our story
Outspoken Entourage was established in 2014. Nicola started the business and operated it full time, while Mark was on board in a part time capacity.
We are often asked about our name and it wasn’t created as a great conversation starter! It was chosen due to our main clients at the time being keynote & corporate speakers.
The business grew steadily until we experienced quick growth in 2017 as word began to spread throughout the local business community.
Continued growth enabled Mark to begin working full-time within the business and leave his senior role with the Australian round of the World Rally Championships (WRC).
Once Mark became available in a full-time capacity to engage in additional client design projects, we opened our studio in the Jetty area in 2018.
It was a tiny 13 square metre sub-let space with street front signage and within close quarters to several cafes for our regular caffeine hit!
It wasn't long before we looked at recruiting staff and realised the small office was bursting at the seams.
In 2019 Outspoken Entourage took on a new 65 square metre waterfront office within the same complex.
We employed another Graphic Designer to help with the ever-increasing workload for websites and branding projects and assist in the design of the surging social media part of the business.
Plans were made to appoint a dedicated social media resource to assist Nicola with the workload and the 17k posts made on behalf of clients per annum across a variety of industries.
2020 started off with a bang until Covid-19 arrived. Whilst the impact was sudden and drastic, we were able to recover relatively quickly and as businesses regained confidence, we were able to appoint a Social Media Manager.
A few short months later, a Content Creator was added to the team and we were able to work with a software developer to take our social media proofing to a digital process with online proofing, scheduling and live alterations.
Early in 2021 a Studio Manager was appointed to assist with project managing the design team helping to keep the designers fed with all the information required for them to commence and complete the various projects on the books.
Covid-19 Lockdown 2 commenced and we lost that team member to a similar business locally. With the coming months an unknown, we decided not to re-employ but find alternative means to manage the workflow.
By mid-year it was announced that the complex we tenanted was to be redeveloped into apartment buildings in the near future.
With other team members parting to relocate outside the area and the lease ending in early 2022 for the studio, Nicola and Mark made the decision to build a custom design studio to provide a dedicated permanent space.
The studio space was completed late 2021 and features four metre high raked ceilings, polished concrete floors, an abundance of natural light, exposed industrial steel beams, park-like surroundings and all of the designer touches you would expect (including a cafe quality coffee setup).
The perfect space to create for our clients.
With a high number of clients now located throughout Australia with a large focus in Sydney and Melbourne, we took the step to establish a new studio a few kilometres from the CBD in Melbourne. We are embracing the cultural diversity and creativity of one of Australia's most dynamic cities.
After transitioning to Greater Melbourne in late 2022, we decided to make a move across town into a heritage listed 1850s warehouse conversion featuring red brick, concrete, exposed ceiling beams and steel fire doors in the suburb of West Melbourne which borders the CBD.
With this move we decided to evolve our logo to better represent our surroundings and renewed creative inspiration.
