Insights
Notes fromthe studio.
What we learn shipping real projects — design, development, pricing, and SEO. Written to be useful, not to fill a content calendar.
How Much Does a Custom Website Cost in 2026? An Honest Breakdown
Real numbers for custom website design and development in 2026 — what drives cost up, where agencies pad quotes, and how to budget without getting burned.
6 min readWebflow vs Framer vs Custom Code: How to Choose in 2026
Webflow, Framer, or a custom Next.js/Astro build? A working agency compares cost, speed, SEO, and scale limits — and tells you which fits your stage.
7 min readWebsite Redesign SEO Checklist: Keep Your Rankings While Changing Everything
A redesign can silently destroy years of SEO. This checklist covers redirects, metadata, structure, and Core Web Vitals — from an agency that redesigns sites for a living.
6 min readCore Web Vitals in 2026: What Actually Moves Rankings
LCP, INP, and CLS explained without the jargon — which Core Web Vitals metrics actually affect rankings in 2026, and the fixes that move them fastest.
5 min readAstro vs Next.js for Marketing Sites: A Practical Comparison
Astro or Next.js for your marketing site? A studio that ships both compares performance, content workflow, and when each one is the right call.
5 min readWebsite Maintenance: What You Actually Need (and What You Don't)
What website maintenance really involves in 2026 — the tasks that matter, the retainers that don't, and how static sites change the math.
4 min readHow to Brief a Design Agency So You Get What You Imagined
A good brief is the cheapest way to improve a design project. What to include, what to leave out, and the one thing agencies wish every client said.
4 min readHow Long Does a Website Take? Real Timelines by Project Type
Realistic website timelines from a working studio: template sites in days, custom marketing sites in weeks — and what actually causes delays.
4 min readAI in a Design Workflow: What We Use It For (and What We Don't)
How a working design studio actually uses AI in 2026 — where it accelerates real work, where it produces generic mush, and how to tell the difference.
4 min readDesign Systems for Startups: When You Need One (and When You Don't)
Does your startup need a design system? The honest thresholds — team size, product surface, and speed — plus what a right-sized system contains.
5 min readSaaS Dashboard Design: 7 Principles From Shipping Real Products
Seven dashboard design principles from real SaaS projects — hierarchy, density, empty states, and the charts that answer questions instead of decorating.
5 min readLanding Page Structure That Converts: Section by Section
The landing page structure we use on real client projects — what each section must accomplish, in what order, and the mistakes that leak conversions.
5 min read