Project — Follow-up Insight
A grounded project that adds a different angle without repeating the others.
The support team at a small publishing house was juggling three separate spreadsheets to track illustration requests, print deadlines, and client follow-ups. Nothing was broken, but nothing talked to each other either.
Instead of building a new system from scratch, I mapped the existing workflow and identified where information got stuck. The refresh focused on consolidating status updates into one view, with clear visual cues for what needed attention.
A single dashboard now shows each project's stage, the next action, and who owns it. The design uses the same terracotta and sage palette as the rest of the studio's materials, so it feels familiar rather than like a separate tool.
The team now spends less time asking "where is this at?" and more time actually moving projects forward. The refresh didn't introduce new features — it removed the friction of switching between documents and made the current state of each job visible at a glance.
What made this different from a typical redesign was the restraint. The goal was clarity, not novelty. Every element on the dashboard earns its place, and the team adopted it without training because it mirrors how they already thought about their work.
Client Feedback
Notes from publishers, festival organizers, and private clients on how the work landed in practice.
"The botanical series arrived with a clear note on the process, from the first ink studies to the final washes. That context helped us place the work in our spring catalogue without much back-and-forth."
Mara Venter
Editor, Fern & Field Press
"The festival posters were delivered in a tight timeline, and the files were organized exactly as our print team needed. The terracotta and sage palette translated well across both digital screens and large-format prints."
Thabo Nkosi
Programme Manager, Cape Town Arts Festival
"I commissioned a custom portrait as a gift. The initial sketch was shared within a week, and the final watercolor captured the subject's quiet expression better than any photograph I could have provided."
Sarah Botha
Private client, Port Elizabeth
Each collaboration starts with a short conversation about the intended use, the audience, and the timeline. That keeps the process straightforward and the final work useful beyond the initial brief.