Featured · Practice · Pricing

Five years of running a studio without billable hours

We switched to value-based pricing in 2021 and never looked back. The transition was bumpier than the LinkedIn posts make it sound. A frank account of what changed, what we got wrong and how we explain it to clients on the first call.

SSaoirse Doyle·Jun 2, 2026·9 min read

Latest writing

IdentityCase Study

A new identity system for the Riverside Architecture Festival

We spent six months working alongside the festival team to develop a flexible visual language that can scale from a passport-sized programme to a forty-metre banner. A short case study, the rejected directions and what we learned about working with installation typography.

LLina Holm·Apr 6, 2026·8 min read
MotionCase Study

The brief that changed how we think about motion

A small museum commission asked us to design a wayfinding system that could breathe. The constraints were unusual, the budget was modest and the result is still the project we point to most often when explaining what we do.

LLina Holm·Apr 8, 2026·7 min read
IllustrationWorkflow

A field guide to commissioning illustration

Working with illustrators is one of the joys of our job. It is also where projects most often go sideways. A practical guide for art directors, with notes on briefs, fees, revisions and the email we send before the first sketch.

MMateo Ortiz·Apr 18, 2026·8 min read
TypographyProcess

Designing a typeface in the margins of a project

Our first proprietary typeface was never meant to leave the studio. It began as a single lowercase a sketched in the corner of a layout and grew into a small family we now use across most of our work. Process photos and a few honest reflections.

LLina Holm·May 21, 2026·10 min read
PhotographyEditorial

On the quiet revival of the editorial photo essay

We have noticed a shift in the briefs landing in our inbox: longer-form pieces, more whitespace, fewer captions. A few thoughts on why image-led storytelling feels relevant again and the photographers we are watching this year.

MMateo Ortiz·May 31, 2026·6 min read