Most early-stage founders hire a designer six months too early.

What they actually need is one identity that doesn't look like a template, and a site that can take a payment without embarrassing them. That's a few weeks of focused work — not a full-time seat.

Signal & Stone started as a furniture house because taste is the product. The objects on the floor and the companies we design for are the same problem: strip the noise, keep the form.

If you're pre-hire and the brand is still a Google Doc, the Studio Retainer is $997/month. One active piece at a time. Cancel when you outgrow it.