BASIC/DEPT® Expands Headcount with Three Senior Hires

BASIC/DEPT, a global branding and digital design agency building brands, products, and digital experiences, today announced that it has made three new hires in an effort to further elevate their offering to clients and continue to build on the explosive growth the agency saw in 2022. Joseph Mango joins the agency as technical director, Cesley Musngi serves as senior designer and Marcella Winograd is appointed to the role of designer.

“Joseph, Cesley and Marcella are some of the most talented individuals in the industry right now and we are thrilled to have them on board helping our clients create amazing, one-of-a-kind work that tells the story of their brands,” said Ashley Reichel, CEO of BASIC/DEPT®. “Our agency has evolved over the last several years in response to the changing digital landscape and client needs. Having more creative minds bridging brand, experience and progressive technology is key to our evolution and the success of our clients and no one fits the bill more so than Joseph, Cesley and Marcella.”

In an effort to bolster the BASIC/DEPT® technical team and service clients’ technical needs in an ever-evolving industry, Joseph – who comes to the agency from HUSH, where he served as technical director – is responsible for leading a team of creative developers to build immersive brand experiences. He manages the development on a number of projects for clients including KFC and lululemon Studio. 

BASIC/DEPT® is also further elevating their design practice with the additions of Cesley and Marcella, who will be responsible for branding and design for some of the agency's most notable clients. Cesley joins BASIC/DEPT® from AKQA where they served as senior designer and specialised in creating intentional brand experiences online, while Marcella comes to BASIC/DEPT® from EveryMundo where she worked as a product designer on global airline and hotel brands. Both Cesley and Marcella will be working directly with Taco Bell, focusing on creating new and daring work for the client that continues to e propel the brand’s digital experience ahead of the category. 

BASIC/DEPT® has made a number of new hires in recent years, growing over 20% in 2022, and has paid particular attention to DE&I in the process of doing so. In fact, the agency is 40% BIPOC and 56% of the team identifies as female, numbers that continue to grow in 2023. Not only that, but BASIC/DEPT® has one of the highest talent retention rates in the industry at 88%, making it one of the best places to work in branding.

“For us, although we are incredibly diverse and we continue to make that a huge priority for our agency, it’s not only about numbers and statistics on paper,” said Ashley. “We want to create real opportunity and economic empowerment to underserved communities. We look for diversity at every single tier of our leadership and we create a culture of belonging for each person that walks through the – sometimes virtual – BASIC/DEPT® door. This is why we are so strong in our talent and retention and also why we win and keep such impressive clients - diverse voices and creativity result in some of the best work and no one knows that better than us.”

BASIC/DEPT® continues to win new clients and work with some of the world’s best known brands. In 2022, they worked with KFC to create the 'Buckquet' for Mother’s Day, a DIY bouquet of chicken and flowers that was first-of-its-kind for the brand and gained enormous attention from the press, including James Corden on the Late Late Show. The agency was also recently recognised in Ad Age’s Agency A-List as Design and Branding Agency of the Year.