How Händlerbund Cut Design Costs by 44% with magier

But there was no dedicated designer on the team. Marketing members handled design tasks themselves, with limited design knowledge and whatever tools they could manage. As formats multiplied, from social posts and ad banners to 90-page PDF studies and print materials for events, that gap became harder to ignore. Briefings needed back and forth, turnaround was slower, and the team spent time coordinating design work instead of focusing on what they were actually good at.

That's when magier came into the picture.

The challenge

Händlerbund's marketing need is quite diverse. In any given week, the team would need a colorful Instagram carousel, a 90-page legal study with infographics, a Google Slides presentation for an internal meeting, an email header banner, and print-ready flyers for an upcoming event. All of it needs to stay on-brand, but each format demans a very different design approach.

Legal education content adds another layer of complexity. Social media assets can be bold, colorful, and attention-grabbing. But a guide explaining new e-commerce regulations or a step-by-step compliance PDF needs to be clear, factual, and structured for readability. The design partner for this kind of work needs to understand the difference and adapt accordingly.

The biggest operational bottleneck was in the high-frequency work: social media posts and email banners. These formats came in constantly, often requiring multiple variants and adaptations for different channels. At the same time, larger projects like annual studies, presentations, and campaign concepts demanded significantly more time and conceptual thinking.

Händlerbund didn't just need someone to execute briefs. They needed an active design partner who could bring fresh ideas, own projects, work across a wide range of formats, and keep up with the pace of a 25-person marketing team.

"We didn't just need someone to turn briefs into graphics. We needed a design partner who could bring their own ideas and push our brand forward while still respecting what we'd already built."

Tim Arlt

CEO @ Händlerbund

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The solution: what magier did

magier started working with Händlerbund in June 2025, with Matt stepping in as the dedicated art director alongside a small team of expert designers. Here's how it worked.

A dedicated team that understood the brand

Matt and his team stayed closely aligned with Händlerbund's existing branding and design elements from day one. The goal was never to overhaul the brand, but to make assets more modern, cleaner, and fresher while remaining true to what Händlerbund already had. Social media graphics became noticeably more active. Banner formats got a more contemporary feel. And for documents and PDFs, the team adapted the design approach depending on the content: colorful and graphically rich for annual studies, clear and structured for legal guides.

Built into Händlerbund's existing work rhythm

Every Monday, the marketing team sent a prioritized task list. Matt and the team aligned on scope and priorities for the week, then started working through tickets right away. Briefings, especially for social media, were clear enough that the team could often begin without follow-up questions. This weekly cadence meant there was no guessing, no obstacles in communication, and no wasted time.

Fast turnaround without sacrificing quality

For standard assets like social posts and email banners, the team typically delivered a first draft within 24 hours. Many of these were approved with little or no revision. For larger projects like studies, guides, and presentations, the team would first develop different design directions and present them to Händlerbund before moving forward. This approach meant fewer wasted rounds and better results.

Flexible across every format

The scope of work went well beyond day-to-day social and email assets. Over the course of the collaboration, the team produced social media graphics, ads, banners, header banners, complete carousels, guides, studies, white papers, e-books, interactive PDFs (including fillable questionnaires), Google Suite presentations, print materials like flyers and roll-ups, a logo refresh for Händlerbund's Sellerdays event, and a full visual campaign with three distinct creative directions. All of this was handled through the same team, the same process, and the same weekly rhythm.

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No gaps, no downtime

One of the less obvious but highly valuable aspects of the collaboration was reliability. There were no disruptions due to vacation or sick days. Feedback was given directly in Figma. Tasks were documented transparently. And someone from the magier team was always reachable. For a 25-person marketing team that depends on a constant supply of design assets, this kind of consistency matters.

"We never had to worry about delays because of vacation or sick days. There was always someone on the magier side picking up the work, which is something you can't guarantee with a single in-house designer."

Tim Arlt

CEO @ Händlerbund

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Results

Working with magier changed how Händlerbund's marketing team operated on a daily basis. Here's what that looked like after over a year of collaboration.

Faster, more predictable output

The team stopped waiting on design. Social media graphics, email banners, and ad variants were delivered within 24 hours of briefing. Larger projects like annual studies and print materials had clear timelines communicated upfront. One 90-page study was fully designed in just two days. Over the course of the collaboration, the team completed approximately 180 tickets, with the actual number of individual assets being significantly higher since many tickets included multiple formats, variants, or pages. By the end, the turnaround rate increased by almost 60%.

Consistent quality across every format

Whether it was a bold Instagram carousel or a structured legal compliance guide, every asset carried the same level of quality and brand consistency. Händlerbund didn't need to worry about different designers producing different-looking work. The magier team understood the brand, knew when to be colorful and when to be restrained, and delivered accordingly.

More capacity for the work that matters

With design handled reliably by an external team that worked as an extension to the in-house team, Händlerbund's marketing department could focus more on research, customer communication, social media engagement, and video production. Individual team members still stayed involved in the process and had their own tickets, but they no longer had to manage the details of every design execution themselves.

Print-ready without the hassle

For event materials like the SellerDays flyers and membership flyers, the team handled everything from concept to print-ready files. Händlerbund provided the content, and magier took care of structure, layout, and production, delivering files that were ready for print after just a few adjustments. This kind of technical know-how, knowing the right software, understanding print data requirements, and delivering clean results quickly, is exactly what an in-house setup would have struggled to cover.

"If we had to cover this range of work internally, we'd need multiple specialized designers. With magier, we get all of those competencies through one team without having to hire for every single role."

Tim Arlt

CEO @ Händlerbund

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Advice for other marketing teams

When we asked Tim if he has any suggestion for other marketing teams, this is what he had to say:

"If your marketing team is producing a high volume of content across many different formats and you need consistent quality without building a full in-house design department, this is exactly the kind of partnership that solves that."

Tim Arlt

CEO @ Händlerbund

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