What does a brand strategy engagement include?

A brand strategy engagement includes a positioning audit, competitive landscape review, messaging framework, brand voice guidelines, and visual identity direction. You receive a complete brand system — not just a logo — with clear guidance on how to apply it across every channel.

How long does a website design and build project take?

A typical website design and build project takes 6–10 weeks from kickoff to launch. This includes discovery, wireframes, visual design, content integration, and QA. Timeline depends on content readiness and revision rounds.

Do you work with international clients?

Yes. Noran Design works globally — we have supported 130+ organisations across 15 countries including the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, and Europe. All engagements are fully remote.

Can you design and build the website as well?

Yes. We offer end-to-end website design and build as a single engagement — strategy, UX, visual design, and CMS development. We build primarily in Framer and can integrate with your existing tools and content systems.

How is Noran Design different from a traditional agency?

Noran Design is a studio, not an agency. You work directly with Nicole Fung and a small senior team throughout your engagement — not a junior account manager. We operate as a strategic partner embedded in your organisation, not a vendor delivering to a brief.

We're pre-revenue. Is it too early to work with you?

No. Some of our best long-term partnerships started pre-revenue. The right time to build your brand and digital presence is before you need it to perform — not after you've already started pitching investors or acquiring users. What changes at the pre-revenue stage is scope: we focus on getting the foundations right rather than optimising for scale.

Why a retainer instead of hiring a freelancer?

A freelancer gives you one person. Our Studio Retainer (£2,400/mo) gives you a team of four — design, content, strategy, and operations — working as an embedded part of your startup. You get continuity, broader capability, and a team that builds context about your business over time. For most early-stage founders, that's a better return than managing multiple individual freelancers.

We're built on a specific tech stack. Can you integrate with it?

In most cases yes. We work across Framer, Webflow, Notion, and a range of SaaS and no-code platforms. We assess your stack at the start of the engagement and design around it — or recommend alternatives if what you're using is creating unnecessary friction. We won't propose a rebuild unless there's a clear reason for one.

We're funded. Does that change how you work with us?

It changes the pace and scope, not the approach. Funded startups typically need to move faster, cover more ground, and build for investor visibility alongside customer acquisition. We're accustomed to working at startup pace — tight timelines, rapid iteration, high-stakes launches. We'll scope accordingly.

What's the minimum commitment?

Our retainers have a 90-day minimum engagement. This is the minimum time needed to build genuine context and deliver meaningful results — anything shorter tends to produce surface-level work. After 90 days, the retainer is monthly rolling.

We need to move fast. Can you keep up?

Yes — and this is something we're specifically set up for. We operate async-first, turn around rapid iterations, and don't slow down for unnecessary process. We tell you what we need from you and when, so decisions don't stall at your end either.

Yes, we sign NDAs as standard before any substantive conversation about your product, technology, or business model. Confidentiality is baseline — not a premium.

You need to look like you've been doing this for years. Without spending like it.

We help startups move fast without looking cheap: brand identity, product design, and digital infrastructure built to scale with you, not against you.

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Philosophy

The foundations that make everything else easier.

You don't need a 50-page brand bible on day one. You need clear positioning, a visual language that scales, and digital systems that don't collapse when you grow.

Brand positioning and identity

Messaging that converts, a visual identity that scales, and a brand system your whole team can use — without coming back to us every time.

Website and digital presence

Fast, conversion-optimised, built on a platform you can update yourself. We build for growth — not just launch day.

Product and UX design

From MVP to polished product. UX research, information architecture, interface design, and design systems ready for your engineering team.

Operations and automation

CRM setup, onboarding flows, internal tooling, and AI-powered workflows that let a small team punch above its weight.

Content and growth infrastructure

SEO foundations, content strategy, and the editorial systems that build organic demand — so you're not dependent on paid acquisition forever.

Pitch and investor materials

Decks, one-pagers, and data visualisation that communicate your traction clearly. Designed for the room, not just the PDF.

Build fast. Build right.

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Studio Retainer

£2,400/mo

Advisor Retainer

£4,400/mo

FAQ

We're pre-revenue. Is it too early to invest in brand and design?

No — but the scope should match the stage. Pre-revenue startups don't need a full brand overhaul; they need clear positioning, a credible visual identity, and a website that converts. We scope work to what actually moves the needle at your current stage, not what looks impressive on an agency proposal.

The cost of bad early design is higher than most founders realise. A weak brand makes fundraising harder, hiring harder, and enterprise sales almost impossible. Getting it right early is almost always cheaper than fixing it later.

How is a retainer different from hiring a freelancer or in-house designer?

A freelancer gives you one skill set. An in-house designer costs £40,000–£60,000 per year before benefits, management overhead, and the risk of a bad hire. The Studio Retainer gives you a dedicated team of four — covering brand, UX, engineering, and operations — for £2,400 per month.

You also get continuity. We build your systems, document your decisions, and maintain your brand — so nothing lives in one person's head. If your in-house designer leaves, you start over. With us, the work stays.

Can you work with our existing tech stack and tools?

Almost always yes. We work across Framer, Webflow, Figma, Notion, HubSpot, and most common startup tooling. For product design, we work to your engineering team's handoff preferences — whether that's Figma with tokens, Storybook integration, or a full design system.

If you're still choosing your stack, we'll give you an honest recommendation based on your team size, technical capacity, and roadmap — not what's easiest for us.

Do you work with funded startups only, or bootstrapped too?

Both. Funding stage doesn't determine fit — ambition and timing do. Some of our best startup work has been with bootstrapped founders who needed to look credible to win their first enterprise client. Others have been post-Series A companies rebuilding a brand that was never properly built.

If budget is genuinely tight, a scoped project is usually the right first step. We'd rather scope something you can afford and do it well than take a retainer that stretches you and produces underwhelming results.

What does the 90-day minimum commitment mean in practice?

It means we have enough time to actually deliver results. The first month is setup and foundations — audit, onboarding, brand alignment. Month two is execution. Month three is refinement and the first meaningful data on what's working. Anything shorter and we're just scratching the surface.

After 90 days, the retainer rolls monthly with 30 days' notice to pause or cancel. Payment can be made upfront or monthly on a signed contract — whichever works for your cash flow.

We're moving fast. Can you keep up with our pace?

That's what the team model is built for. With four people dedicated to your account and an 8-hour response guarantee, we move at startup speed. We use async-first workflows so we're not a bottleneck — decisions get made, work gets done, and you don't spend half your week in agency check-in calls.

If you need to move faster on a specific sprint — a product launch, a fundraise, a rebrand — we can flex capacity. We'll scope it honestly and tell you what's realistic.

Who actually does the work — will we be handed off to juniors?

No. Every retainer includes a dedicated team of four — and on the Advisor and Embedded Partner tiers, the founder is directly involved in your account. We don't win work and then delegate it down. The team you meet is the team that delivers.

We're a studio of 130+ engagements across 15 countries — not a large agency with layers between you and the work.

Do you sign NDAs?

Yes, always. We work with startups at sensitive stages — pre-launch, pre-funding, pre-announcement — and we treat your information accordingly. A mutual NDA is standard on all engagements before any substantive conversation begins.

You need to look like you've been doing this for years. Without spending like it.

The foundations that make everything else easier.

Build fast. Build right.

Let's build something worth funding.

Let's build something worth funding.

Let's build something worth funding.

FAQ