Eri Design and DerSimonian Merge To Deliver Strategic Marketing and Brand-Focused Web Development Services

For Immediate Release – Worcester, MA; Portland, ME – Eri Design, Inc of Worcester, Massachusetts, has merged with DerSimonian LLC of Portland, Maine. Eri Design, with 17 years of expertise in website and application development, has formalized, through this merger, its longstanding partnership with DerSimonian, a sought-after brand strategy and marketing communications agency serving higher education and nonprofit organizations. Building on the reputation of Eri Design, the new agency will be called ERI, in recognition of the firm’s strategic guideposts—Engagement. Response. Impact.

“This merger represents a formalization of something that we’ve known since we started working together more than a decade ago: our combined team with deep expertise in .edu and .org brand strategy, marketing, and web technology sets us apart from other agencies and enables us to deliver even more powerful results for our clients” said VP and Chief Strategy Officer, Raffi DerSimonian.

With offices in Worcester, MA and Portland, ME, Eri Design and DerSimonian provide colleges, universities, healthcare institutions, and commercial enterprises with comprehensive website redesigns, specialized application development, digital marketing strategies, SEO, creative content development, brand strategy and amplification, advancement support, and specialized training and workshops.

This merger allows ERI to distinguish itself from other agencies with its strategy-first approach and by combining deep technical capabilities in website and application development with the engaging power of visual storytelling.

The formal merger has been motivated, in part, by each firm’s growing business and an increased demand for bundling together the kinds of expertise that each organization has delivered separately. Together, ERI can provide its clients a truly comprehensive digital strategy. “Today, it’s not enough to have the technical competencies to design, code, and implement site redesign,” said ERI President, Erjon Metohu. “Our clients need their websites to powerfully express and amplify their institution’s brand, plus make it easier for their teams to become content creation and content management experts,” said Metohu.

Eri Design was founded in 2005 by Erjon Metohu while studying graphic design as an undergraduate student at Becker College. With an impressive portfolio of large-scale university and institutional website development projects, Eri Design has become nationally known as a creative and technically advanced web design and application development firm. The winner of over a dozen national industry awards for website design excellence, Eri Design’s team includes strategists, writers, graphic designers, user-experience experts, developers, and project managers.

Numerous universities and institutions have partnered with Eri Design for major web development projects, capital campaign sites, digital marketing initiatives, and software development projects. The firm’s clients have included Clark University, Worcester State University, Tufts University, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Trinity College, among many others.

Raffi DerSimonian brings 20 + years of experience as an organizational leader, marketing strategist, consultant, and nonprofit board member. His higher ed marketing experience includes leading marketing, communications, and advancement strategies for several New England-based academic institutions. Prior to those institutional roles, he built marketing expertise generating editorial coverage for the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) in Rhode Island, leading eCommerce for the Americas on behalf of international luxury travel brand, Orient-Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises.

DerSimonian moved back to his home state of Maine to become Director of Marketing and Communications at MECA (now Maine College of Art & Design). There, he was responsible for a major brand development program and spearheaded numerous fundraising and advancement marketing campaigns. After his time at MECA, DerSimonian launched his eponymous consulting practice, which has built brand identities and supported enrollment and philanthropic goals for colleges, universities, public school systems, healthcare institutions, and nonprofit organizations.

“We understand the significant role that a website plays in helping organizations and institutions grow measurable engagement. The formal merger of our companies positions us to become a leader at the intersection of delivering effective digital strategy, design, and development.”
said Erjon Metohu, President and Creative Director.

Raffi DerSimonian (left) VP & Chief Strategy Officer and Erjon Metohu (right) President & Founder