Velvet Story

Founded in early 2004 by Aivo Kallas, Markko Karu, Janno Siimar and Mart Lankots. We combined Karus design chops with Aivos eye for adventure, Marts way of getting things done and Jannos youthful not-giving-a-fuck-ness. To be known as Estonia’s first design-only creative agency, we set out to prove that design is way bigger than just a part of advertising. Lunacy, they said! Who needs an agency like that!?!

Well, It was’nt easy, but we survived.

The name Velvet is the stuff of legends, that is to say there are many stories where that name came from, but actually it’s just Mart had some velvet pants on and we needed a name.

During the years since we have been a boutique 5 person shop, growing quickly into an almost 70 person alliance of agencies, before settling down into what we are today – a 40-something person hub for a much much larger global network of talented designers and developers, thinkers and doers, researchers and producers, ready to assemble in project teams as needed and to disperse just as quickly when the job is done.

We are independent of holding companies and agency networks, self reliant and free to serve whomever we please, open to work with whomever the task at hand requires.

But 15 years is nothing. History is written by the victors. Who knows what they’ll write about us when we’re gone.

Important dates:

25.02.2004 – Founding/Birthday

Last modified: February 1, 2023 at 13:36