Paper first.
Every direction begins as a full-size paper study. You can hold it, pin it up and argue with it before anything is set on screen.
studio notes
08, Sep 2026
Graphic Designer
Identities, posters and packaging, cut by hand and finished with care.
Paper, ink and a point of view.
Toolkit
- Paper collage
- Typography
- Hand lettering
- Riso & screen print
- Packaging
- Art direction
Taking notes from every wall in town
Make
it by hand
Be specific not louder, just clearer
Be curious cut the brief open
before you answer it
Made by hand. Set by eye.
Ines Okafor @ines.cuts
Ines Okafor @ines.cuts
Selected work
Four recent commissions, from the first paper study to the finished print.
How the studio works: cut first, decide sooner
Two inks, chosen early.
Fewer colours make stronger prints and cheaper runs. Most projects use two inks and let the paper be the third.
Files you keep using.
Handover includes editable files, the original paper boards and a one-page guide your team will actually read.
Three ways to work together
Fixed-scope projects with a starting price, a schedule and a named handover.
Prices in USD, before print costs.
Services and process
From the journal
All notesHave a brief? Bring the messy version.
Send the idea, the deadline and a rough budget. I reply to every brief within two working days.
Start a projectNext free start date: 3 November 2026
Identity, posters, editorial
Pinned to the wall
Four case studies and a running archive of smaller commissions, 2021 to now. Filter by discipline or search by client and medium.
Case studies
Nothing on the wall
No project matches that search yet.
Archive
Smaller commissions, open a row for notesYour project could be number thirteen.
Start a projectThree drawers, one desk
Each service is a fixed scope with a starting price, a schedule you can see and a handover your team can use without me.
Week by week
A typical schedule for each service. Real projects move a little, but the order never changes.
How a project runs
- 01
A conversation, not a form
A 30-minute call about what you are making and for whom. You get a fixed quote, the deliverables and a start date within two working days.
- 02
Paper before pixels
Two or three directions as full-size paper studies, photographed and shared each Friday. You choose one; nothing is wasted on polishing the others.
- 03
One direction, refined on screen
Type is set, colours are separated and every application is drawn properly. Two rounds of changes are included.
- 04
Press day
I check the first sheets at the printer against the original artwork, so what arrives matches what you approved.
- 05
Handover you can use
Editable files, the original paper boards and a one-page guide. A follow-up call a month later is part of the fee.
Questions before you write
Each service has a starting price for a typical scope. After the first call you get a fixed quote listing every deliverable, paid in two halves: one at the start and one at handover. Print costs are passed on at cost.
Yes. Paper studies are photographed and shared every Friday, reviews happen on a video call, and the original boards are posted to you at handover.
Yes. The cut-paper boards are yours at handover, together with high-resolution scans and editable source files. I keep the right to show the project in this portfolio.
I can manage print from quote to press check with screen, riso and offset printers I have worked with for years, or prepare clean files for a printer you already use.
Usually six to eight weeks. The next free start date is 3 November 2026. Small poster jobs can sometimes fit in sooner, so ask anyway.
Sometimes. The studio does its best work when a project can start from paper. If your identity is fixed and fully digital, I will tell you honestly whether I am the right fit and suggest someone if not.
Not sure which drawer? Send the brief anyway.
Tell me what you are making and when it needs to exist. We will find the right scope together.
Start a projectFixed quote within two working days
No pitch decks, no spec work
Notes taped to the wall
Short pieces on paper, print and running a one-room studio. A new note most months.
No notes here yet
Nothing filed under this topic so far.
Hello, I'm Ines.
I design identities, posters and packaging for independent businesses, mostly from paper I cut myself.
I studied communication design in Porto and spent four years at a risograph print studio in Lisbon, where I learned that most design problems are solved on press day. In 2019 I opened a one-room studio on Travessa das Tesouras.
Clients are bakeries, festivals, small publishers and tea companies: people who make physical things and want their identity to feel made, too. I work alone, with a small circle of printers and a photographer I trust.
The route so far
- 2013
Graduates in communication design in Porto with a final project made entirely of cut paper.
- 2015
Joins a risograph print studio in Lisbon. Four years of press days and ink on everything.
- 2019
Opens a one-room studio in Porto. First client: a bakery that still uses the same stamp.
- 2025
Starts 52 Posters: one small cut-paper poster every week for a year.
- Now
Booking identity, poster and editorial projects from November 2026.
On the desk
The whole kit fits on one table. Most of it costs less than a lunch.
Four things I hold on to
Be specific.
not louder, just clearer
Cut early.
the second cut teaches more
Two inks.
the paper is the third
Finish properly.
files people can use
Toolkit
- Paper collage
- Hand lettering
- Risograph and screen print
- Type systems
- Art direction
- Print management
Recent clients
- Harbour Nights Collective Festival
- Saltline Tea Co. Tea
- Margin Quarterly Magazine
- Second Crumb Bakery Bakery
- Casa Lume Candles Homeware
- Quiet Hours Records Music
- Fio & Agulha Knitwear
Making something physical? Let's talk.
Festivals, shops, publishers and makers: if it gets printed, stamped or folded, it belongs on this wall.
Start a projectStudio visits on Thursdays, by appointment
Travessa das Tesouras 14, Porto
Start a project
Tell me what you are making. The more specific the brief, the more useful my first reply.
Thanks, friend. Your brief is on the wall.
Here is what you told me. On a live site you would get a copy by email and a reply within two working days.
- Project
- Budget
- Start
- Reply to
Privacy, in plain words
This site collects as little as it can. Last updated 1 September 2026.
What the contact form collects
Your name, email, the project details you type and the options you pick. They are used only to reply to your brief and are deleted after twelve months if we do not work together.
The studio letter
If you subscribe, your email address is kept in a mailing list used four times a year. Every letter has an unsubscribe link, and the list is never shared or sold.
What this site does not do
- No advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
- No third-party fonts, scripts or embedded media.
- No tracking pixels in the studio letter.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete anything the studio holds about you. Write to hello@inesokafor.example and you will get an answer within a month.
This page fell off the wall.
The link may be old, or the note was taken down. Everything still pinned up is one click away.