About

The Studio

Small by design. Based in the Netherlands. Working with businesses across the EU since 2023.

What we are and what we’re not

The Visual Grid is a boutique web design studio. We take on a limited number of projects each quarter and put real attention into each one. We’re not trying to scale into an agency. We’re not trying to compete on volume or price with freelance marketplaces.

What we’re for is the gap between “I’ll build it myself on Squarespace” and “I’ll hire a ten-person agency for €80k.” That gap is where most growing businesses actually sit.

We work with founders, heads of marketing, and product teams at companies in the 10–100 person range who need a website that represents where they are now.

We’re based in the Netherlands and serve clients across the EU. Most of our work is done remotely.

A few practical things

  • Founded in 2023, Capelle aan den IJssel (Rotterdam metro area)
  • 1–2 person studio — you’re working directly with the people doing the work
  • 3–4 active projects at a time. When we’re full, we’re full.
  • Fixed-scope contracts. Price agreed before work starts.
  • English is our working language
  • Monday–Friday, 9:00–18:00 CET
  • We don’t take on ongoing retainers or support contracts

Who writes here

The people behind the work

Nina van der Hoek
Design lead

Worked in digital product design at agencies in Rotterdam and Berlin for seven years before founding The Visual Grid. Background in interaction design with a focus on conversion-oriented web work for B2B and e-commerce clients. Covers design systems, UX strategy, and client process in Field Notes.

Joris Elbers
Development lead

Frontend developer with ten years of experience, the last four focused on Webflow and Framer builds for design studios and product companies across the EU. Specialist in CMS architecture and performance optimisation. Covers build decisions, tooling, and technical questions in Field Notes.

How we think about the work

A few things we actually believe

Most websites fail for structural reasons, not visual ones. A site can look excellent and convert poorly. Visual quality is necessary but not sufficient. We spend as much time on information architecture and user flow as we spend on visual design.

The brief matters more than the execution. A clearly defined problem produces a better site than a vaguely defined one, regardless of how good the designers are. We put effort into the brief stage.

Small studios have structural advantages over large agencies for projects at our scale. No account manager translating between you and the designer. No junior developer implementing a senior designer’s comps without understanding the decisions behind them.

We have opinions and we’ll share them. If we think a decision is wrong, we’ll say so and explain why. The goal is a website that works, not one that avoids conflict.

Want to work together?

Tell us what you’re building. We’ll tell you if it sounds like something we can help with.

Get in touch