// Letters — 6 letters // 1 study // 20 guides
Letters
I write to founders about design, launches and running a small studio, with a new letter every week. Every letter is here, newest first, and every one can be answered.
Letters
// Latest // Week 01 — — 9 min read
The tools change. Taste and results don't.
AI makes design cheap to produce. What it can't make is the call on what's good, or the result a client is paying for. A letter from someone who uses it in almost everything.
Read the letter- 006A brand identity in four weeksTICKIZ needed a whole identity, from the mark to 14 applications, in four weeks. What we built, why, and the two problems a brand can't fix.
2 min - 004Why I brought Auditvia backIn 2025 I built Auditvia to fix accessibility in the code. On 2 October it came back as something smaller, a free audit any founder can run on their homepage in about a minute.
2 min - 003The first second of a launch videoWhat a 22-second video with 1.9 million views taught me about how fast people decide, and what I'd change if we made it again.
2 min - 002What 100 startup homepages are missingMy studio scored 100 funded AI and SaaS homepages on the scorecard we use with clients. Most of them look the part. The biggest gap was proof.
2 min - 001The accessibility reckoningWhy accessibility overlays failed the people they were sold to protect, and why I wanted fixes to happen in the code.
1 min
// From the studio — 20 guides
Practical guides
Straight answers we kept giving founders on calls, written down at Alterra Studio: what things cost, how to brief and hire, and what a launch needs.
Hiring design // 07
- Best Design Agency for Startups: 4 Types Compared8 min
- Design agency vs freelancer vs in-house: what should a startup choose?7 min
- How much does a design retainer cost? Subscription, partner or hire8 min
- Design Subscription vs Agency: Costs and When to Switch8 min
- How to brief a design agency (with a template you can copy)7 min
- How to choose a design agency: a checklist for startups9 min
- What is a design partner, and when does a startup need one?7 min
Brand // 05
Launches // 04
Websites // 03