StudioVincent

Creative direction that builds memorable products.AI raised the floorBuilding epic products still takes people.

I help founders and product teams find the version of the work that's worth committing to. Most teams ship the safe version of what they're building because it's easier to defend. The harder version, the one that actually stands out, needs someone in the room to make it inevitable. That's what I do.I help teams find the direction others can't see, then the conviction to build it.

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Here's how I can help

2–6 weeks

Quick Win

A sharp review of what you've built, ending in three or more concrete recommendations and the one bet with the most upside. And I can design and ship the fix too, not just hand you a list.

What you get
  • A measurable win on the metric you're targeting, set up to track and build on
  • Recommendations ranked by upside, with the one bet to make first
  • The key fix designed and shipped, if useful
The process
  1. Use it for real. I use the product as a real user would, while checking your flows, backlog, analytics, existing designs, and the competitors you're measured against.
  2. Find the real gaps. Where it's over- and under-delivering on what it's trying to do.
  3. Hand you the bet. Three or more concrete recommendations, ranked, plus the one I'd put real money on. And I can design and ship it, not just name it.
Learn more

4+ weeks

Deep Dive

A deeper look than a sprint allows, at what your product is really trying to be, and where intention and execution have drifted apart. You leave with a solid new direction and a clear target to build toward, written up with sketches and references. If you want the designs to go with it, I can do that too.

What you get
  • A direction tied to the business outcome it's meant to move, with a way to test it
  • A written articulation the team can build from
  • Sketches and a cross-domain reference set
  • Your team brought in along the way, so they own the direction and build it together
The process
  1. Name the gap. What the product is really trying to be, tested against what it actually does.
  2. Work past the obvious. The right direction usually only shows up after the easy answer's been rejected a few times, so I don't stop at the first thing that fits.
  3. Bring in the outside. A clear new direction and a target to build toward, written up with sketches and references pulled from well beyond your category.
  4. Design it, if you want. Optional designs to go with the direction.
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6–8 weeks

Step Change

Builds on the Deep Dive to find a direction that changes the rules of your category, not just the product itself. You leave with a fully developed creative direction your team can commit toward and build.

What you get
  • A strategic bet with the business case made, not just a new look
  • A fully developed creative direction to build against
  • A distinctive visual language that's recognisably yours
  • A team aligned behind the bet, pulling the same way
The process
  1. Move up a level. Building on the Deep Dive, I go after the rules of your category, not just the product itself.
  2. Invent, don't recombine. Where there's white space in your market, there are no references to reach for, so I work from the blank page and make something that's never existed.
  3. Compose the feel. A product's atmosphere is the sum of many small decisions made consistently; I treat it as something to compose, not decorate.
  4. Hand over the direction. A fully developed creative direction your team can commit toward and build.
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3 months minimum

Embed Direction

After one of the engagements above, I stay close to your team so the direction we found survives the build instead of quietly eroding. A few teams at a time, so the attention is real.

What you get
  • Every call weighed against the trade-offs, so the work stays tied to outcomes
  • The direction kept intact through the build
  • Senior judgment on call when the team's stuck
The process
  1. Stay attached. A monthly arrangement after one of the above, so the direction actually gets built without losing its substance.
  2. Two days a month. Reviews of work in progress, a monthly call, and being on hand for the harder questions.
  3. A few teams only. Kept deliberately small, so the attention is real.
Learn more
  1. 1. A 30-minute call. We talk about what you're working on, who's involved, and what you're trying to figure out. You ask whatever you want about how I work. By the end we both know whether to keep going.
  2. 2. A short proposal, within a few days. Scope, timeline, fee, deliverables. If anything doesn't feel right, we adjust before signing.
  3. 3. Work starts within one or two weeks. For shorter engagements that means I'm in your product and talking to your team. For longer engagements we agree a rhythm, usually one or two days a week embedded.
  4. 4. We talk if anything changes. Scope shifts, priorities move, a different shape of work would be more useful. I'd rather adjust openly than push through a bad fit.
Common questions Hide questions

What if I don't know what shape of engagement I want?

Common, and fine. The first call is partly to figure that out. I'll tell you honestly which format fits, or if none of them do.

How do you handle confidentiality?

NDA on request, signed before specifics. I don't write about client work without explicit permission.

Do you take equity instead of fees?

Mostly no. Cash keeps the relationship clean. Open to partial equity alongside reduced cash for early-stage work that's genuinely meaningful, not as default.

What if it isn't a good fit?

We don't proceed. Better to decline at scoping than underdeliver. If something feels wrong mid-engagement, we talk and either adjust or close out cleanly.

Sound familiar?

If a few of these ring true, this is the work for you.

Everything to define

You're early, the page is blank, and there's a lot to figure out. You can make it fast with AI, but you're not sure yet whether it's the right thing to build.

Competent but forgettable

You can ship a clean, competent product now. So can everyone else. You want something people actually remember.

Stuck on the obvious

Every direction you land on is the safe one. The references all point the same way, and the epic version stays just out of reach.

All AI, no craft

You've built fast with AI, but no one has the trained eye or the critical judgment to tell good from nearly good, or to make it feel genuinely yours.

A team pulling different ways

Your team can't agree on a direction, or keeps hedging on the bold version because the safe one is easier to defend.

Recent case studies

01

Onboarding redesign at Kaizen

How we got the team to commit to a harder version of onboarding, and what it opened up.

Read 02

Answering the wrong question

The Kaizen feed redesign, and what happens when the question you've been asked to answer turns out to be the wrong one.

Read

Make what others can't.

Most products read as competent and forgettable. The ones people remember were made by someone with the eye to see past the obvious, and the hand to do something about it.

Hand and Eye is the newsletter where I write about how to find it.

  • Hard, playful interaction and motion experiments. Finding what defaults can't.
  • Old-school techniques and ways of seeing. Carrying what creative education taught you into product work.
  • How-to guides for creative leaps. Short practices for getting into flow, and for letting your hands find what your head can't.
Recent posts

Available for hire; contact me for availability.

Open to founders and product teams who want help finding the version of the work that's worth committing to.

Book an intro call