A digital product design and brand agency partnering with forward-thinking global clients

Justin Robinson founded Simplr in 2014 with his business partner, Grant Medefindt. Over the last 26 years Justin has been building and creating strong brands both locally and internationally, having been the creative director and mentor to design teams in South Africa and London. Justin has an in-depth understanding of designing and implementing large scale corporate systems and developing robust brands that can grow at scale. He is passionate about creating memorable identity systems and heads up the brand design division for Simplr, operating out of Cape Town. Justin approaches every project strategically, applying his years of experience to create Simplr yet effective design solutions. Justin approaches his home-life with the same dedication to work, maintaining a healthy balance between family life and activities such as cycling and running.

Melanie Kvalsvig is a graphic designer with 30 years of TTL experience. She has worked at both small and big agencies, has run her own agency and freelanced. Her main focus over the last few years has been retail, a sector where quick turnaround is key. She is currently running the PowerPoint division for Simplr. Attention to detail, time management and an ability to think things through have made Melanie the go-to PowerPoint person. In her spare time Mel practices procraftination (which is to avoid other things or needs to do crafts instead) and this includes crochet, knitting and embroidery.

Andrea Waugh is a multi-disciplinary designer adept in identity development, brand creation, print design, environmental and packaging design. With over 25 years of design experience, Andrea has had the privilege to work internationally in the United Kingdom and the UAE, ensuring that she brings international creative proficiency to her local market understanding. Her innate passion and love for creating unique designs give her a well-rounded skill set to deliver practical, innovative solutions to any given project. If you can’t find her walking the mountains with her husband and dog on the weekends, then she can be found enjoying the scenery and delicious tastes of Cape Town.

Ray Vogel uses his creativity and strategic insight to bring ideas and solutions to life. His career spans more than 20 years in corporate marketing, branding, communication and management consulting. He uses his formal training as a textile designer, love for photography and sharp mind to envision, design and implement value. Ray has worked on large scale corporate brands such as the Industrial Development Corporation, SABC and Eskom, whilst also being a fervent supporter of smaller brands. His drive to inspire people towards positive change has taken him on a wild journey as art student, scientific illustrator, brand manager and as the chef at a Buddhist retreat centre. Ray allows his creative passions to drive him whilst reason holds the reigns. Meditation, simplicity and integrity help keep him grounded and sane.

Melissa Caccia has been in the design industry for 15 years with a stint in London where she gained invaluable experience, enabling her to hone her creative skills. Being a strong conceptual thinker, Melissa has been instrumental in developing many successful brands such as La Motte, CBC, Standard Bank, Investec, Dubai Tourism, Avis, Clinique, Estee Lauder and Hyatt Hotels. Melissa loves yoga and all things spiritual. When she’s not sitting in Sukhasana (AKA easy pose), you’ll find her playing with her cute little Chihuahua, Lili.

Nicola’s creative journey in advertising, design, and editing has shaped her creative path, ultimately guiding her to Simplr. Prior to joining us, she delved into diverse cultures while working in and around Central America with her family. Armed with a global perspective and more than twenty years in the industry, Nicola now oversees our motion graphics division.

Stiaan Bester is a graphic and UX/UI design professional with over 16 years of experience. He has worked on numerous local and international brands, including ABSA, Investec, Telkom, Eskom, Clover, Southern Sun, Guinness, Smirnoff, Coca-Cola, Revlon and the Parliament of South Africa. He has also collaborated on a number of complex UX projects, which included brand and user research and the subsequent creation of user personas, preparing flowcharts and wireframes, creating user interfaces and prototypes and conducting user testing. He is also an accomplished lecturer – he has spent many nights passing on his vast knowledge of user-centred design. Stiaan’s witty sense of humour brings a light-heartedness to the Simplr office, even when his love of horror movies doesn’t. His Scottish Terrier, Lego, is the love of his life and he spends many weekends at the beach with him.  

Melissa is an accomplished and versatile Account Manager with over 13 years of experience in the creative industry. With a background in areas such as Branding, Print, Packaging, and Digital design, she brings a wealth of expertise to the table. She excels at seamlessly overseeing multiple projects, cultivating strong client relationships and combining efficiency with a keen eye for detail. Her interests centre around all things art, trying out new restaurants or recipes and obsessing over Scandinavian design.

With over 16 years experience in web development, Eugene Cilliers has a proven track record building digital tools and experiences for some of South Africa’s leading brands. He strives to utilise technology to solve complex creative ideas, challenging the norm and forever learning along the way.

Grant Medefindt founded Simplr in 2014 with his business partner, Justin Robinson. Grant has over 24 years of experience in creating, launching and growing brands in both South Africa and international markets. With a strong knowledge and passion for UI/UX design, Grant leads the digital service offering at Simplr, producing innovative products, services and customer experiences. He believes in the power of simplicity and doing away with the superfluous. With brand at the heart of all customer engagements, Grant favours well thought-out strategic design and crafted digital experiences. When not surfing up the West Coast of Cape Town, Grant can be found spending time with his family or running his crazy dogs on the beach.  

Jade currently resides in Seapoint, while her family lives in Langebaan. As a child, she used to collect and scrapbook cutouts from her mom’s magazines, soon realizing the profession she wanted to pursue. On weekends, she can often be found at a secondhand book market, the WOOF project, or sniffing out the best chocolate croissant and coffee.

Daryl has over 15 years experience as a web developer. He specialises in custom WordPress theme and plugin development and his background in graphic design ensures aesthetics and user experience are not overlooked. Daryl is a keen photographer and budding woodworker and enjoys country living with his wife, daughter and three dogs.

Toki is a skilled web developer specialising in front-end development, with a passion for crafting visually appealing and highly functional web interfaces, while also dabbling in game development in his spare time. With meticulous attention to detail and a knack for using technology to creatively solve problems, Toki brings innovative ideas and a collaborative spirit to the team dynamic. Beyond work, Toki enjoys nurturing his ever-growing indoor plant collection and unwinding with his family.

Jonathan, also known as “Jono”, brings a friendly yet professional feel to his project management approach, and is well versed in handling projects across a diverse range of industries. His strengths lay in building meaningful relationships with a hands-on approach and a positive attitude.

Bretta Russel-Espin joined Simplr in 2016. She loves debits and credits and will not rest until everything balances. She is our Simplr accounts warrior chasing debtors and keeping the books up to date. When she’s not bookkeeping, she can be found running her pooches on the mountain and bingeing series.