Creative agencies thrive on originality — but behind the scenes, it’s often the opposite: repetitive emails, status updates, file management, and client hand-holding.

For Noto Studio, a mid-sized creative agency specializing in brand identity and content production, that repetition was turning into a bottleneck. The team was drowning in admin work that pulled them away from what they loved: creating.

So they turned to Calisto to help them reclaim their time.

The Challenge

When we met Noto Studio, their creative work was outstanding — but their workflows weren’t. Common pain points included:

• Client onboarding taking hours each week with repeated emails and manual document prep

• Task assignment being handled ad-hoc, often missed or duplicated across tools

• Project updates requiring someone to manually write and send weekly emails

• Asset organization being inconsistent and time-consuming

While they used modern tools like Notion, ClickUp, and Google Drive, none of them were working together. Every process relied on someone remembering to do it.

Our Goal

To automate 80% of their recurring operations without compromising creativity or overwhelming the team with new tools.

Step 1: Audit & Workflow Mapping

We started with a discovery workshop to identify:

• Repeated manual tasks

• Time-consuming communication patterns

• Tools already in use and their limitations

This revealed nearly 40 hours of manual effort per week tied to repetitive admin tasks.

Step 2: Designing the Automation Stack

Here’s how we redesigned their internal systems using no-code tools like Zapier, Notion, and Make, paired with AI services:

1. Client Onboarding — Fully Automated

• When a new client signs a proposal, a Notion workspace is automatically created

• Welcome email (with timeline, deliverables, and intro deck) is sent instantly

• A Google Drive folder is created and linked inside the workspace

• Slack notifies the team with all project details

✅ Result: Onboarding time dropped from ~2 hours to under 10 minutes per client.

2. Smart Task Generation & Assignment

• When a project is created in Notion, tasks are auto-generated based on project type

• Tasks are pushed to ClickUp and assigned based on availability

• Task deadlines are AI-estimated based on past project durations

✅ Result: 90% of project planning became fully automatic, with 100% task coverage.

3. Weekly Updates & Feedback Follow-Ups

• AI (Notion AI + Gmail + Zapier) generates a weekly status summary

• Personalized update emails are sent every Friday at 3PM

• If client feedback isn’t received within 48 hours, a reminder is automatically sent

✅ Result: Improved client communication with zero manual effort.

4. Asset Organization & Delivery

• Final files uploaded to Drive are automatically renamed, sorted, and shared with the client

• Delivery confirmation emails are sent once all assets are in place

✅ Result: Delivery process became consistent, trackable, and nearly hands-free.

Why It Worked

• We used tools they already knew — no steep learning curve

• Automations were modular, so the team could update them easily

• AI added smart logic, like writing summaries and generating timelines

The system wasn’t just efficient — it was sustainable.

Final Thoughts

Creative agencies shouldn’t be spending hours on emails, checklists, and file sorting. With smart, well-designed automation, you can free up your team to focus on what matters: ideas, execution, and growth.

At Calisto, we help teams like yours automate the 80% — so you can excel at the 20% only humans can do.