Five people, one studio, no agencies or subcontractors in between. Since 2017 we've built brands, products, and software for teams who'd rather work with the people doing the work.
Northbound started in 2017 in a borrowed studio above a bookshop in Lisbon, when Elena and Marcus — then freelancing for the same fintech — realised they kept finishing each other's sentences across the design-to-engineering line. The first client was a friend's climate nonprofit. The second was a Series A that's still with us eight years later.
The studio has stayed small on purpose. We've turned down growth offers, refused to spin up a sales team, and capped new engagements at a handful per quarter. The reason is simple: the work gets worse when the people who pitched it aren't the people doing it. Every project here is carried by someone whose name is on this page.
Our philosophy is unfashionable and we're fine with that. We believe in slow, considered work; in long partnerships over one-off transactions; in generalists who go deep rather than specialists who go narrow. We'd rather turn down a brief than ship something we can't stand behind. It's why most of our clients are still with us years after their first launch — and why we sleep well at night.
Not values on a poster — the actual principles we use to decide which work to take and how to do it.
We move quickly between decisions, but we don't rush the decisions themselves. A week spent getting the foundation right saves a month of fixing it later. The fast way is rarely the short way.
We'll tell you when an idea won't work, when a timeline is fantasy, or when you don't need us at all. flattery is cheap; candour is what makes the work good. You'll never get a deck from us that says what we don't believe.
We measure success in years of working together, not invoices sent. Two-thirds of our clients are repeat partners. We invest in the relationship because that's where the best work — and the most interesting problems — come from.
Everyone here spans at least two disciplines. Designers who write production code. Engineers who can hold a typographic argument. Strategists who build prototypes. It's how we keep the work coherent from first sketch to last deploy.
The complete roster. There's no bench, no offshore team, no one you won't meet. This is everyone who'll touch your work.
Started Northbound in 2017 after a decade leading brand at two agencies. Believes a good question is worth more than a clever answer. Sets the bar for everything we ship.
Co-founded the studio with Elena. Writes the kind of code other engineers thank you for. Quietly responsible for the infrastructure that keeps our clients' products standing.
Eight years across product and editorial design before joining in 2021. The person you want in the room when a brief is still a mess. Lives at the intersection of system and detail.
Came from product leadership at two startups we'd worked with. Translates business problems into design problems and back again. Runs the workshops that make scope honest.
Joined fresh from leading frontend at a design tooling company. Turns Figma into pixel-accurate, accessible interfaces — and improves both sides of the handoff in the process.
We're always quietly looking for people who care too much about the details. Say hello →
Small, deliberate steps. We've grown on purpose, never faster than the work could carry.
Elena and Marcus leave their agency jobs, take a climate nonprofit as a first client, and set up above a bookshop in Príncipe Real.
Helix Systems, our second-ever client, is acquired. The relationship continues post-acquisition — our first proof that the partnership model works.
The team spreads across Lisbon, Berlin, and Lagos. We formalise async-first working and quarterly in-person weeks. Sofia joins.
Daniel and Aïcha join in the same quarter. We formalise our design-systems offering as its own discipline, not a project afterthought.
We pass sixty engagements — two-thirds with returning partners. Still five people, still no sales team, still picking work carefully.
We've worked with agencies twice Northbound's size and gotten half the result. Five people who actually care beats fifty who don't.
We take on a handful of partners each quarter and we read every message ourselves. Tell us about your team and what you're trying to build.
Start a conversation →