CASE STUDY
Bepoket Print
From Handbag Startup to Funded Print-Tech Platform
Identified a LATAM Market Gap
Automated variable-data print customisation locally when printers required costly manual file prep.
End-to-End Product Design
Built an intuitive web editor alongside an automated backend engine that dynamically generated print-ready PDF imposition files
Proven Business Impact
Received 3 government innovation grants, automated 100% of prepress operations, and expanded our footprint across Argentina.
MY ROLE
Co-Founder, Lead Product Designer (UI/UX), Video Producer
TEAM
2 Co-Founders, Contract Developers, Graphic Designer, UBA Communications Thesis Team, Paid Social Agency, Business Consultants & Government Mentors
TIMELINE
2009 – 2014
METHODS AND SKILLS
Quantitative Surveys, Focus Groups, Wireframing, Stop-Motion Video, Print Pipeline Specs
TOOLS & SOFTWARE
Symfony, WordPress, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
THE ORIGIN
Discovering an Unmet Need in LATAM
In 2008, while running bePoket (a leather handbag brand in Buenos Aires), we needed business cards for wholesale fairs. We discovered Moo.com in the UK, which offered multiple back designs in a single pack, a concept that didn't exist in Argentina. We realised we could print our custom handbag textile patterns on the back of every card.
From physical textiles to digital patterns: Handbag lining designs that sparked the initial variable-print concept
VALIDATION
Fanning the Cards: Spotting the Demand Signal
The cards arrived. Every time I introduced myself, I'd fan them out and say "pick one." People went crazy for them. Some wanted to keep more than one.
The 'Fan-Out' Effect: Sharing multi-pattern business cards validated local consumer demand for per-card personalisation
That reaction was the real signal. There was no local design system like this, and no printer in Argentina offered per-card personalization at scale.
Preparing a unique file for every single card by hand takes too long to be worth the money. So we set out to build a system that would do it automatically.
THE CORE CHALLENGE
Automating Personalisation at Scale
Building bePoket Print meant solving two things at once:
1. An Intuitive design editor.
Allowing users to design their own cards online. Upload images, choose typography and colours, or select from pre-made template libraries online.
2. An Automated Print Pipeline: Developing a system that dynamically generated print-ready, high-resolution PDFs without manual file prep or operational bottlenecks.
BUILT FOR PEOPLE WHO'D NEVER DESIGNED ANYTHING
Product Design and Execution
Early focus group testing revealed a critical usability problem. Online print customisation was a new concept in Argentina at the time. Users struggled with two things: how to use the editor, and the underlying product itself, variable back-of-card printing.
Educational content. We scripted and produced explainer videos to show how variable back-of-card printing worked and how to use the editor.
Product in action: Variable back-of-card printing allowing distinct designs in a single pack.
Interactive UI safeguards. We built visual boundaries into the canvas, bleed lines and trim areas, to catch print production errors before checkout.
Free pattern and template libraries. The platform was made for non-designers. Anyone could pick a pattern or template and start from something finished, instead of a blank canvas.
OPERATIONAL SCALE
Bringing Printing In-House to Control Quality & Margins
We allocated a significant portion of our grant funding to set up our own in-house printing facility. Transitioning away from third-party print partners solved two critical business bottlenecks: it significantly improved our profit margins and gave us direct, uncompromising control over physical print quality.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
What I'd do differently
"Looking back, I wish I'd focused purely on the software. The print operations side pulled focus from the part of the business with the most leverage: the platform itself.
That's a lesson I carry into every project since. Build the thing that scales. Let go of the thing that doesn't."
THE SPINOFF
Turning an Explainer Video into an Enterprise Agency Service
The handcrafted stop-motion video created to solve our onboarding problem started getting noticed on its own.
OCA, Argentina’s largest private postal network, approached us to create a similar explainer video to launch their e-commerce delivery service. Soon after, Plataforme (Buscapé) hired us for a similar campaign. What began as a resourceful solution to our own UX friction evolved into a lucrative video production line for major enterprise clients.
What started as a scrappy, hands-and-paper video to solve our own user onboarding bottleneck unexpectedly turned into an enterprise agency line—proving that clear, empathetic communication is one of the most powerful tools in product design.