Scope is fixed, not discovered.
You get a written scope with a fixed price before anything starts. If the brief changes, we re-price in the open — there is no invoice at the end that you haven’t already seen.
About the studio
Specialists
who sit in
one room.
IDEASfolio started in 2019 with a stubborn idea: the people who design the brand should be within earshot of the people who ship the website, cut the film and write the captions. Seven years on, that’s still the whole operating model.
The short version
We got tired of translating between suppliers.
The studio began as a two-person web and film team taking overflow work from larger agencies. The pattern repeated on almost every project: the brand book said one thing, the site said another, the launch video said a third, and someone on the client side spent their week reconciling all three.
So we hired instead of subcontracting. A designer who builds design systems, not just screens. An editor who can storyboard a generative sequence and light a real one. A developer who reads a brand guideline. A social lead who writes rather than reposts. It costs more to keep them all in-house — and it removes the single biggest source of drift in a brand.
Today we work mostly with US companies in real estate, hospitality, retail and financial services, plus a handful of national brands who need English and Spanish treated as equals rather than one as a translation of the other.
How the work splits
Share of studio hours by engagement type. We cap retained work at roughly two-thirds of capacity so there is always room for a launch that needs everyone at once.
How we work
Four rules we don’t bend.
These are the things clients hear in the first meeting, and the things we get held to in the last one.
Two directions, then commit.
We present two art directions on real screens and real frames. After you choose, refinement is our job, not another round of choosing.
You own the source.
Layered artwork, project files, fonts licensed in your name, repository access. Handed over at closeout whether or not you stay with us.
We say no in writing.
If a request will hurt the work, the schedule or your budget, you get a short written reason and an alternative — not a quiet compromise you find at launch.
Capabilities
What each discipline actually delivers.
Typical scope and lead time for a single discipline engaged on its own. Combined scopes run in parallel and usually land faster than the sum.
| Discipline | Core deliverables | Built with | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Websites | Design system, responsive build, CMS training, EN/ES localization, WCAG 2.2 AA, analytics and consent setup | Figma, WordPress, Webflow, Next.js | 6–10 wks |
| AI Videos | Script, storyboard, generative and live plates, sound design, 4K master plus three cutdowns | Runway, Premiere, After Effects | 3–5 wks |
| Graphic Design | Logo suite, type and colour system, print and packaging artwork, 40–60pp guidelines | Illustrator, InDesign, Figma | 4–7 wks |
| Social Media | Quarterly calendar, platform-native edits, community replies, monthly performance read | Figma, Premiere, Meta & TikTok suites | Ongoing |
| Mobile Apps | Product flows, UI kit, iOS and Android build, QA pass, store listing and submission | Figma, React Native, Expo | 10–16 wks |
Studio history
Seven years, added one craft at a time.
Each discipline was added only once a client had asked for it twice and we could hire the person to own it properly.
2019
Two people, websites and film
Founded in Greensboro, NC as an overflow team for larger agencies. First retained client signs in month five.
2021
Graphic design brought in-house
After the third project where the brand book and the website disagreed, identity work stops being subcontracted.
2022
New York desk opens
Two producers based full-time in New York for public-sector and cultural work.
2023
Social becomes a practice, not a task
A dedicated content lead replaces the “whoever is free” model. Reporting moves from impressions to pipeline.
2024
Generative video into the pipeline
AI shots enter the edit alongside live plates — not as a gimmick reel, but as a way to make ten variants affordable.
2026
Mobile apps close the set
Fifth discipline added. A client can now go from name to app store without leaving the studio.
The people
Who you actually talk to.
Fourteen people in total. These four lead the disciplines and are in the room from the first brief.
Amira Rahal
Founder & Creative DirectorSets the art direction on every project and presents it. Fifteen years across identity and campaign work.
Daniel Mensah
Head of TechnologyOwns the build side — websites, apps, performance budgets and the handover that makes your team self-sufficient.
Sofia Karim
Head of Motion & AI VideoRuns the edit suite. Decides where a generative shot beats a shoot day and where it absolutely does not.
Marcus Ellery
Executive ProducerYour single point of contact. Holds the scope, the schedule and the uncomfortable conversations.
Working together
Come with a problem, not a spec.
The best briefs we get describe what needs to change, not what to build. Tell us the first and we’ll propose the second — scoped, priced and dated.