A startup's first design problem is not branding. It is not the website. It is not even the product UI. It is the fact that the team is doing all three at once with no design lead, no agreed visual system, and a deadline that keeps moving. The work we do for startups at this stage is mostly about installing enough structure that the team can keep shipping without everything drifting visually after every all-hands.
What's Different About Designing for Startups
The brand has to be cheap to ship from
A brand book that takes a designer to apply is the wrong brand book. Startups need a visual system non-designers can keep on-brand without help.
The product changes weekly
Designing a feature set that may not exist in two months wastes the budget. Designing a system the team can keep extending themselves is the right move.
Investors will judge the visual quality
Whether or not it should matter, it does. A scrappy product that looks unconsidered raises preventable doubts in a data room. A scrappy product that looks deliberate does not.
The founder is the brand for a while
Before the company is real enough to carry its own brand, the founder's tone is the brand voice. The design has to respect that — and have a plan for outgrowing it later.
The Three-Phase Path
The startups we work with usually arrive at one of three moments. The right scope of work depends on which one.
Phase 1 — Pre-launch / pre-seed
What you actually need: a brand wordmark, a 4-page marketing site, a one-week visual system the team can use. What you do not need: a 60-page brand bible, a full component library, custom illustration. Budget: €5,000–€10,000.
Phase 2 — Post-launch / pre-Series A
What you need: a sharpened marketing site, a working component library inside the product, basic dashboard and onboarding polish. What you do not need: a logo refresh, a fancy CMS, full motion design. Budget: €15,000–€30,000.
Phase 3 — Pre-funding-round sharpening
What you need: the marketing site, the in-product dashboard and the pricing page all aligned to one visual system and one narrative. What you do not need: a rebrand. Budget: €20,000–€40,000 over 6–8 weeks.
Patterns We Use Repeatedly for Startups
- Brand-in-a-week. Wordmark, type system, 3 colours, voice, basic photography direction. Documented as a one-page reference, not a 60-page book. Built so the team can use it without us.
- Marketing site you can edit. Astro, Eleventy or a lightweight CMS. The team adds blog posts, updates pricing and ships landing pages without asking us.
- Component library on a known base. Shadcn, Radix or Mantine — not a from-scratch system. Saves months and makes hiring designers later easier.
- One investor-grade page. If a pitch is coming up, one polished page — the homepage or a specific solution page — gets the agency-grade treatment. The rest stays scrappy-but-deliberate.
- Plan for the rebrand you'll need at Series B. Today's brand has a shelf life. Designing for that fact — leaving room for evolution — is cheaper than redesigning twice.
What We Have Shipped
The closest comparable engagement on the portfolio is Emerald Tech Solutions — a B2B technology business that needed marketing site, product polish and conversion mechanics to all line up before a sales push. The same playbook, in a more compressed form, is what most pre-Series-A startups need.
We do not work for equity. We do not do unpaid "logo sprints". We do not pretend a €5,000 budget will buy a 60-page brand bible — and we will tell you which agencies will pretend it does so you can avoid them.
The Three Decisions That Most Affect a Startup Project
Brand now or brand later?
Before any real customers exist, brand investment is mostly a positioning exercise. Some startups need it; most need a serviceable wordmark and a system they can extend.
Marketing site stack — Webflow, Framer, or static?
Webflow and Framer let non-developers edit; static is faster and cheaper but needs a developer touch. Pick based on who will run the site.
Product UI — design first or build first?
Most early-stage products should be built first and designed second once the workflow is real. We will not pretend otherwise even if it costs us a project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you take equity?
No. We have seen too many founders give away more equity than the work was worth. Cash, day rates and clear scope is healthier for both sides.
Do you have a startup discount?
Yes — for pre-seed and seed teams, with a defined scope and a written outcome. Not a blanket "startup rate" — a real, smaller scope priced honestly.
Can you work with our existing developer?
Yes, and we prefer it. We design, your team builds. We document the system so handover is clean.
What if we need to move faster than your usual timeline?
Compressed engagements (2–3 weeks for a brand-and-site sprint) are available where the scope is genuinely tight and the trade-offs are agreed up front.
Founding an Irish startup that needs design done properly without burning the seed money?
The free audit reviews whatever you have shipped so far — brand mark, landing page, product screenshot — and tells you the highest-leverage move for the next 60 days.
Request the free audit