hello@elinsaro.studio
Rotterdam, studio visits by appointment
Independent designer · Open for select projects
Brand identities, digital experiences, and all the details in between.
Fixed fees agreed before we start. Every project runs on the same weekly rhythm.
How a project runs
I come back with a two-page summary of what matters, what does not, and a plan with dates for every review.
Each direction is shown on your homepage, a menu or a sign, never on a blank artboard. You pick one, or we combine the right parts.
Mark, type, colour and layout rules, applied first to the pages and things you need at launch. Unfinished work arrives every Thursday.
A short guide, a shared library, source files and a recorded walkthrough. Two weeks of questions are included after hand-over.
From the people who run the businesses, not their marketing teams.
I take on two projects at a time. The next opening is in January, and a first call costs nothing but thirty minutes.
Identities, websites and products for six clients. Each one started with a conversation and one clear problem.
I'm an independent designer in Rotterdam. For twelve years I have helped founders, studios and cultural teams turn a loose idea into an identity, a website and a system their team can keep using after I leave.
Before working on my own I spent six years in two studios in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, mostly on wayfinding and publishing. That is where I learned to care about what happens after launch: the menu reprint, the third exhibition poster, the page nobody planned for.
Before anything is drawn, I want to know what a visitor came to do and what the team needs to say. Navigation and content come first; polish comes last.
Directions are judged on a homepage, a menu or a sign, never on an empty artboard. Real material makes decisions faster and arguments shorter.
Every project ends with rules, templates and files your team can use without me. A good hand-over is quiet: nothing in it is new to anyone.
A short history, for anyone who likes to know where the habits come from.
Every fee is fixed and agreed in writing before we start. Prices exclude VAT.
A mark, type, colour and the rules that hold them together, tested on the things you actually make.
Marketing sites designed and built, or handed over to your developers with a component library.
A four-week sprint on the flows, key screens and foundations of a product that is already live.
Two to six reserved days a month for teams that keep shipping, with the same Thursday rhythm as a project.
| Detail | Brand identity | Web design | Product direction | Partnership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | New businesses and rebrands | Marketing sites up to 30 pages | Live apps with a clear problem | Teams shipping every month |
| Duration | 7 weeks | 9 weeks | 4 weeks | Monthly, 3 month minimum |
| Starting fee | €9,800 | €12,500 | €7,200 | €1,800 per month |
| Payment | 40 / 30 / 30 | 40 / 30 / 30 | 50 / 50 | Monthly in advance |
| Reviews | Two rounds per phase | Two rounds per phase | Weekly with engineers | Within reserved days |
| After launch | Two weeks of questions | Two weeks of fixes | Two weeks of questions | Ongoing |
Most people are not. A thirty-minute call usually settles it, and the FAQ answers the questions I hear most.
The same structure runs under every identity, website and sprint. Here is what happens each week, what I need from you and what you receive.
Week 1
A half-day workshop with the people who will use the work, followed by three short interviews: usually a customer, a new team member and whoever answers the phone. I listen for the words people already use, and for the questions that keep coming back.
Weeks 2-3
Two directions that disagree with each other on purpose. Each one is shown on real material from your business, so you can judge it the way your customers will meet it. We review together for an hour, and I write down the decision before we leave the call.
Weeks 4-6
The chosen direction becomes a system and is applied to the first pages and objects you need. This is the longest phase and the quietest: work arrives every Thursday, you reply when it suits you, and nothing waits for a big meeting.
Week 7
A short guide written for the people who will use it, a shared design library, source files and a recorded walkthrough. Two weeks of questions are included, and most clients use about half of them.
Short enough to read on a phone between meetings. Clear enough to answer in one sentence.
One essay a month, three links and one thing I changed my mind about. No tracking pixels.
Emailhello@elinsaro.studio
Phone+31 10 742 1186
StudioRotterdam, visits by appointment
RepliesWithin two working days, Mon to Thu
A few sentences is plenty. Links are welcome.
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Calls run Tuesday to Thursday on Central European Time. Bring a rough idea; we will leave with a clear next step, even if that step is not working together.
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Up to four people. Calls happen on a video link sent with the invitation.
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Thirty minutes on a call usually answers the question you did not know to ask.
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Last updated 1 September 2026. Short, because this site collects very little.
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You can ask to see, correct or delete anything I hold about you. Write to hello@elinsaro.studio and I will answer within thirty days.
How this site is made, for the curious and for anyone adapting it.
Set in Instrument Sans for everything you read and Geist Mono for small numbers and dates. Both are open-source typefaces under the SIL Open Font License and are hosted with the site.
Instrument Sans, 400 to 700
Geist Mono, 400
A pale grey stage, near-black ink and one signal red taken from the portrait backdrop.
#F4F4F1#E3E3DF#161616#62625E#D21F1BPhotographs were generated for this site under one art direction: soft north light, pale grey surfaces, one red thing. Project images show the identities as objects; no client logos or real products appear.
Plain HTML, CSS and a little JavaScript. No trackers, no frameworks, and it works with reduced motion switched on.
The link may be old, or the page moved when the work was reorganised. These are the places people usually look for.