MachineMax is a technology company that provides fleet management solutions for the construction and heavy equipment industries. Their platform enables businesses to track, monitor, and optimize the performance of machinery through IoT sensors and data analytics, helping construction companies reduce downtime, improve operational efficiency, and make data-driven decisions about equipment utilization.
Operating in the competitive construction technology sector, MachineMax serves clients across multiple markets with their software platform that combines real-time machine data with actionable insights for fleet managers and site operators.
MachineMax faced a resource challenge that many growing technology companies encounter: they had just one visual designer supporting the entire organization—both product design and marketing—for over four and a half years.
With the designer's paternity leave approaching, the company confronted an uncomfortable reality: they had no backup plan. For nearly five years, they had relied on a single point of failure for all their visual design needs, from UI components and website updates to marketing collateral, trade show materials, and social media content.
The team needed to find immediate coverage but faced several constraints:
Hiring a full-time contractor wasn't the right answer. The workload fluctuated too much to justify bringing someone in for fixed days each week, and the upfront investment didn't make sense for what was essentially paternity leave coverage with potential for ongoing ad hoc support afterward.
Freelancer marketplaces had already proven frustrating. Previous experiences left them wary of the typical pitfalls: inconsistent quality, unpredictable availability, and the exhausting process of briefing new people repeatedly without building any lasting relationship or brand understanding.
They needed flexibility without commitment. Some weeks would have steady design needs across both product UI work and marketing deliverables—LinkedIn graphics, blog headers, brochures, white papers, HubSpot email designs, and trade show materials. Other weeks might be relatively quiet. A traditional retainer model with a high monthly commitment didn't fit their reality.
MachineMax also had specific workflow requirements. Their product work happened in Figma with an established component library, while marketing collateral could be produced in whatever tool the designer preferred—Illustrator, InDesign, or Photoshop. They needed a partner who could work fluidly across both disciplines without requiring extensive onboarding for every new project.
Most critically, they were evaluating multiple services simultaneously—Design Pickle, Superside, and Design Cloud—trying to determine which could deliver professional-quality output at a reasonable price point while providing the consistency and brand familiarity that had taken years to build with their in-house designer.
MachineMax partnered with Design Cloud, working with two dedicated UK-based designers—one focused exclusively on product UI work and another handling all marketing collateral. This separation ensures that complex UI design doesn't compete with marketing deadlines, and each designer can develop deep expertise in their respective discipline.
The dedicated designer model addresses MachineMax's consistency concerns head-on. Unlike freelancer marketplaces where quality varies wildly and you're constantly starting from scratch, MachineMax works with the same designers who learn their brand guidelines, understand their component library structure, and become progressively more efficient with each project. The product designer internalizes their Figma workflows and design system rules, while the marketing designer develops fluency with their visual language across different collateral types.
Design Cloud's flexible structure eliminates the commitment anxiety that comes with traditional contractor relationships. When design demand is high—campaign launches, trade show preparations, or product release cycles—both designers work through their respective queues steadily. During quieter periods, the predictable monthly cost remains low enough that there's no budget panic about underutilization.
The UK-based team provides crucial advantages for a company that values efficient communication and quality output. Same time zone collaboration, native English speakers who understand UK business context, and full-time employees rather than shift-working contractors all contribute to the smooth experience MachineMax needs.
For their diverse marketing workload—LinkedIn posts, blog graphics, two-page brochures, multi-page white papers, trade show materials, and HubSpot email designs—the platform's straightforward briefing system keeps projects moving. Team members submit requests with all relevant details and assets, designers work through them methodically, and next-day delivery on simple jobs means the marketing team can maintain their publication schedules without constant fire-drills.
On the product side, the structured workflow fits naturally with their UX process. Their UX team creates wireframes (moving toward Axure for more sophisticated UX work), then hands off to the Design Cloud designer for visual execution in Figma. Whether building out new components for their design system or creating screens from existing components, the dedicated designer understands the technical requirements and quality standards that product work demands.
Perhaps most importantly for a company that had grown dependent on a single designer, Design Cloud provides insurance against the very risk that prompted their search: if their dedicated designer is unavailable due to holiday or illness, another designer from the team covers the work seamlessly. The continuity that seemed impossible to replicate with freelancers becomes standard operating procedure.
When the initial paternity leave coverage period ends, MachineMax has the flexibility to continue the relationship for ongoing support or scale back as needs change—no lengthy contract negotiations, no awkward conversations about ending a contractor relationship. Just transparent, flexible design capacity that scales with their business reality.
