Cover

One step ahead

01 / 07
Studio Annual · Volume six

A studio year in review. Seven short chapters, ten minutes.

Six clients, four-day weeks and no pitch decks. Every figure on the following plates comes from our own engagement records.

plates in this issue
minutes end to end
clients this year
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  • Read left to right; the grid never moves, only the cells do.
  • Arrow keys, space or a scroll turn the plate.
Decisions

Broke the mold

02 / 07

Three decisions changed how the studio works.

Fourteen down to six

A smaller roster, twice the engagement length.

Design and code in one room

Every project ships as a working prototype, not a PDF.

Four days, since March

Fridays came off the clock and output went up.

clients on the roster this year, down from fourteen
Margin
  • The roster was cut over two quarters, not at once.
  • No client was dropped mid-engagement.
  • March, the four-day week began.
Results

The numbers

03 / 07
Retention
Where the year moved

Retention, not new business, now funds the studio. The shorter delivery time came from starting with a prototype instead of a proposal.

Key figures
  • 6 projects shipped
  • 4 day week
  • 0 pitch decks written
Method

How we work

04 / 07

Seven weeks, four phases, one team the whole way.

Listen

Week 1, interviews with the people who will use it, not only the ones who pay.

Prototype

Weeks 2–3, a clickable version in the browser, before any polish.

Build

Weeks 4–6, design and engineering in the same file, every day.

Hand over

Week 7, documentation, a recorded walkthrough, a quiet exit.

What the client keeps
  • Interview notes and transcripts
  • The week-two prototype
  • The production build and its repository
  • A recorded walkthrough
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  • Phases overlap by a day; nothing is thrown over a wall.
  • No phase gate, no sign-off document.
Clients

In their words

05 / 07
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  • Collected at handover, unedited.
  • Three of six clients this year.
One question

We asked each of them what actually changed.

Nobody mentioned a deliverable. All three mentioned the room.

“They asked better questions than our own team did.”
Nadia R.Head of Product, Kite
“The week-two prototype was more useful than the last agency's final deliverable.”
Tomas L.Founder, Brine
“Every review felt like a working session.”
Priya M.CMO, Lumen
Comparison

Then and now

06 / 07
Same people, different shape

Last year

  • Fourteen clients
  • PDF deliverables
  • Five-day weeks
  • Pitch decks every month

This year

  • Six clients
  • Working prototypes
  • Four-day weeks
  • Zero pitches
Margin
  • Revenue held flat while the roster halved.
  • The last pitch deck was written in January.
Outlook

What's next

07 / 07

Four things we have already started.

Colophon

Studio Annual, volume six. Set in Fraunces and Instrument Sans on a twelve-column grid. Seven plates, one file.

Next issue: spring 2027.

Margin
  • The playbook ships as one page, not a book.
  • 4 days stays the default, not a pilot.