Studio Noir
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Designer workspace with bold geometric prints
Booking 2 projects for Q3 — 1 slot left

Design that looks loud, works hard.

I'm Mara Vance — an independent brand & product designer. I help founders and small teams ship identities, websites, and interfaces that turn a first glance into a signed contract.

Start a project → See the work
68+
Brands shipped
9 yrs
Solo & agency craft
4.9/5
Avg client rating
3 wks
Typical turnaround
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What you get

One designer. Zero hand-offs. Work that actually ships.

No bloated agency, no junior swap-outs, no vanishing into a black box. You work with me directly, from the first sketch to the final pixel pushed live.

01

Brand identity

Logo, type system, color, and a usage guide your whole team can run with. A look that feels inevitable, not decorated.

02

Websites that sell

Marketing sites engineered around one conversion goal. Fast, responsive, and obvious about what to do next.

03

Product UI

App screens and design systems that scale. Components your engineers can build once and reuse forever.

Designed to convert, measured to prove it

Every project ships with before/after metrics. Across my last 12 launches, clients saw a median 41% lift in signups within the first month, because design choices are tied to a goal, not a mood board.

Fast & honest

Fixed scope, fixed price, and a calendar you can actually see. Most projects wrap in three weeks.

Selected work

Case studies, not just pretty pictures.

A few favorites. Each one started with a goal, a deadline, and a budget — and ended with a result we could both point to.

Bold typographic branding mockup
BrandPackaging

Ember & Oak ↗

Rebrand for a small-batch coffee roaster that wanted to look national without losing its corner-shop soul.

↗ +63% wholesale inquiries in 90 days
Clean SaaS dashboard interface
Product UIDesign System

Northwind Ops ↗

A logistics dashboard redesigned from a wall of tables into a calm, scannable command center.

↗ 2.4× faster task completion
Modern marketing website on laptop
WebConversion

Tidewell Health ↗

A marketing site for a telehealth startup, rebuilt around one question: book a visit in under a minute.

↗ +41% completed bookings
Editorial brand identity printed materials
BrandArt Direction

Foldline Studio ↗

Identity and pitch system for an architecture practice that needed to win bigger, bolder clients.

↗ Won 3 flagship commissions
How it works

A calm, four-step process. No surprises.

You always know where the project stands, what's next, and exactly what it costs. Here's the whole thing.

Fit call

A free 20-minute chat to make sure the goal, scope, and timeline actually line up before any money changes hands.

Direction

I send two distinct creative routes within a week. We pick one together and lock the foundation.

Build

Heads-down design and iteration with one structured round of feedback. You see progress, not silence.

Handoff

Files, source, and a guide your team can run with. Plus 30 days of follow-up support, no extra charge.

Kind words

Clients who'd happily do it again.

Real feedback from founders, marketers, and product leads I've worked with over the past few years.

★★★★★

Mara took a vague idea and a tiny budget and turned it into a brand that finally feels like us. Inquiries doubled the month we launched.

Lena Okafor
Lena Okafor
Founder, Ember & Oak
★★★★★

Our dashboard went from "engineers only" to something our customers compliment. She thinks like a product person, not a decorator.

Daniel Reyes
Daniel Reyes
VP Product, Northwind Ops
★★★★★

Clear timeline, fixed price, zero drama. The new site paid for itself in six weeks. I've already booked her again.

Priya Anand
Priya Anand
CMO, Tidewell Health
Ember&OakNorthwindTidewellFoldlineApertureLumen&Co
Simple pricing

Pick a lane. Know the price up front.

Fixed-scope packages so there are no awkward invoices. Need something custom? The fit call sorts that out in twenty minutes.

The Spark
$2,400
A focused identity refresh for early-stage founders who need to look legit, fast.
  • Logo + wordmark
  • Color & type system
  • One-page mini guide
  • 10-day delivery
Choose Spark
Most booked
The Studio
$6,800
The full package most clients pick: brand plus a marketing site built to convert.
  • Everything in Spark
  • 5-section marketing site
  • Full brand guidelines
  • 30 days of support
Choose Studio →
The Flagship
$12k+
For teams shipping a product. Brand, site, and a design system your engineers will love.
  • Everything in Studio
  • Product UI + components
  • Figma design system
  • Ongoing retainer option
Choose Flagship
Good questions

The things people ask before booking.

I usually have a slot open within two to three weeks. Urgent timelines are possible with a rush add-on — mention it on the fit call and I'll be honest about whether it's realistic.

Clarity on your goal, any existing assets, and one decision-maker who can give feedback. I handle the rest. The less you have figured out, the more value the direction phase adds.

I design and build front-end marketing sites end to end. For full product apps I deliver pixel-perfect specs and a Figma system your engineers can ship from without guesswork.

That's what the two-route direction phase is for. We choose a path before any heavy lifting, so we're never deep into a build that's headed the wrong way. Revisions are baked into every package.

50% to reserve your slot, 50% on delivery. Fixed scope means fixed price — no surprise invoices. The Flagship tier can be split across milestones.

Let's build it

Got a project that
deserves to look great?

Tell me what you're making. I'll reply within one business day with whether I'm a fit, a rough timeline, and a price range. No pressure, no sales script.

  • Free 20-minute fit call
  • Fixed price, honest timeline
  • Reply within one business day

Start a project

Takes about a minute. Honestly.

Brand identity Website Product UI Not sure yet

Got it — talk soon!

Thanks for reaching out. I'll reply within one business day with next steps.