew were moving in strides. Being somewhat of a return to form for her, Yolanda knew exactly what was needed. Working with the previous static half circle (smiling) logo, Ferroconcrete did what they do best–they brought it to life. Instead of creating just a logo, they created a character all on its own. With that single character, they managed to give the entire TBS company a unique personality evoked every time you watch a their channel or visit their website.

They did this by recreating the TBS smiley face logo in Maxon Cinema 4D, animating it into a mischievous and fun loving character that danced and interacted with various actors from the many different shows on TBS including George Lopez, the cast of The Big Band Theory and Peter from Family Guy. They made a star who loved to have fun, and that made TBS fun. Much like all of Ferroconcrete’s designs, it was simple, but it managed to say so much.

What Dreams May Come

Even though Ferroconcrete already has many awards and accolades under their belt for the work they have already accomplished, they are in it because they truly love everything that they do, and they don’t plan on slowing down any time soon. Along with continuing their branding and motion graphics projects, they are already working on integrating interior design elements into their branding studio as well as iphone application programming and design, among other things.

One could say, they are adding additions on to their already strong home.

John Kostrzewski is the Editor of Fuel Your Motionography and a freelance motion graphics and visual effects artist, videographer and writer living in Minnesota. He is awesome. Follow him on Twitter at and .