Skip to content
Start a project
New: AI Operators. An AI teammate in the tools your team already uses

/ Design retainer

Digital Design Retainer.

Ongoing design support for websites, apps, landing pages, launch assets, digital campaigns and product marketing - without hiring in-house. A retained studio team, based in York, working with brands worldwide.

Start a project
/ Overview

Design needs rarely arrive as one neat project. Campaigns need assets, teams need documents, sales needs decks, social needs creative and the brand still has to look consistent everywhere.

A retained design team gives you flexible capacity and sharper continuity. We learn the brand, keep the details tight and turn around the steady stream of work that makes a business look active and credible.

Retained design services sit between two expensive options: hiring a full-time designer you can't keep busy, and briefing a new freelancer from scratch every time something is needed. We're a British studio with roots in York, working with local businesses and remote clients worldwide - same team every month, no re-onboarding, no drift in quality.

/ What it covers

Your outsourced design department.

  • 01

    Campaign creative

    Ad sets, social assets, email graphics, landing page visuals and digital campaign systems built around a clear idea.

  • 02

    Product marketing design

    Launch assets, app store screens, OG and social imagery, feature announcements and the visuals a digital product needs to sell itself.

  • 03

    Website & UI design

    Website graphics, UI updates, landing page design, presentation assets, content templates and digital collateral for sales and marketing teams.

  • 04

    Brand consistency

    Ongoing guardianship of typography, layout, colour and art direction so every touchpoint feels joined up.

  • 05

    Fast-turnaround support

    A retained team available for the regular design requests that would otherwise slow down launches and campaigns.

  • 06

    Creative direction

    A senior view on how campaigns and brand moments should look before design time is spent producing assets.

/ What you get
  • Monthly design support hours
  • Website, app and campaign artwork
  • Campaign asset sets
  • Presentation and sales materials
  • Brand guideline upkeep
  • Source files and production exports
/ How it runs

  1. Onboard

    We learn your brand, existing files, campaign rhythm, approval process and the assets your team asks for most often.

  2. Plan

    Each month we agree priorities so urgent work gets done without losing sight of bigger brand improvements.

  3. Create

    We design the assets, prepare exports and keep the visual standard consistent across every format.

  4. Refine

    We use the retainer to tighten the system over time: better templates, clearer guidelines and fewer repeated decisions.

/ Questions
Who is a design retainer best for?

It suits businesses with regular design needs but not enough volume, budget or management capacity for a full in-house design department.

Can you work with our existing brand guidelines?

Yes. We can follow, improve or extend existing guidelines so the brand stays consistent as new assets are created.

Do you only work with York businesses?

No. We're a British studio with roots in York, but we work remotely with brands across the UK, the US and internationally - local clients and worldwide clients alike.

Can unused hours roll over?

Retainer structure is agreed upfront. Where rollover makes sense commercially and operationally, we can build that into the agreement.

How much does a design retainer cost?

Our design retainers start from £950 per month, agreed upfront as a fixed monthly fee - typically far below the cost of a full-time hire. The exact number depends on the monthly volume and the mix of work, since campaign assets need less senior time than brand direction. Tell us what your team asks for most and we'll quote a straight monthly number.

How is a design retainer different from hiring a freelancer?

A freelancer is one person's availability and one skill set. A retained studio gives you design, brand direction and production capability under one agreement, with continuity - the same team holding your brand standards month after month, plus the ability to carry work into web and product because we build too.

/ Start here

Let’s build
it properly.

Tell us what needs to change. We will come back with a route, a timeline and a number.

Book a call

Related: design, build