Tell us a little bit about yourself I am a designer; no specialty in particular, my work touches many points. I also build what I design, so I’m a developer too. And while shaping brands and visual identities, I guess I take on creative direction and art direction. Whatever the role, design is the thread that ties it all together. More than a specialty, I’d call it a way of working: I practice low-carbon, sustainable design. I’m also currently exploring what it means to be a post-growth designer. Most of my work involves marketing and e-commerce websites. However, I am trying to move away from marketing terminology, as this is usually associated with extraction and exchange value, with growth, conversion and sales being the sole focus. While this aspect is certainly present, perhaps it’s more about communicating an offer. It’s also about providing useful resources for website visitors, such as databases on specific topics. I have built some of these for the School of System Change and TheWhole.Website. I recently came across the term ‘infrastructure’, which I prefer to ‘marketing tool’. It makes us think not about how we can convert, but how we can be useful. What are the first questions you ask at the beginning of every project? One question I love to ask on visual identity projects is: “How would you like people to feel when they visit your brand/website?” I always get a “Wow, interesting…” reaction. If they come with a particular brief and a clear idea of what they want or need, I also ask, ‘Why do you need it?’ ‘Why’ is a powerful tool in my opinion. I love the idea of the ‘Five Why’s to get to the root of an issue. How do you approach pricing with clients? How did you arrive at this? Although I think time is an imperfect metric for creative work, it is based on my time. The amount I manage to do and create in one hour can differ greatly from what I achieve in another. However, I am only providing a budget, and not an estimate of the time required, as I do not wish for our discussions to focus on the time spent but rather on the end result. I still use SolidTime.io to track my time, but I never communicate this directly to clients. What are the first things you do when you start a new project? It may sound boring and obvious, but I believe that sending a contract and deposit invoice is an important step in the collaborative process. The clearer the communication with the client, the better. These documents establish clarity and mutual trust at the start of a project. The next step is usually a discovery call. But I’m actually thinking of changing that and starting with a small initial contract for the discovery phase, to clearly define the scope of the full project, before moving on to a second, longer contract. I think this might help to avoid issues in the future, and also help us to see if we are a good fit. I haven’t tried this approach yet, so I don’t know how it would be received. What does your moodboarding process look like? Where do you source inspiration? In terms of web design, I think siteinspire.com is the best for many years now. type-atlas.xyz is really good for typography too. I love the variety of typefaces on display and how easy the website is to navigate. Unfortunately, it is not updated very often. I also love finding inspiration outside of the web, and sometimes it can come from within the organisation itself or from the person I’m helping. For example, during a recent project, I used colours from a painting in a client’s living room to design her visual identity colour palette. However, I’m increasingly leaning towards limiting that phase. Or being intentionally broad and not too specific. I believe the creation phase can unlock more than was initially expected. One thing I really feel is important is words. Words unlock worlds and vision. Finding the right word for a symptom or a problem can be extremely helpful. Sometimes you can’t find an image, but you can find words to describe something. What’s your favourite part of the design process? Why? Without a doubt, the initial creation/concept phase and designing with intuition. I don’t have any concrete evidence to support this, but I have a feeling that the first draft is usually the one that ends up being used. However, designing variations is also useful for confirmation. It’s a bit like when you find a nice piece of clothing and then look for others, try them all on, and end up realising that you only like the first one. Are there any parts of your process that go against received wisdom? Or common steps that you skip? Why? Sometimes, I don’t finalise the design and leave the decision until the development phase. But I can only do when I also develop the project. Is there anything else you suspect is unique/unusual about your practice? My work focuses on creating lightweight products. So I have to exercise a lot of restraint. If I include an image, it needs to add value. The same applies to fonts (and even font weights). This has become second nature to me now, so I don’t even think about it. But, from what I see on the web these days, restraint and designing with less are not common practices. If you’re collaborating with anyone (copywriters, illustrators, developers, etc): when do you bring them in? How do you handle project management? For larger projects, I would sometimes also hire a project manager to handle this. The two main reasons I would bring someone into a project would be if they had expertise that I lacked, or if I wanted to focus on an area where I knew I would be more valuable. However, most of the time, I keep things minimal and do most things myself. First, because I can, but also because I then have a holistic vision of the project. For example, in the discovery phase, I will already be thinking about the development, and I think that is very useful. In my business, this also has an impact. I can take on bigger projects and have less business development work / sales to do. This is the aspect of my job I like the least (like most people, I guess). What’s been the most impactful change you’ve made to your process? Where did you hear about that? Probably using a collaborative Kanban board. I’m also trying to remove any messaging-based communication, such as Slack, as it’s too easy to send messages and it can create noise. With email, you have to be more intentional in your communication, which makes it more effective. What bits of the process are non-negotiables for you? Exploration. For me, this is the part that you can’t really create a process for, but it’s probably the most important. It’s where the magic happens! You could end up designing something great in 5 minutes. But that’s only because you’ve spent time exploring things, ideas, finding inspiration and trying things first. You might even find an idea in the shower. But that idea could only come about because of the work and exploration you did beforehand. How do you organise design files? One file (or more) for internal use. One to deliver to the client. Then there are different pages within the file for iterations. What does design hand-off look like for you? If I’m not developing, I either record a video or make a call to explain the design to the developer. I also give them the flexibility to make the project their own and provide recommendations. I know that there is sometimes a difference between design and development, and that something that looks good on paper (design) might not work in practice (development). This is also one of the main reasons why I develop myself. Looking back over the last 12 months, how do people find out about you? I would say that 70% comes from word of mouth, referrals and networking, and the remaining 30% comes from organic and me being more or less visible in the sustainable and low-carbon web design space. What elements of the process create speed bumps or challenges? How do you get out of these ruts? The last 5% takes up to 25% of the time (and a lot of energy). I still haven’t found the best way to manage this, so I would welcome any tips on how to do so. Using the Kanban board makes it less painful. How do you make decisions? I will try to explain it to the client in a logical way, making it seem like an obvious and objective choice rather than one based on aesthetics or subjective feelings. Alternatively, I will ask the client to explain why they prefer this approach and provide objective arguments. The goal is not to determine who is right or wrong, but to agree on a direction that we are both happy with. Favourite tool, resource or course? I’m increasingly turning back to using paper. It really helps me find clarity. Going for a walk helps, too. I bought Practical Accessibility this year, but I haven’t watched all of it yet. Design Beyond Barriers is also a great accessibility resource. I would encourage designers to read, watch and listen to things beyond the design sphere, such as economics, politics, programming and art, because I believe that exposure to these subjects makes one a better designer. Not necessarily books about design. For example, I’m considering taking this course on Economics and Degrowth from the University of Oxford. I believe most design work facilitates a system that prioritises growth over everything else, so I’d be very curious to explore what web design will look like when we stop designing solely for growth. Where can people find out more about you, keep up-to-date with what you’re doing or give you money? My studio: heylow.world LinkedIn Mastodon Bluesky