We had the good fortune of connecting with Victoria Cufré and Agustina Fernández, founders of Mico Design Studio, a design and execution firm based in Miami, and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Victoria and Agustina, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?

There is something very interesting in our industry that often is unnoticed by outsiders: our work is not just about aesthetics. Over the years, we have seen how changes in the image and strategy of spaces have directly impacted the success of our clients’ sales. This includes clients who were opening their first location or those who had other locations and doubled their sales after our redesign. There is a strategy behind creating a space that is in line with the target audience and even aligns with a new generation where ambiences are important for them because they create content, take picture or videos and then that goes viral. For example, we have helped clients who wanted to strengthen their daytime or nighttime audience by adapting the design of the space to this need in order to attract new customers.

Risk-taking: how do you think about risk, and what role has taking risks played in your life/career?
When we started, the biggest risk was, on the one hand, leaving our comfort zone in dependent jobs and venturing to create a project together. We had to choose to bet on something uncertain, being young, in a new country. We had to work very hard to show our services, and capabilities and position ourselves enough to start getting new clients. We worked on many projects with all our effort to achieve the respect and seriousness that we have now reached, which is why companies, brands, and large clients choose to trust us today.

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand? 
Without a doubt, we would say the most important is the human factor, the energy with which we work, and the care we give to human relationships. From our side, we are very aligned as friends and partners, in our personalities and in the way we deal with our clients and suppliers, which we highly value. On the other hand, transparency and respect, are an absolute priority for us. The relationship between us, the transparency, and the good energy we try to have even in very challenging moments are our main distinctive.

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career? 
We believe that inclinations towards creative or artistic pursuits always come from within us, and the important thing is to find a way to tap into that potential. We are definitely very fortunate to be able to dedicate ourselves to what we are passionate about, and we also believe that choosing to dedicate ourselves to commercial projects was a great decision because they are generally completely different proposals that allow us to be very creative and challenge us every time. At first, the creative process was very solitary, just the two of us and the client, but now we are a bigger team and we are lucky to work with very young and open-minded people who we also like to accompany in their inspiration and always try to go a little further with the proposals.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

We would highly recommend some foodie spots in the “magic city”, not only because we were involved in their design process, but also because they are truly popular and trendy spots!

– Paperfish: asian-peruvian fusion cuisine in a japanese inspired ambience (both locations, Brickell and Espanola Way)
– Oldays: specialty coffee and delicious farm to table food in the heart of Midtown!
– News Cafe: South Beach’s most iconic cafe reopened and is a must to get the real vibe of the area. This was the place where Gianni Versace used to get coffee and read italian newspaper every morning! (Dont miss the classic tomato soup!)
– San Gines: the most famous “chocolate with churros” firm from Madrid just landed in South Beach and you shouldnt miss it!
– Balagan: best japanese food in the heart of vibrant Wynwood District!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In our story, we would definitely love to recognize Sherpa, the consultancy group with whom we work alongside to create hospitality and retail projects in the most vibrant areas of Miami. Together, we combine passion, forces and strategy to create the best results in our industry.

Website: https://wearemicodesign.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micodesign.studio/

Image Credits
Mico Design Studio

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